Anitha Jayaraman

Yeah its Navarathri time and India is all ready to celebrate it in different ways in different parts of the country. Talking of which, we just completed our other Aug-Sep festivals and now we are into the festival mood again. I think we need to feel happy and proud to be born with our traditions & festivals. Its making our days so colorful, so busy and diverted from our usual chores.

The best part of it is looking forward for it and then accepting & celebrating them. Our families are following the traditions all through their ages, generation-by-generation. Now its our responsibility to take it forward and continue working on it.

A month ago I was chatting with my friend and we were checking when is Vinayaka Chathurthi coming up. Co-incidentally I found this website When-is.com Its useful to find our changing dates for most of our festivals.

Today is Ramzan too – Eid Mubarak to my muslim friends.

Breakfast can help prevent strokes, heart attach and sudden death.For those who always skip breakfast, you should stop that habit now.

Why?

Because the frequency of heart attack, sudden death, and stroke peaks between 6: 00a.m. and noon, with the highest incidence being between 8: 00a.m. and 10:00a.m.What mechanism within the body could account for this significant jump in sudden death in the early morning hours?

The answer is-

Platelet, tiny elements in the blood that keep us from bleeding to Death if we get a cut, can clump together inside our arteries due to cholesterol or laque buildup in the artery lining. It is in the morning hours that platelets become the most activated and tend to form these internal blood clots at the greatest frequency.

However, eating even a very light breakfast prevents the morning platelet activation that is associated with heart attacks and strokes. Studies performed at Memorial University in St.Johns,    Newfoundland found that eating a light, very low-fat breakfast was critical in modifying the morning platelet activation. Subjects in the study consumed either low-fat or fat-free yogurt, orange juice, fruit, and a source of protein coming from yogurt or fat-free milk. So if you skip breakfast, it’s important that you change this practice immediately in light of this research. Develop a simple plan to eat cereal, such as oatmeal or Bran Flakes, along with six ounces of grape juice or orange juice, and perhaps a piece of fruit. This simple plan will keep your platelets from sticking together, keep blood clots from forming, and perhaps head off a potential Heart Attack or stroke. So never ever skip breakfast