Open Sesame !!!

Lets see what sesame seeds have to offer us as a part of our diet.

Sesame seeds are very nutritious and provide excellent source of protein, particularly for the vegetarians.It also has really good amounts of calcium and unsaturated fatty acids.

Has very valuable and heart friendly antioxidants, namely, Vitamin A , Vitamin E, Vitamin C, Iron, Zinc, Magnesium and Niacin.

The black seeds yield the best quality of sesame oil and is mostly used for medicinal purposes
especially as a massage oil. It gives strength to the muscular as well as skeletal systems. It is thus very popular as a massage oil particularly to growing children.

The white seeds are richer in calcium and can be used in vegan diets as a good source of calcium.

The reddish seeds have exceptionally good amounts of iron. They can be safely used in the treatment of Anemia.

Sesame seeds soften and nourish the skin when used externally.
Taken internally, sesame seeds are nourishing and tonic. They have soothing, laxative and a slightly diuretic effect. It can also stimulate menstruation.

Sesame oil has a golden amber colour and has distinct nutty flavor. Because of its high smoking point it can also be used for stir frying and Indian style of cooking.

Sesame oil can also replace olive oil in salad dressings. It can replace cashew nuts in rich Indian curries as well.

Interesting fact worth considering is : 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds supplies 14% of a woman's daily calcium needs.

Another interesting way of using these wonderful seeds is to use them as mouth freshener along with saunf (fennel seeds) after your food.

GO AHEAD AND TRY THEM !!!!!

Are you Vitamin B12 deficient?

Surprisingly ...... I am......

Some days back I was constantly feeling a little irritable and was feeling completely sapped of energy.The "Monday-morning- blues" feeling was a constant companion and then I thought I might be having anemia. One of my doctor friends suggested that I should get a haemogram done . While I was leaving her clinic something also prompted her to say " get your serum B12 also checked Pls" Clearly i went ahead to do both the tests and got some alarming results.

My haemogram was within a perfect normal range but my B12 levels were riding at an all time low alarming levels...............

I am now taking a multi vitamin and making sure that am including something very common to each house hold and important to replenish the B12 in my diet but something which i was convieniently trying to avoid everyday........ MILK

I also thought that I should share an article written by one of my students, Ashuta Gundecha, on this very subject............ What follows is the same article written by her, unedited and in her own words.........



Are u Vitamin B12 deficient???
A Jain diet is based on the fact that a simple natural diet will help keep their mind pure and peaceful . This diet necessarily means a vegetarian diet including sattvic foods.
In Jainism, foods can be classified into 3 categories:
Sattvic food includes fresh fruits, fruit juices, vegetables, cereals, whole grains, legumes, lentils, milk, nuts and seeds. These foods keeps the body in a peaceful state, calms mind, enabling it to function at full potential.
Rajasic food includes spices, herbs, coffee, tea, fish, eggs ,salt and chocolate. These foods are said to be stimulating , making mind restless and uncontrollable.
Tamasic food includes meat ,alcohol ,tobacco ,fermented foods, overripe foods. These foods are destructive to mind ,makes person greedy. These foods destroy body’s resistance to disease.
Now worldwide it is being proved that vegetarian diet which includes sattvic foods is the best form of diet.
BUT the question arises ,are all the nutrients required for good health present in vegetarian food?

The answer is YES!! BUT if the person eating vegetarian food does not include milk and milk products , he might be deficient in one of the important B complex vitamins- VITAMIN B12 !! Vitamin B12 is needed for building proteins in body , formation of blood cells and normal function of nervous tissue. A person might develop anemia if he/she is vitamin B12 deficient.
Vitamin B12 is required in following amounts:
(ICMR -Indian council of medical research Vitamin B12 content of foods:
Recommendations) Values per 100g of edible portion
GROUP Vitamin B12 mcg/day
Man 1.0
Woman 1.0
Pregnancy 1.0
Lactation 1.5 (mother breastfeeding her child)
Infants 0.2
Children 0.2-1.0 (1-18 years)

Foods Vitamin B12 mcg/day
Milk(buffalo’s) 0.14
Milk (cow’s) 0.14
Curd (buffalo’s milk) 0.13
Curd (cow’s milk) 0.10
Skimmed milk powder 0.83

All vegetarians should ask themselves 2 questions to know if they are vitamin b12 deficient: Do I consume milk and/or milk products on regular basis??
Do I suffer from any of the symptoms like sleeplessness, dizziness, red tongue, sore tongue, numbness of hands and legs, difficulty in walking, weight loss, diarrhea??
If your answer to the previous question is NO and later question YES, then u might be vitamin B12 deficient.
Thus its important for vegetarians to consume dairy products(milk and milk products on daily basis). Also special care should be taken by mothers breastfeeding their child as the requirement of vit B12 rises in them. Even infants if breastfed for long duration i.e more than 6 months without giving top feeds may develop vitamin B12 deficiency.
Way in which milk and milk products can be incorporated in the diet,
-Plain milk, curd, buttermilk.
-Buttermilk, kadhi.
-Milkshakes, fruit salads ,kheer.
-Paneer sabji, paneer paratha, paneer rolls.etc.
So when all the foods included in sattvic diet are included by vegetarians, they would be able to live a healthy life!!!

I have learned my new lesson now, having my glassfull of milk everyday and already on the way of recovery!!!!