Thursday Brief

Covid situation in Maharashtra is getting from bad to worse, with more than 33,000 cases being added in last 2 days, the total in the state now stands at 8.25 lakh+ cases, which is more than the total cases in Peru, which is 5^th place country in the world. It took just one week for cases to go from 7 lakh to 8 lakh+. Mumbai district now stand at 1,48,000+ cases. Surprise is that Pune district has more than 1.82 lakh cases, out of this Pune city’s contribution is 1.04 lakh. It has now surpassed the top 5 affected districts across India including Mumbai (1.48 lakh), Chennai (1.37 lakh) Bengaluru Suburban(1.35 lakh), it has also crossed Delhi which had 1.79 lakh cases till yesterday. The Pune administration commented that the patients from other districts like Satara, Sangli,Solapur, Kolhapur are coming to Pune for treatment and hence numbers are increasing. Whether the patient is from Pune or other districts, the tally of affected cases in Maharashtra is increasing and this fact no one can deny. It has been reported, that for last more than one month cases are increasing in district but still the govt has  not taken any proper steps regarding how to contain the pandemic in those affected districts. Other reason may be due to large inter district movement during Ganpati festival.

Now coming to my other topic of the day :

Today, I am writing about one spice, which is known as CINNAMON. Friends do you know that cinnamon is advised in weight loss programmes It can be used with honey to help lose weight while maintaining a diet regime along with exercise. Cinnamon, though known as spice has a medicinal history. It has been used in ancient Chinese, Indian, Egyptian and European medicines. Research has proved that it boosts the metabolism and also helps lower cholesterol. Honey is a natural substance which has a medicinal value and combination of both provides many benefits.

How Cinnamon Helps

When the weight gain is happening, mostly it is because of food cravings between the meals. Generally the binge eating or snacking happens between breakfast and lunch or lunch and dinner. If cinnamon is taken during this time, it helps in controlling the appetite, and hence person eats less. Cinnamon has also been found to help lower the blood sugar levels. Hence when taken during lunch time, it also helps you to stay awake and alert, which increases your productivity. It also  boosts the energy levels of a person, so you may consume it before you embark on exercise regime. If you have mid night snacking habit, then you may consume cinnamon and honey mixture at night before sleep, this will keep your hunger pangs satisfied.

How To Consume

You could boil a small piece of honey in a cup of water and allow it to cool. This may be mixed with honey and taken once or twice a day. I Cinnamon has many health benefits and the honey combination makes in easier to consume as well adds to the overall health benefits.

The Other Health Benefits Of Cinnamon

• It contains lot of oxidants that b help maintain the overall health. The antioxidants in cinnamon are said to be similar to those found in super foods. They help build up immunity against many common and deadly diseases.
• It contains many anti inflammatory compounds, which has been proven very helpful in pain management.
• It also helps your heart keep fit and ticking, as it helps lower cholesterol and high blood pressure.
• It has been found to be an extremely effective anti coagulant. This helps in preventing clotting, which indirectly helps in prevents heart attacks and strokes.
• It has also been proven to hep in lowering blood sugar levels and hence can be useful in fighting diabetes.
• It activates neuro protective proteins, that prevent brain cell mutation and thus helps in fight against in diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

So overall Cinnamon has many health benefits, and seems to be good ingredient to include in our diet in the form of spice as well. Research carried on Cinnamon also suggest that it helps in fighting cancer, infections, viruses and bacteria. In my case, my diabetes consultant doctor advised to take Cinnamon powder mixed in lukewarm water with little lemon juice

Waiting for your views/feed backs/comments.

Anil Malik

Mumbai, India

3^rd September 2020.