Articles | Shweta Taneja

October 28, 2016July 25, 2016

Revisit your digital past with these photo memory apps

Do you remember what you did last summer? Now you can relive your past, one photograph at a time, with these apps

Take a deep breath and try to recollect what you did last year—which flower you photographed, how a mundane Saturday became beautiful because you sighted a sparrow, or that dessert you ate at the restaurant whose name you don’t recall. Now you can relive your past, one photograph at a time, with these apps.

TIMEHOP

Timehop.com

Free on iTunes and Google Play

Delve into digital nostalgia with Timehop, which shows you what you were doing this day, exactly a year ago. Once you’ve downloaded the app and connected it to your social networks, Timehop plods through your past photos, status updates, tweets, check-ins and posts. Every morning, you wake up to a new photograph or memory from a year ago that you can also share on your social networks.

Windows Phone users can also try the Time Travel ! app, which is the same, though not so sleekly designed.

COLLECT

Thelenslab.com

Rs.133 on iTunes

Collect is about recording one moment every day. So you feed it one photo of yourself, your children, your garden, pet, anything really, daily. You can have multiple folders, but can only upload one photo per folder. The app allows you to include a detailed note along with the photograph and save it with tags. You can import a photo from your camera roll or take it from within the app. A month later, it creates an automatic, hi-resolution collage of those 30 days, one that you can share with friends and family.

Automatic backup to iCloud is available, but costs Rs.190 extra.

MEMOIR

Yourmemoir.com

Free on iTunes

Memoir displays your earlier photos when you revisit the same place or meet the same friend. It almost seems serendipitous, though it uses the data you have collected through your smartphone—when you click a photo, check in at a restaurant or update your social network. Once you’ve downloaded it, you connect Memoir to your phone and social networks, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Foursquare and Dropbox, and then let it do its job.

Memoir tracks the photos on your phone, connected social networks, status updates as well as location check-ins and then notifies you about these old memories on the basis of where you are, what you’re doing or who you’re with. If you’re having adosa, for example, it might tell you the last time you had one, and who you were with at that time. Or show photos of the same hotel you were at years ago, or the people you were with. You can annotate the old memories by adding new ones—like adding a new photograph with a note.

FLASHGAP

Flashgap.com

Free on Google Play and iTunes

Attending a party and want to see it from every angle? Ask your friends to download Flashgap. Once everyone has created a profile, you can create a shared photo album in which you can all upload photographs using the app. No one will be able to see, modify or delete the uploaded photos while the party is on. As soon as you take a photograph, it will show in the app for 3 seconds before disappearing. All this “evidence” becomes visible in the app at noon the following day, when you’re probably dealing with the hangover of the night before. Once the shared album is available, you and your friends can chat about the evening, relive the moments, laugh out loud at all the unfiltered visual documentary you’ve collected, comment on photographs, even delete the ones you don’t like.

GOOGLE PHOTOS

Photos.google.com

Free on Google Play, iTunes and Web

In August, Google Photos rolled out a walk-down-memory-lane feature. Now it’s reached a phase where it automatically feeds you enhanced photographs, collages from the past, and videos of a day from your past. All the images come as cards within the Google Photos app and list the people and places you’ve visited. You can choose to share through email or on social network, or show it to the person next to you.

ON THIS DAY

Facebook.com/onthisday

Free on Facebook

Built by Facebook, On This Day sends notifications to your Facebook timeline about what you were up to on a specific day, a year or a few years ago. Memories include posts, other posts you’re tagged in, major life events or when you became friends with someone on Facebook.

Had a break-up and don’t want to see the memories with your ex? You can control that by going to the app page. Click on Preferences, choose the Edit option next to the People tag and enter the name of the person whose memory you don’t want to see. The app also lets you filter by date—which days you don’t want to be reminded of and which ones you wouldn’t mind.

MOMENTS

Momentsapp.com

Free on Android and iTunes

Imagine, you and your friends go for a brunch and each of you ends up clicking a lot of pictures through the day, with multiple devices and smartphones. At the end of the day, when you go home, you want the pictures that your friends have clicked of you on their smartphones. Instead of asking them individually, you can download and install Moments.

