She visited her family doctor who suggested some tests and thereafter nonchalantly announced the diagnosis: polycystic ovarian disease or PCOD.

Like Priya, PCOD creates havoc for one in every five women and this statistic has been rising at a frightening pace since the past two decades.

Conventionally, PCOD is treated symptomatically, which means every symptom is treated separately. There are different medicines, each given for the acne, irregular periods, weight loss, insulin resistance, hair fall and so on. While these treatments do help to control the symptoms, they don’t treat the underlying cause. For that, you need to approach this condition holistically.

Here are a few things you can do that will not only address the symptoms but even help in reversing PCOD altogether.

Manage insulin resistance

A woman with PCOD is surprised when she discovers that her doctor has prescribed to her medicine that is generally given to diabetics even though her sugar levels are normal. This is because PCOD and insulin resistance go hand in hand. Lack of exercise and unhealthy food habits makes your body resistant to using the available insulin. To compensate, your cells start producing more insulin. It is insulin resistance that makes it difficult for women with PCOD to lose weight. This extra insulin may also cause your ovaries to produce more male hormones such as testosterone, which explains facial hair in some. To make your body sensitive to insulin requires some big changes in your diet and lifestyle, as advised in the next point.

Say no to processed foods

As much as possible, eat foods that are in, or close to, their original form. Avoid processed foods. E.g., have fruits instead of drinking packaged juices or eating jams. Eat vegetables as a salad, soup or sabji; avoid ready-to-cook packet or soup packet. Avoid ketchups, sauces, bakery items, biscuits, refined flour, cakes, pastries, vanaspati and sugar. You can eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, dates and raisins. Desserts can be home-made, prepared with organic jaggery or dates.

Move more

If you want to bid farewell to PCOD forever, you have to fall in love with moving more. That could be walking, running, swimming, cycling, yoga, weight training, zumba, dancing, climbing stairs, doing more house chores or anything that requires your body to move. If you have a sitting job, get up and walk around after every 60 – 90 minutes. Most importantly, always include some form of strength training in your workout regime. If you can spare only 20 – 30 minutes a day to exercise, spend that time doing some form of resistance training rather than walking/running.

Get enough sleep

Regular sleep is important to maintain hormone health. Aim for at least eight hours of sleep daily and keep a regular sleep schedule. Ideally, go to bed by 10pm and avoid seeing any screens at least an hour before bedtime. Sleeping and waking up at a regular time helps to regulate your body clock, which in turn harmonises your hormones. If you can, also take a 30 minute power nap at mid-day. Sleep will also speed up your weight loss efforts.

Keep away from hormone disruptors

Certain foods, such as dairy, can disturb the hormone balance in your body and hence, should be completely avoided. The milk available these days is produced using a lot of hormones and chemicals that are entering our body through the milk. Avoid using plastic containers for storing or heating food and water. Plastic contains certain chemicals that are released in the food and water when it is heated. Instead, use glass or steel containers and bottles. Avoid using the microwave for cooking or reheating food.

The post Want freedom from PCOD? Make these five changes appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

Yes, we all know everything about water. Haven’t we been learning about it since we were little kids in school? However, you’ll be surprised to find the number of people who have come to me with problems that stem from not drinking water.

Dehydration affects our body in many ways, all of them bad.

Are you making the same mistake like this teen?

In a very drastic case, I once had a 17-year-old boy who was chronically constipated, had hyperacidity, and acne. He said he couldn’t drink plain water, barely managed half a glass a day, but was very happy to report that his overall liquid consumption was very high. He proudly informed me that he was consuming three and half litres of liquid a day. When my eyebrows shot up, he clarified that he had two litres of some aerated drinks, four cups of tea and three to four cups of coffee, apart from the odd glass of wine. I tried my best to explain that when the body needs to be hydrated, the best liquid is water. The caffeine in coffee, tea, and the aerated drinks was actually dehydrating instead of hydrating his system. He refused to drink plain water, so I put him on a therapeutic decoction of mint, parsley, ginger, lime, and honey, all added to three litres of water. He loved the taste, saw the difference it made to his bowel movement, skin and general health, and now says he has been converted for life.

What your body goes through without water

Water is one of the most important things that a human body needs to survive. So much so that your body actually has a drought management system, which prevents dehydration and hence ensures your survival. Water makes up more than two-thirds of human body weight, and without it, we would die in three to four days. Dehydration is one of the most common causes of daytime fatigue.

Water makes up more than two-thirds of human body weight, and without it, we would die in three to four days

Water acts as a lubricant in digestion and almost all the other body processes that take place daily. It also lubricates our joints and cartilages resulting in fluid movement. When dehydrated, the body rations water away from the joints, which means greater friction and aches of joint, knee, and back, which leads to injuries and arthritis. Water helps our bodies remove toxins in many different ways like it flushes toxins and waste from the body through urination and perspiration, it also helps in reducing constipation and aids in bowel movements, which ensures that waste removal is done quickly and regularly lest it becomes poisonous. This waste build-up can occur in the body if dehydration becomes a regular occurrence and this can cause headaches, toxicity, and illness.

Water therapy or hydrotherapy is treating an ailment with any form of water. Hot water, cold water, steam or water imbued with the therapeutic goodness of herbs, spices, fruits, and even condiments. While detoxifying or fasting, it is essential to drink more water so that the body can be cleansed of all the toxins that have accumulated.

Therapeutic water: The DIY kit

Making your own therapeutic water at home is very easy. Just remember to use a clean glass bottle and if you are going to be travelling with it, please put the bottle in a jute or cloth bag… your wine bottle bags will come to good use now!

To make your own therapeutic water, go through the chart below to identity your health condition and to decide on the ingredients you will need. Then simply add the ingredients to a litre of water, and let them soak in the water for an hour before starting to drink the water.

My advice would be to make just one litre of the therapeutic water. Drink from mid-morning till 7 pm. Keep adding fresh water to the bottle as it comes to an end. This way you will also be able to keep a tab on how much water you have had throughout the day.

It’s surprisingly simple but it works! Consuming therapeutic water daily is like the rich chocolate icing on a super yummy cake. It will not only remind you of drinking water daily, but also keep you in top shape! Remember, without good health, all your work will go down the drain.

Don’t forget to store your therapeutic water in a clean glass bottle and carry it along everywhere you go.

Excerpted with permission from Kitchen Clinic by Charmaine D’souza published by Random House.

The post Learn how to make therapeutic water to heal yourself appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.