Skin Reflections with Dr. Smriti

13/08/2024

Time to connect with the driver of the car rather than the car itself.

Life is a journey of the soul and the body is its instrument (the car, the cycle) which helps it reach the destination.

We should take utmost care of this body as it's the vehicle which will help us reach our goal.

But we shouldn't relate too much with the body.

We fight for "My car is better than your car" till we realise that the source of energy, the petrol, is the same in all.

The source of energy, the life force, the universe is the same in all the souls.

Oneness celebrates life.
The association with separate bodies divides life.

Why do we feel so happy when we smile at someone else, that someone can be a complete stranger. But the smile connects us.
Because we all are made of the same atoms, the same energy, the same life force.

Let's celebrate the special bond that connects us all with one another and with the universe as a whole

PS- in my experience with my life and with discussions with my patients, I have realised the answer to all the "external pressure" which is famously called as "stress" now a days is lack of "inner connect" with our own selves and lack of belief in "inner resilience " and the spiritual understanding is the answer for the problems generated by "mental stress".

31/07/2024

Moringa leaves bhaji

My good friend .24 remembers her childhood stories how her dadaji , when she would go for summer vacations to his village in Tamil Nadu, would see her looking pale and immediately ask her dadi to add drumstick leaves in her sambhar, dosa, idli etc.
The knowledge of herbs has been ingrained in our Indian culture.
Let's revive this wisdom by learning how our kitchen is our laboratory.
Indian data suggests the most common deficiency in India is that of trace elements and micronutrients. And this deficiency gets unheard in the noise of carbs, fat and protein.
Food diversity is the answer for these deficiencies.
Eat variety.
Eat seasonal.
Eat local and hyperlocal (farm to home distance less than 100 km )
Eat wild vegetables and fruits.

Don't keep consuming 1-2 fruits for life (many eat only apple and banana). And dear urban dwellers, go beyond the 4-5 vegetables for life (in my discussions with patients in opd, many eat only bhindi, cauliflower, cabbage, French beans and capsicum throughout their life - rejecting every other vegetable)

Vegetables are our power packed sources of all nutrients
Fruits bring flavor and sweetness to our lives.
Incorporate them in daily routines
Incorporate a rainbow.

"Moringa is known as the miracle tree because of its diversified beneficial features, e.g., 10 times more vitamins than carrots, 7 times more vitamin C than oranges, 17 times more calcium than milk, and 15 times more potassium than bananas"

(Source- Islam Z, Islam SMR, Hossen F, Mahtab-Ul-Islam K, Hasan MR, Karim R. Moringa oleifera is a Prominent Source of Nutrients with Potential Health Benefits. Int J Food Sci. 2021 Aug 10;2021:6627265. doi: 10.1155/2021/6627265. PMID: 34423026; PMCID: PMC8373516. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8373516/)

Recipe-

Cleaned the moringa leaves and separated them from stem
In an iron kadhai, added a tsp of groundnut oil, mustard seeds, jeera seeds, curry leaves and dry red chillie for tadka
Lightly sauteed the leaves
Added Salt and haldi
Garnished with grated coconut
Ate it hot...

02/04/2024

my inputs in this article in Onlymyhealth on DOs and DON'Ts of tattoo care

Fortis Mumbai

Discover Vikrant Masseys touching tribute to son Vardaan with a tattoo alongside expert tips for tattoo aftercare Parenthood and ink care combined!

18/03/2024

goa cafe is a beautiful cafe in Anjuna, Goa

The aura is so peaceful, the music soulful.
We sat on the first floor with Japanese style dining table, sitting on floor chairs

Sitting cross legged on floor while eating is one of the few things common in many ethnic cultures across the world including our own India. In yoga, they say the blood flow is towards the stomach area when we sit in sukhasan to eat.

We played connect 4 and Uno... Family bonding does happen around games...

Our breakfast platter included

Green smoothie
Chocolate whole wheat pancake (they have gluten free pancakes available)
Avocado, olives and microgreens on sourdough whole wheat toast
Hummus and vegetables on sourdough toast

Everything was just so perfect and tasty.

It's our intention that whenever we travel, we learn something new from that experience... The experience that remains etched in our memories for life.
Devang felt like one of those dining places who not only put great thought in curating menus that are wholesome, nutritious and delicious for the people visiting but also focus on soothing meditative vibes..

17/03/2024

"The path from dreams to success does exist.
May you have the vision to find it, the courage to get on it and the perseverance to follow it"
- Kalpana Chawla (in an email to the students of her former school in Karnal)

It was a thought provoking and insightful meet in Bengaluru yesterday.

A meet of physicians who believe and work to "heal the humans" holistically teaching their patients how to follow a good lifestyle and help them prevent, treat or reverse the diseases.

6 pillars of lifestyle
- evidence based nutrition
- exercise
- sleep
- mental and emotional health
- social support
- (de) addiction

11/03/2024

Thought of the day..