This app automatically groups your photos with the people who are in them, either by event or day. So, for example, if you went to a wedding and all of you clicked pictures, Moments will make a Wedding folder for you to share, suggesting the friends you should share it with. All you need to do is add some photos the app might have missed and send those to your friends. It will work the same way for your friends too. Once you see all the photos taken by everyone, you can tap on the ones you want to save on your phone. Your friends need to have the app to be able to share and download too.

complete article at livemint.com

October 21, 2016July 25, 2016

Free ways to automate your posts

Tired of updating your social media accounts individually? These apps will do the work for you

You wake up in the morning with a tweet-worthy topic. But it’s still early and no one will be checking their Twitter accounts for a few hours. So your spectacular construction of 140 characters could get lost in inane tweets of sentiments equalling: “I’m up, world!” or “Off to the loo”. You worry about it, rushing to office, trying to hold on to your sentence construction for a few more hours. And after you post it on Twitter, you worry about reposting it on Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media accounts. Before you know it, half the day has gone by.

Fret not. Here’s a collection of apps that can do the menial work for you. Just sit back, think up brilliantly constructed posts and schedule them at the right time to showcase to your audience.

IFTTT

Free on iOS, Android and Web

Ifttt.com/products

Short for IF This Then That, IFTTT offers a delightful range of possibilities for those who want to create connections between their social media accounts, connected devices, gadgets, smart-home devices, even cars. For example, if Curiosity Rover, US space agency Nasa’s Mars mission Twitter account (@MarsCuriosity), posts a photo, you can automate your app to send an email to your astronomy group. Or if you post a tweet about milk, you can set up an action-reaction trigger to send a notification to your spouse’s smartwatch and remind him/her to get milk.

The possibilities are endless, for IFTTT offers a whopping 306 types of online accounts to work with: Message your roommate when you reach a grocery store; save your favourite tweets on Evernote, or share Facebook status updates on Tumblr and LinkedIn. Even post videos you like on YouTube or your blog. These action-reaction relationships are called Recipes in the IFTTT world. You can create your own recipe of action-reaction or use what others have created.

Our favourite is the one IFTTT recently put up on its blog—it automatically updates your Twitter profile image whenever you post a new Facebook profile picture. In case a person wants different profile photos on Twitter and Facebook, s/he can simply choose to not use this Recipe.

HOOTSUITE

Free for up to three social media accounts; $8.99 (around Rs.600) a month for more accounts; available on Android, iOS and Web

www.hootsuite.com

Be it for an individual, a start-up or a company, Hootsuite automates social media, making it easy to share photographs or posts across multiple social media accounts. It shortens links and photos using the ow.ly service and gives you a preview of your post across all social media. You can schedule multiple posts, and set the time and day when you want a post to be released.

Hootsuite also allows you to see feeds of multiple accounts in the same window and reply to comments or tweets. You can also track a particular hashtag, and reply or comment on it, from within this app. No more toggling between Twitter and Facebook to see who’s saying what in response to your post. The Analytics tab shows which tweets are getting the maximum clicks.

Hootsuite has launched Hootlet (www.hootlet.com), a plug-in for the Chrome browser, to share links, photos and geo-location tags from your browser to your social media accounts seamlessly.

BUFFER

Free for up to 10 scheduled posts; plans of $10 a month for more posts; available on iOS, Android and Web

www.buffer.com

This is the app to use if you want to schedule posts tailored to a particular audience. You can select which social media account you want your post released on, be it an image, a video or an animated GIF. You can also schedule certain posts to repeat weekly or monthly.

Buffer allows you to choose from 50,000-plus royalty-free images to post on your social media, or create collages of exactly the right size for a Facebook profile or cover photo, add watermarks and post an image. In addition, Buffer has a Chrome browser extension that makes it easy to read and share links, funnelling them through your Buffer account so they can be posted online at the right time. Currently, Buffer works for Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and Pinterest.

TWEETDECK

Free on Web

Tweetdeck.twitter.com

For active Twitter users, TweetDeck might be an efficient way of going about things. A smart social automation app, which began as a start-up and was acquired by Twitter, TweetDeck lets you join and track multiple Twitter accounts from the same window. You can organize tweets according to topics, interests, conversations or real-time events or hashtags. You can track any account and actively see the tweets of that account. You can see your own notifications, the activities of other Twitter users, the messages you get in all the connected accounts, the retweets, what’s trending, collections (lists of Twitter accounts that you would like to follow), as well as mentions of your account. If it’s a start-up’s account, TweetDeck gives access to team members without forcing them to share passwords.

