මුරුංගා වල ගුණ දන්නවාද ?| Do You Know the Health Benefits of Drumstick Leaves?

Moringa oleifera

මුරුංගා කරල් රසවත් එළවළුව ක් ලෙස ලංකාවේ කා අතරත් ජනප්‍රියව ඇත. නමුත් මුරුංගා කොළ වල ඇති ගුණාත්මක අගය ගැන දන්නේ සුළු පිරිසකි. එසේ වුවද  මෙම කොළ, ආහාර රස ගැන්වීමට ව්‍යoජන වලට එකතු කරණ නමුත් තනි එළවළුවක් ලෙස ආහාරයට යොදා නොගනී.

මෙම කොළ විටමින් A (β කැරොටින් ), කැල්සියම් , පොස්පොරස්, විටමින් C සහ මධ්‍යම ප්‍රමාණයේ යකඩ වලින් ඉහලය.  නවතම පරික්ෂණ වලට අනුව කැරොටින් සහ විටමින් C  පිලිකා , හදවත් රෝග සහ බෝවන රෝග වලින් වැලකීමට ඔබට උපකාරී වේ. මුරුංගා කොළ වල කැල්සියම්  සහ පොස්පොරස් වැඩි ප්‍රමානයෙනුත් ඔක්සලේට් අඩුවෙනුත් අඩංගු වීම නිසා එහි අඩoගු  කැල්සියම්  සහ පොස්පොරස් පහසුවෙන් අවශෝෂණය වේ. කැල්සියම්  සහ පොස්පොරස් ළමුන්ගේ අස්ථි වර්ධනයට උපකාරී වේ. තවද මුරුංගා කොළ වල අඩංගු යකඩ ,එහි ඇති විටමින් C නිසා හොදින් උරා ගනී. මුරුංගා කොළ වල ඇති පෝෂණ සංයුතිය පහත වේ.

පෝෂක	මුරුංගා කොළ 1 g ක ඇති ප්‍රමාණය	අවු. 1-2 දරුවකුට අවශ්‍ය ප්‍රමාණය	මුරුංගා කොළ15 g කින් (වියලා කුඩු කරගත් කොළ තේ හැදි 1 1/2) ලැබෙන ප්‍රමාණය අවු. 1-2 දරුවකුගේ  දිනක අවශ්‍යතාවයෙන් %  ලෙස
β කැරොටින්	192µg	2400	120%
විටමින් C	6.6 mg	30	330%
යකඩ	0.26mg	9	8.7%
කැල්සියම්	22.4 mg	500	13.4%
පොස්පොරස්	6.3 mg	800	2.4%

මුරුංගා කොළ 1 g = අමු කොළ මේස හැදි 1

මෙතරම් ගුණදායක අප රටේ සුලබව ඇති මෙම කොළ වර්ගය අපගේ එදිනෙදා ආහාරයේ , විශේෂයෙන්ම කුඩා ළමුන්ගේ ආහාරයේ ගුණාත්මක බව වැඩි කර ගැනීමට යොදා ගත යුතු ආකාරය පිලිබදව අවධානය යොමු කීරීම වටී.දැනට ඉන්දියාවේ කර ඇති සමීක්ෂණයකින්  සොයාගෙන ඇත්තේ මුරුංගා කොළ සහ විටමින් A කරල් , ව්ටමින් A ඌනතාව වැලකීමට එකලෙස උදව් වන බවයි. මෙනිසා මුරුංගා කොළ වියලා කුඩු කර මාස 6 සිට ළමුන්ගේ අමතර ආහාරයට දිනකට මේස හැදි 1 ½  බැගින් එකතුකර ගැනීමෙන් ඔවුන්ගේ දිනක විටමින් සහ ලවන අවශ්‍යතාවයෙන්  සැලකිය යුතු ප්‍රමාණයක් සපුරාගත හැකි වේ.

මුරුංගා වල ගුණ ගැන කියවෙන මෙම වාර්තාව බලන්න.

Written by - Dr. Malsha Gunathilake

Information by - Dr. Renuka Jayatissa

For the English version of this article Click Here | ๧මම ල๢ප๢๧ය๞ ඉංග්‍රීසි ප໱ව໮තනය සඳහ๟ ๧මත๠නට යන๞න. 

Life Saving Pumpkin Seeds | දිවි දිගු කරන වට්ටක්කා ඇට

Source: avlazra.wordpress.com

In this day and age, many Sri Lankans are facing more and more health problems. Amidst this, high cholesterol levels are a priority problem amongst the South Asian population. The type of food consumed plays a vital role in determining ones low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL). As you know, high LDL levels are known to cause coronary heart disease ,while HDL prevents it; hence the recommended diet constitutes  with low LDL and high HDL.