We all are striving to improve ourselves as humans, to be at peace, to be sorrow free. It will be possible if we eat right, we work right, we sleep and wake up right...

05/03/2024

On this World Obesity Day, the doctors of Indian Society of Lifestyle Medicine (
) came together to share their own plates or breakfast/lunch/dinner...

The rainbow colors on the plate were sufficient to tempt the taste buds...

The "wholeness" of the foods come from the minimally processed or natural form of the foods eaten throughout the day. The wholesomeness helps us to eat, digest and assimilate all the nutrients and micronutrients found in a food.

The importance of the "whole food plate" instead of individual food groups of carbs, fat, protein etc is emphasised in these photographs

Many focus on seasonal, local, hyperlocal... Many went global and many fused the Indian with the global giving the indo-global fusion vibes.

Obesity is a disease, it is a pandemic in today's world and it is reversible, it is preventable.

Let's join hands to learn to prevent obesity and to reverse obesity.

Obesity is not laziness. It is insulin resistance.
Obesity can be because of multiple factors
- too much processed and packaged and refined foods
- lack of "whole" foods
- lack of "whole plants" in the diet
- diet skewed in ratio of animal:plants (ideal ratio is 90% or more plants and 10% or less of animals)
- lack of exercise (walking is activity. Exercise is activity plus challenge. A combination of 3-4 days of cardio and 1-2 days of strength training per week is a must)
- lack of quality sleep and late night sleeping
- late night eating
- lack of fasting (earlier fasting was done in all cultures as part of ethnic cultural routines. Now fasting is being prescribed by doctors to reverse diseases)
- unmet mental and emotional needs (leading to sugar cravings, binge eating)
- lack of social support (it's always easier to run when your friends run with you, it's always easier to eat healthy when your family eats with you)

So many physicians, nutritionists and health care workers are joining hands to support the humanity to conquer and win over this pandemic.

Remember - YOU ARE HEALTH. YOU ARE NOT DISEASE. DISEASE IS A SIGNAL OF YOUR BODY NOT AT EASE. LISTEN TO THE SIGNALS AND THE DISEASE WILL CEASE TO EXIST...

YOU ARE HEALTH

-Dr Smriti

27/02/2024

Pindi chhole, little millet roti and red spinach sabzi (lal math bhaji)

If someone miss their maida naan, they should try little millet rotis. They look and taste like naans with the goodness of fiber (high fiber to sugar ratio)

Little millet is also called vari ke chawal, vrat ke chawal, sama ke chawal
Commonly eaten in fasts in India

Very indigenous
Like all millets, are drought crops so good for environment

Happy and good for gut
Very tasty too

For many, chhole can be difficult to digest (except if u have a Punjabi gut bacteria like me , the gut bacteria are decided by what our parents and grandparents ate)

Lal math being a green leafy vegetable, helps in increasing the soluble fiber in our food plate and helps nourish those beautiful gut bacteria at work to digest the proteins of chhole.

So you see, the whole food plate matters.
Let's stop blaming individual ingredient and individual nutrients and let's start enjoying the colors on our plate...

Let's eat the way our grandparents and great grand parents ate....

18/02/2024

They say "your thoughts become your destiny".
My vision is to strive to ensure (in whatever capacity I can) that "our kids' generation is healthier and happier than our generation".
They are the future citizens and it's our duty to guide them into the path of righteousness.
My first talk of a series of "Wellness capsule" intended to teach students about how to take care of physical and mental health in school life.
I had a fruitful interaction with secondary students of Pmshrikviit Powai Mumbai .

To my pleasant surprise, the kids were very knowledgeable and I was discussing nuances of fiber in the diet rather than the basic stuff about nutrition.

We discussed
- how to read labels in the packaged foods
- whole wheat flour is gehu atta while wheat flour is maida
- how to "always celebrate and never cheat" by changing the ingredients of their favorite meals e.g jowar pav, whole wheat pav, ragi chocolate pancakes, millet noodles and pasta etc
- to include "rainbow" of 2-3 seasonal fruits and 4-5 seasonal vegetables in their diet
- to have home cooked fresh meals as breakfast and for those who still skip meals because they are getting late to school, they can start with 2 fruits and few almonds
- to take cucumber and carrots in their tiffin and vegetable parathas (methi, palak paratha etc) which ensures 3 vegetables in tiffin (other options are home cooked sabzi roti, idli sambhar etc )
- to understand that sugar is addicting. One can stop after 1 glass homemade nimbu shikanji or coconut water but one can never stop after a piece of chocolate, cold drink, packaged juices, or chips.
The reason is the highly addicting nature of excess sugar and salt.
- The motto of KVs are "shiksharth aagman, sevarth prasthan" ("come for education, go to serve")
So we interacted that "seva ke liye swasthya zaroori hai" (if you wish to serve, you should be healthy to be able to serve)
To take care of one's health is a very selfless act indeed because it makes us better equipped to be useful for society.

It's always heartening to have fun dialogues with the kids...
Looking forward for many more such meetings in the future.