ZAPIER

Free for 100 tasks a month. Plans start at $20 a month

www.zapier.com

With Zapier, you can create a connection between two sites and ask it to act automatically, pushing your content from one place to another. The app automates tasks within a particular network (reposting the photograph you posted on your Facebook timeline on a Facebook Page) or between different ones.

Complete article at livemint.com

October 14, 2016July 25, 2016

The rainbow diet

Include colourful fruits and vegetables in your diet to maximize your nutrient intake

A salad of orange, watermelon and pear in summer. A side of beans, carrots, corn and broccoli. There’s something about three or more colours on a plate that immediately lifts one’s mood. But it’s more than that. “The more vibrant the colour, the more nutritious the vegetable or fruit,” says Mumbai-based dietitian and sports nutritionist Deepshikha Agarwal.

Foods get their colour from the phytochemicals present in them. “These phytochemicals are vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that are essential for the body, that are good for preventing and reducing the risk of various diseases,” she adds.

This visual cue, believes Suvarna Pathak, dietitian at Mumbai’s Nanavati Super Speciality Hospital, is also nature’s simple pointer to make sure you get different nutrients. “Everything that your body requires is colour- coded,” she says. Anthocyanin, which gives blueberries their colour, also keeps your mind sharp and defends your body with antioxidants, while the lycopene that gives watermelons and tomatoes their redness, protects against prostate and breast cancers and fights heart disease. Beta-carotene, which makes carrots orange, keeps the bones strong. The yellow colour in foods boosts liver, skin and eyesight health, green detoxifies, and purple, which is rich in folic acid and potassium, strengthens the muscular and circulatory systems.

Each colour adds a different nutrient, so the mantra is to keep your meals as colourful as possible. Pathak suggests choosing three colours for each of the five-six small meals in a day. “The rainbow diet will detoxify your body and build immunity and strong bones,” says Pathak.

But do remember that colourful refined or packaged items do not count. As far as possible, eat the vegetables and fruits either raw, boiled or cooked.

RED

Bite into the juicy red of a tomato, watermelon, pomegranate, strawberry or apricot to get some lycopene in your system. “Lycopene is one of the strongest antioxidants. It protects against prostate cancer, cardiovascular disease and damage from ultraviolet light exposure,” says Lovneet Batra, clinical nutritionist at Fortis La Femme in New Delhi. Anthocyanins, or the red pigment in fruits and vegetables, decreases the risk of muscular degeneration, stroke and certain types of cancer, says Divya Choudhary, nutritionist at Max Super Speciality Hospital in Shalimar Bagh, New Delhi.

Go for: Pomegranate, raspberries, red apples, cherries, red grapes, red pears, rhubarb, strawberries, beetroot, tomatoes, watermelon, red chilli peppers, red onion, red potatoes.

ORANGE

The phytochemicals responsible for the orange colour in fruits and vegetables such as carrots, mangoes or pumpkins are carotenoids, says Choudhary. “Carotenoids,” she says, “help maintain healthy mucous membranes and healthy eyes, as well as help reduce the risk of cancer and heart diseases, and also improve immune system function.”

Go for: Apricots, peach, oranges, kinnows, carrots, pumpkin.

YELLOW

Include a lot of yellow pepper, corn and saffron in your diet if you have weak eyesight, says Batra. “Foods like avocado, which have both yellow and green in it, contain zeaxanthin and lutein, which are very important for retina health,” she says. Other than improving your sight, yellow reduces age-related tissue degeneration and the risk of prostate cancer, and lowers LDL (bad) cholesterol and blood pressure. “Muscular strength, healthy bones and shining skin are what yellow gives,” says Pathak.

Go for: Papaya, lemons, mangoes, peach, pineapple, musk melon, figs, yellow tomatoes, corn, sweet potatoes, yellow beetroot.

GREEN

Greens are full of chlorophyll, folate and iron, making them perfect for someone who needs strength. “These are a must, especially during pregnancy and post-pregnancy,” says Agarwal. The compounds that give green vegetables their colour are called glucosinolates, “which are a large group of sulphur-containing amino acid derivatives that help in reducing the risk of certain cancers”, explains Batra. In addition, green leafy vegetables also contain high amounts of iron and folic acid, as well as vitamin C, which is a strong antioxidant and an anti-ageing vitamin. “Green vegetables are good for your eyes, bones and teeth, and also help in improving immunity,” says Choudhary.

