Citrus Fruit - Amla

                                          Among the citrus fruits Amla is one the fruit with high vitamin-c percentage. Amla also called the Indian gooseberry.It tastes sour, bitter and astringent .It has a lots of medicinal values. It has both antiviral and antibacterial values. It is also used in  inks, hair oils and shampoos especially for greying the hair and nourishing the scalp.

                                       It is good for persons suffering from rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis.It is an antioxidant and it has a  high density of tannins and  poly phenols which prevent premature greying of hair.It is used as a mordant for fixing dyes in fabrics.


                                       It is consumed as raw and many sweet and spicy preparations are made .Sherbets and pickles  are prepared and stored  and used through out the year.It is known to improve the resistance power and digestion .Amla is used in several ayurvedic medicines due to its high medicinal values.

Importance of Ragi

Like rice, ragi is also a cereal crop but it is a small seeded variety. Ragi is a millet (like sorghum ,bajra etc). It is a very nutritious and healthy food. Especially it is a very healthy food for infants. It contains more calcium which is required for the bone growth in infants.

Ragi malt preparation for infants :  Ragi should first be washed and soaked in water for a night . Then dry them so that sprouts come out and now grind them into fine flour and store it in a air tight container.Everyday take 2 spoons of this fine powder add required water and cook it.Add jaggery to it and feed the baby with this . Many children love the sweet taste so they eat it happily and moreover jaggery is rich in iron so it is tasty as well as healthy for them.


According to the tastes of the baby just add salt some times ( not jaggery since they may get bored of it ) .
Studies show that 100gm of ragi provides ;
370kcals of energy
88gm of carbohydrates.
7.6gm of protein.
1.5gm of fat.


Ragi preparation For Adult: First  the ingredients required in this preparation are :
Coconut milk
Ragi powder
Sugar
Add water to the Ragi powder and place it on the stove. After it gets cooked add the coconut milk to it and add required amount of sugar .Later you can consume this preparation either hot or cool .Its according to your tastes.
The reason why i gave the recipe with coconut milk is that coconut milk is very nutritious.
Ragi is also consumed  by adding buttermilk and salt  to the ragi powder.People who dont like sweets can have ragi in this way.

The above preparation was made using coconut milk. If you dont have the coconut milk you can prepare this using normal milk.It tastes like payasam(kheer) and is even very much nutritious than normal kheer.


Ragi can also be consumed in several other ways like preparing ragi rounds(ragi undalu) and adding ragi flour in chapati flour and in many other dosa batters.

You can even prepare ragi laddu using either jaggery or sugar and ghee.This will be a very healthy food for snacks .

ROLE OF WATERMELON IN WEIGHT LOSS


WATERMELON is a good selection to obese people
1.It contains high percentage of water and less fat but provides more energy . It prevents dehydration and helps in rehydrating in hot summer.It is a good alternative for cool drinks.
2. It helps prevent prostate cancer. The antioxidant carotene helps in the prevention of prostate cancer.
3. It is rich in vitamins like vit A, vit C, and vit B1(thiamine), and minerals like sodium and pottasium.

Some tips that help you improve your resistance power

1. Take half glass of hot water and add 2 spoons of honey and little lemon juice and try to have this everyday early morning .This helps you improve your resistance power.

Dry Fruits and their Importance

Dry Fruits .They are the store houses of energy.
The Dry fruits are
1. Raisins 2.Dates 3.Pistachios 4.cashewnuts 5.Almonds