Go for: Cucumber, avocado, celery, green apples, grapes, kiwi, spinach, coriander, mint, lettuce, leek, leafy greens, okra, peas, beans, capsicum, cabbage, cauliflower, asparagus, broccoli, Brussels sprouts.

BLUE AND PURPLE

The grape family of fruits, like berries, raspberries and cranberries, contains anthocyanins that reduce inflammation. “These and other nutrients like flavonoids, ellagic acid, quercetin, and lutein found in blue and purple foods support retinal health, lower LDL cholesterol, boost immune system activity, support healthy digestion and improve calcium and other mineral absorption,” says Pathak. Blue pigments in foods can also help reduce tumour growth and fight inflammation.

Complete article at livemint.com

October 7, 2016July 25, 2016

Log off from the internet, step by step

A 101 on removing your personal data from the Internet. But be warned: it’s a painful exercise

Had enough of selfies, tweets, posts and searches? Tired of bots tracking and predicting every move of yours? If you want to get back to being anonymous, here’s how you can systematically delete personal information from the World Wide Web.

STEP 1: Target social media

Posts, photos, thoughts, tumblers, tweets…. We have all posted endless numbers of things online on various social media accounts. Start by deleting all these accounts: Facebook, Google Plus, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube. All of them have the option to deactivate an account. If you are still not able to figure out how to delete a particular social media account, head to DeleteYourAccount.com, which tells you the process for 34 social media accounts.

STEP 2: Get hold of other accounts

Remember that shopping site where you created an account because they had an offer you just couldn’t resist? Or that food app which had promised a free dinner if you signed up with them? Even that dating site you visited once? And that game you played for a day and then forgot about? It’s time to go through your emails and list all the obscure accounts you’ve created over the years. If you’re not sure, simply search for your name and the usernames you use in Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines. You may have forgotten the passwords or the account could have been deactivated simply because you haven’t used it in a long time.

But if you really want to wipe that slate clean, you will need to reset the password, sign in to reactivate the account, and then proceed to delete it. Most of the online companies allow you to deactivate, but there’s no guarantee that all of them will actually delete all the data they have collected about you, says Thejesh G.N., a Bengaluru-based technologist and co-founder of DataMeet, a community of open-data enthusiasts. “Unfortunately, in India we don’t have any legal option to demand that the personal data be deleted by the online or telecommunication company,” he says. This is why the other steps that follow are important.

STEP 3: Unsubscribe mailing lists

There was a time before social media when we used to subscribe to the newsletters of different websites. You might still be old-fashioned and get emails from Google and Yahoo groups and various forums, as well as from associations and sundry accounts that you have subscribed to. Go through your Inbox, Spam and Junk folders and methodically unsubscribe from each of these groups.

STEP 4: Dumb down your phone

Every app that you downloaded on your smartphone collects some kind of data about you. “Apps send off location, geo-tags, your search patterns, contacts, and sometimes even read your messages,” says Rakshit Tandon, cyber-security consultant with the Internet and Mobile Association of India, who does workshops with law-enforcement agencies on Internet security.

The ideal way is to remove the Internet factor—switch off 2G, 3G and 4G and use your smartphone only to make calls. If you don’t want to switch off the World Wide Web completely, start by controlling the apps. Uninstall the apps you don’t require and haven’t used for a while. Then head to the app websites and delete your personal account from there. Simply uninstalling the app won’t delete your personal information from the company’s servers.

If you want to make sure personal data is removed by the app owners, email the webmasters of the companies running these apps and ask them to erase your personal content. If you don’t want to uninstall the app from the phone, make sure you know what permissions each of these apps is using. In most phones, you can head to App Settings and you’ll know what all you’ve said yes to. Switch off the permissions you don’t want to give, or uninstall if the app refuses to work without these.

STEP 5: Remove search engine results

Would you want your name to vanish from search engine results? If the answer is yes, then most of the search engines let you remove certain links—which come up when you search your name—that might be harming your reputation. However, if the mention is not harming your reputation in any way or isn’t a copyright infringement or harassment, as decided by the search engine company, it might be hard to get a search engine to remove links about you. In that case, click on each of the links, head to the individual websites that are using your name in news, mentions, or listings, and email each webmaster of these websites, requesting them to remove mentions about you from their sites.

STEP 6: Become browser-anonymous

When you next want to go online and search, make sure you do it anonymously. By default, most browsers track your activity. Opt for Incognito modes in the browser. Enable Privacy Badger (www.eff.org/privacybadger; free for Chrome and Firefox) to make sure cookies are disabled and third-party trackers are not secretly seeing what you check online. Install AdBlock Plus (Adblockplus.org; free on Firefox, Chrome and Safari) to block banner ads, pop-up ads, tracking cookies and scripts.

Another thing you can do is make sure you have opted out of Google Analytics tracking. Go to Tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout and opt out. If you like anonymity but do want to browse, consider the open-source anonymous Tor Project (Torproject.org), which lets you browse online and communicate with others without tracking you.

STEP 7: Reinvent

Some online companies don’t delete information on their servers even if you delete your account with them. In that case, give misleading information, like the wrong birth date, name, surname, age, profile photos, etc.

Complete article at livemint.com

September 30, 2016July 25, 2016

Boss trouble? Take charge

Is your manager a terror? Before you think about quitting, try standing up for yourself, make a work buddy, and exercise regularly

Every morning, you are filled with dread—you don’t want to go to office and face your boss, who is critical of your work, disorganized, impulsive, disoriented, and has anger management issues. Basically, he’s a boss from hell. And this can take a toll.

Sharmila Banwat, consultant psychologist at the Nanavati Super Speciality Hospital in Mumbai, says, “It is the work atmosphere rather than workload which correlates highly to workplace depression.” Bad managers, she adds, can lead to stress disorders, anxiety, panic attacks, even substance abuse in some cases. A study published in February in the International Journal Of Mental Health Nursing says workplace bullying can lead to mental distress and illness.

So if you are dealing with a boss who makes the lives of the characters Nick, Kurt and Dale in the movie Horrible Bosses seem like a breeze, then read on and see how you can manage the situation.

Is my boss really that bad?

In a study published in the Human Research Development Review in January 2015, researchers at the University of Louisville in the US defined dysfunctional bosses through a graph. Low dysfunction behaviours included rudeness, unrealistic or high expectations, or taking credit for your work. Highly dysfunctional bosses, says the study, are derisive, deceptive, inappropriately assign blame, yell at you, coerce, threaten, publicly scorn or denigrate you, or opt for destructive criticism. All this can lead to psychological issues, ranging from annoyance to trauma.

“An unhelpful boss will define the problem and not coach you for a solution, will be critical, not recognize your efforts, and doesn’t respect your time or work life, and hence would generate a lot of stress in your life,” says Achal Bhagat, senior consultant, psychiatry at the Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals in New Delhi. Some indicators of stress, he says, are lack of interest and motivation, not being proactive about work, unexplained tiredness and fatigue, low self-esteem, unexplained physical symptoms, anxiety, an inability to stop thinking of work issues at home, taking work home, spending time with your family or on your life goals, irritable and arguing with loved ones.

As soon as you label the person in question a “bad boss”, however, you take away your power to change the situation. So, if you find yourself in this situation, take charge.

Accept it

The first step in dealing with a bad work situation is to accept it and keep working hard, suggests Samir Parikh, director, mental health and behavioural sciences, at Fortis Healthcare in New Delhi. Slacking or letting the quality of work deteriorate because the boss is not good to you is not going to help. “Keep your focus, clarity and commitment to take responsibility for your own success, regardless of the difficult personalities you may have to encounter throughout your work life,” says Banwat.

Stand up for yourself

Does your boss bully, ridicule or belittle you in front of people? Instead of taking it quietly, face him. A study published by the Ohio State University in the Personnel Psychology journal in January 2015 suggested that workers who stand up for themselves after they have been treated badly feel better about their jobs. “If your boss is hostile, there appear to be benefits to reciprocating,” says Bennett Tepper, lead author of the study and professor of management and human resources at the university, in a press release. “Employees felt better about themselves because they didn’t just sit back and take the abuse,” Prof. Tepper adds.

Remember, we are all equal at the workplace, we all perform specific roles and no one does any favour to anyone, adds Dr Bhagat.

Don’t bite back

You can stand up for yourself if bullied, but don’t get nasty, try to get even or look for revenge. It will only add to your misery. “If your communication with your boss is not helpful, ask them for their time and give them feedback,” says Dr Bhagat. “Give positive feedback about things that are helpful and give negative feedback for things that are unhelpful. Be respectful and non-arrogant. Be precise and do not generalize your negative feedback. Clearly say what your expectations are and request an open discussion on these expectations,” adds Dr Bhagat.

Find out what drives your boss

Why is he being so nasty? Is it his personal goals, ambitions or frustrations? Or is it the fact that he can’t handle things not going his way? “When you know what drives your boss, you can frame your opinions and use language in ways that align with their core values, concerns and priorities,” says Banwat. This eases workspace tension.

Complete article over at livemint.com

September 23, 2016July 25, 2016

Virtual assistants, on your phone

Your smartphone can now act as your butler. Here are some virtual assistants you can download to make life easier

September 16, 2016July 25, 2016

Time to wake up with these apps

Can’t wake up on time to exercise or get to work? Here are some apps that don’t stop ringing till you are up and about

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It’s March and you have done little about your new year resolution to wake up early and exercise or reach office on time. You can’t seem to wake up because you snooze through the conventional alarm by your bedside. Until someone creates a clock that mechanically hits you on the head, may we suggest a few apps?

Shake-it Alarm

Free on Android (Ingyomate.egloos.com)

As the name suggests, the Shake-It Alarm needs you to play with your phone in ways that you predefine. “To wake up, you need to either shake the cellphone, shout at it or touch it by tapping the screen continuously, and hard,” says Jintae Lim, director and designer, Team IngYo, the company which designed the app. If you want to be really hard on yourself, the app can also send a message to a set number of friends, who will call you to wake you up. The app has been downloaded more than 400,000 times and is available in 16 languages, including Hindi, Korean, Chinese and English.

Alarmy

Free on Android; Rs.120 on iOS

(Delightroom.org)

With a subtitle that says “Sleep If U Can”, Alarmy means business. It keeps ringing—and the volume gets louder and louder—till you get up and take a particular predetermined picture of a bathroom sink, a coffee pot or, if you’re feeling adventurous, the letter box outside your home. “That’s not all,” says Korea-based Jaemyung Shin, chief executive officer at Delight Room, the creator of the app. “We have other tricky alarm-off methods for you to choose from, including the shaking and math problem modes.” The shake mode requires you to shake your phone to switch off the alarm, while the math problem mode needs you to solve some fairly complex arithmetic calculations. Next up, Shin and his team plan to add support for the Windows Phone.

Morning Routine

Click here for enlarge

Free on Android; in-app purchases
starting from Rs.40 (www.agens.no)

This app forces you to wake up by refusing to stop the alarm, which keeps getting louder and louder, unless you scan a bar code of an item specified by you. We suggest a toothpaste bar code to make sure you get out of bed and head to the bathroom. You can also set up the app to open a music app or a news website. “The app just wants to be a tool to help you wake up and set your plan into action,” says Håvard Christensen, Android developer at Agens, an app developer company based in Oslo, Norway. You can also make a sequence for your daytime routine, where each step starts with an alarm and can have its own snooze. The app is ready for Internet of Things connectivity with other compatible gadgets, such as controlling light fixtures made by Philips Hue.

September 2, 2016July 25, 2016

Eating fat is good for you

Dietitians and nutritionists agree with your grandmother: ‘Ghee’ and oil are good for vitamin absorption as well as the muscular and skeletal systems

Think you’re living healthy by avoiding fats? Think again. The 2015 dietary guidelines issued by a panel of nutritionists in the US for the agriculture department earlier this year have recommended adding an egg or two in your everyday diet to keep type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease at bay. Fat, the recommendation proves, is suddenly fashionable.

“Our body needs a certain amount of fat to function since it can’t make triglycerides, cholesterol and other essential fatty acids on its own,” says Seema Singh, chief clinical nutritionist and head of department, Fortis Hospital, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi. The breakdown of fats provides energy, helps in growth, immunity, reproduction, and protects organs. Fat also helps proteins do their job and stores certain fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, E and K, explains Singh. The National Institute of Nutrition and the Indian Council of Medical Research recommend an equal ratio of saturated fatty acid (SFA), monounsaturated fatty acid (Mufa), and polyunsaturated fatty acid (Pufa) in oil. “Rotate vegetable oils, ghee (clarified butter) and butter in your daily diet and consume two teaspoons every day if you’re an adult with ideal body weight,” says Singh.

For those who like adding a dollop of ghee to their rotis, there’s more news. A paper published in 2014 in the journal Annals Of Internal Medicine, which analysed existing cohort studies and randomized trials on coronary risk and fatty acid intake, found no evidence of a direct relation between saturated fats and cardiovascular disease. Another study, published in the Open Heartjournal in February, found that diet guidelines which have been in force in the US and UK for over 20 years now, recommending people reduce dietary fat consumption to 30% and saturated fat content to 10% to cut the risk of heart disease and death, are not based on scientific evidence.

“I have never recommended fat-free diets for any patient,” says Suvarna Pathak, a dietitian and nutritionist coordinator at Mumbai’s Nanavati Super Speciality Hospital who has been providing diets to patients for 23 years. “Fat is important for smooth metabolism, vitamin absorption, lubrication of joints, the working of our muscular, skeletal and organic systems, absorption of vitamin D and strengthening of muscles and bones. Even the functioning of heart muscles needs fats,” she adds. In Pathak’s experience, even patients with cardiovascular or liver disorders shouldn’t be barred from fats, for these help essential body functions. She recommends 10-15% of the total calories consumed every day should come from fat sources like eggs, nuts, oil, fish and cheese.

Of course, there’s fat and there’s bad fat. Trans fat, made when natural-occurring fat sources are processed, give nutritionists the heebie-jeebies. “Trans fats and refined oils, and oils that are polyunsaturated like sunflower, are refined through chemical processes, which make them rancid and toxic if used at higher smoke points,” explains Madhuri Ruia, a Mint columnist and fitness and nutrition professional who heads Integym in Mumbai. Fat is good if had from natural sources, she says.

Avocado

This fruit is high in Mufa, a heart-healthy fatty acid, dietary fibre and phytochemicals, according to a study published in theNutrition journal in 2013. “This fruit has 75% fat, but it is Mufa,” says Mumbai-based dietitian and sports nutritionist Deepshikha Agarwal. She recommends having it once a week. “Add a slice to a sandwich, salad, or even desserts,” she says.

‘Ghee’

Ghee made from cow’s milk has been used in India as an essential Ayurvedic therapeutic agent and a cooking oil.

According to a paper by the National Dairy Research Institute in Karnal, published in the Indian Journal Of Medical Research in 2012, cow ghee decreases the activation of cancer-causing carcinogens in the liver. “Ghee decreased the activities of cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes, CYP1A1, CYP1A2, CYP1B1 and CYP2B1, responsible for activation of carcinogen in liver,” the study states.

“If used in moderation, it prevents cardiac disease and reduces bad cholesterol,” says Singh. Around 5-10g of ghee every day provides not only saturated fat but also vitamin A, boosts libido, and results in brighter skin and a healthy gut. “Have one teaspoon daily to keep up your energy and fat requirements,” says Divya Choudhary, chief dietitian, Max Super Speciality Hospital, Shalimar Bagh, New Delhi.

Egg

“Eggs are high in Mufa and Pufa, which are cardio-protective fats,” says Agarwal.

August 26, 2016July 25, 2016

The zero-baggage webapps

Smartphone users are tired of downloading and updating apps. It’s time for businesses to think about Webapps

Gunjan Jain, a Delhi-based media professional, spends most of her time on her iPhone 5s, which has 16 GB space, with no memory card slot to add more. To save battery, she has switched off the auto update feature for the 20-25 apps she has on her phone. She manually updates apps on her phone every month. “Sometimes I have to delete old apps before I can try new ones as there’s no extra space for them on the phone,” she says, wishing there was a simpler solution.

It was storage space issues that made Bengaluru-based Kiran Jonnalagadda, a technologist and founder of HasGeek, a community of technologists, buy a OnePlus 2, with 64 GB extendable space, six months ago. “I’m a heavy app and data user and have over 100 apps on my phone,” he says.

What are Webapps?

Although mobile applications, as we know them, have proved to be quite useful, they’re also inconvenient. The ones you can download on your Android, iOS or Windows 10 smartphone are called native apps. If your phone doesn’t have enough storage space, these apps can become a massive headache. The solution lies in using apps on Web browsers, such as Google’s Chrome or Mozilla’s Firefox, on your phone. Continue reading “The zero-baggage webapps”

August 19, 2016July 25, 2016

7 health boosters from your gym

You may have been working out at a gym for years, but we’re willing to bet you haven’t heard about these little secrets

If you thought you’ve mastered all the techniques of using a dumb-bell, treadmill, exercise bike, stepper, upper body and kinesis stations, think again. New studies show that gym equipment might be able to offer you much more than the usual brawn-building exercises. In fact, hopping on to the treadmill more often can help your memory.

A study published in the Neurology journal in April 2014 found that cognitive skills improve with higher levels of cardiovascular fitness. The study, which tracked 2,747 participants in the age group of 18-30, concluded that those who had exercised at this age had better verbal memory when they were in the age group of 43-55. “Training four times a week has a very positive effect mentally and physically,” says Deepshikha Agarwal, a Mumbai-based sports nutritionist. “Exercise increases blood flow to the brain and triggers nerve cells which, in turn, signal the brain to release new neurons.” According to her, it’s so effective that it can even delay degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.

We sifted through studies and asked experts to tell us how equipment in the gym can help elevate your daily workout.

Hop on the rower

“The indoor rower is an effective cardio machine which has gone out of fashion in recent years,” says Shraddha Sheth, vice-president, sales, operations and marketing, Gold’s Gym India. “The rowing workout is a challenging one that targets the entire body since you have to move both arms and legs simultaneously.” The workout improves cardiovascular and muscular endurance, burns calories like no one’s business and engages the core muscles. Wanitha Ashok, a Bengaluru-based fitness expert, agrees. “Rowing aims at major muscle groups like the legs, arms, chest, shoulders, upper back, abdominals and buttocks, taking them through a wide range of motion, and also helps tone the thighs and buttocks and firm up arms and back muscles,” she says. The rhythmic style helps the body switch to the fat-burning zone. “Within 10 minutes, the body is burning fat and calories, so your workout time is reduced,” she adds. Ashok suggests beginning by rowing for 10 minutes a day.

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Dumb-bells are more effective than push-ups

Want to pump up your shoulders? Dumb-bells might be more effective than push-ups, according to a study conducted by the American Council on Exercise, a non-profit fitness education and research organization. “For an optimal workout, you’re best served doing the dumb-bell shoulder press to target the front of the shoulders,” says Cedric Bryant, chief science officer, ACE Fitness, at Kirkland, Washington, DC, US, over email. He suggests combining that with a 45-degree incline row or the seated rear lateral raise for the rear part of the shoulders. Channa says body-weight exercises such as push-ups and pull-ups are harder to perform. “On the other hand, even with lighter weights, you can gain muscle and strength,” he says.

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Resistance bands add zing

Want to improve muscle strength? Agarwal suggests alternating weights with resistance-band exercises . “Ignored by most people going to the gym, the resistance band is durable, low maintenance and works all parts of the body,” she says. She suggests adding 15-18 sets with different resistance (strength from 1-3) before your cardio workout, or combining it with weight training.

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Boost the core with a Bosu ball

Mumbai-based Vinod Channa, a celebrity trainer and fitness expert, believes people often underestimate and ignore the smaller gadgets in a gym. “Wall slides, Swiss ball, medicine ball, ladder, Bosu ball, battle rope…all of these are very good for improving agility, balance and speed, as well as strength and flexibility.” His personal favourite, something he suggests regularly to his clients, is the Bosu ball. This half-sphere-shaped ball can increase the muscle involvement in squats, push-ups, upper- body movement, shoulder and side press. “When you do the strengthening regime on the floor, you work just one muscle, but add the Bosu ball to the same workout and you’ll also work your core and improve your balance,” he says. Since your core will become stronger, this will help you perform better in other sports and avoid muscle tear and injury. He suggests a mix and match with your current weight training. “Just add Bosu to your regular workout and weight training, for 10-20 seconds maximum in a set, to boost your core,” he says.

Full article over at Livemint.com

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