Fat is a concentrated source of energy. Dietary fat is in the form of triglycerides, consisting of three fatty acids and one glycerol unit. Fatty acids can be classified into saturated (known as “bad fat”) and unsaturated fat (known as “relatively good fat”). High levels of saturated fatty acid consumption can give rise to high LDL levels, whereas unsaturated fatty acid consumption can give rise to high HDL levels in the body. Unsaturated fatty acids can be categorised in to monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). MUFA contains one double bond between the carbon atoms of the fatty acid chain, whereas PUFA contains more than one double bond. PUFA can be further classified as omega-3 (EPA, DHA and DPA) and omega-6 (AA and GLA).Some  omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are called ‘essential fatty acids’ as they cannot be synthesised in the body, thus can only be provided from the diet.

Sources of omega-6 include soybean, corn oil, green leafy vegetables, nuts and seeds, organ meats and egg yolk. Sources of omega-3 include canola oil, nuts and seeds, fish oils, oily fish (canned tuna, mackerel and sardines). Sources of MUFA include various nuts and seeds. Around 10 cashew nuts will suffice for your recommended daily intake of MUFA.

Pumpkin seeds are a very good source of MUFA and PUFA. The composition of pumpkin seeds can be seen below:

Total Fat		46.7 %
PUFA 70%	Alpha linolenic acid	47 %
	Linoleic acid	23.4 %
MUFA 30%	ῳ -9 fatty acid	15.9 %
	ῳ- 6 fatty acid	4.2 %

Some consume supplements("fish oil capsules") to gain their recommended daily intake of omega-3 and -6. However, consuming pumpkin instead is not a difficult task. After cooking pumpkin, instead of throwing the seeds away; wash them and dry it in the sun/roast it in the oven in low heat. You may consume it with, or without the coat (coat contains fibre), but do not add salt. Pumpkin seeds are sold around the world and can be found in shops in Sri Lanka too. However, preparing pumpkin seeds at home is an easy and inexpensive way to increase your HDL levels and dodge high cholesterol.

Written by Chavindi Uduwaka

For the Sinhalese version of this article Click Here | ๧මම ල๢ප๢๧ය๞ ස๢๜හල ප໱ව໮තනය සඳහ๟ ๧මත๠නට යන๞න. 

Vegetarian Diet – How to Plan Your Own | නිවැරදිව නිර්මාංශික ආභාර වේලක් සකස් කර ගනිමු!

Courtesy of The Witty Hippie 

What is Vegetarianism?

“The theory or practice of living on a diet made up of vegetables, fruits, grains, nuts, and sometimes eggs or dairy products”.

• True vegetarian: a person who does not eat meat, fish, fowl or products containing these foods. The eating patterns of vegetarians may vary considerably.

• Vegan or total vegetarian: only foods of plant origin: fruits, vegetables, pulses (dried legume grain), cereals, seeds and nuts.

• Lacto-vegetarian: plant foods plus milk or milk products.

• Ovo-lacto-vegetarian (or lacto-ovo-vegetarian): This diet also includes eggs.

Appropriately planned vegetarian diets are healthful and nutritionally adequate and provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. As the popularity of vegetarian diets increase, it is important to be aware about the proper planning of the diet to minimise the nutrient deficiencies.

Courtesy of http://www.mayoclinic.com/

Daily Plan for Healthy Eating

Food Group	Minimum daily servings	Type of food equal to one serving
Grains	6 - 11	½ cup of rice or pulses (cowpea, green gram), Bread 1 slice,
Pulses, nuts, milk and milk products	5 - 7	Dhal 3 tablespoon, Cowpea ½ cup, nuts 1 tablespoon (peanut, cashew, pumpkin seed, cotton, sesame), egg 1, Soya 2 tablespoon, 1 cup of yogurt, ½ cup of milk
Vegetables	4 - 5	Cooked vegetables 3 tablespoon, green leaves and salads 1 cup
Fruits	2	Medium fruit 1, small banana 1
Fat	2 – 6	Oil, butter, matgarine 1 teaspoon, Coconut gravy 2 tablespoon, coconut sambol 1 tablespoon
Calcium rich food	4-8*	Milk ½ cup, Yougurt 1 cup, Kathrumurunga 3 tablespoon, Cooked soya beans 3 tablespoon, Woodapple 1 medium
Vitamin B12 rich foods	3	Yeast extracts 1 tablespoon, ½ cup of milk, 1 cup of yogurt, 1 egg, fortified food
Omega-3-fatty acids rich foods	2	Canola, olive, soybean oil or nuts 1 tablespoon,
Iron rich foods	2	Legumes, cow pea, spinach
Vitamin C rich foods	2	Guava, orange juice, papaya
Sweets	Moderations	Biscuits, Icecreams, sugar

Number of servings of grains varied from sedentary to active and female to male. Active men need the highest. Calcium 8 servings are needed for adolescents to meet the daily requirements.

Nutritional Considerations

· Energy: Children with adequate energy intakes will grow at a predictable rate. Infants between 6-12 months of age should be fed frequently to accommodate the required energy content from vegetarian diet due to small gastric capacity.

· Protein: Animal products are not a must to have enough protein in the diet. Plant proteins alone can provide enough of the essential and non-essential amino acids, as long as sources of dietary protein are varied and the energy intake is high enough to meet energy needs. Cereals, pulses, vegetables, seeds and nuts all contain both essential and non-essential amino acids. It is necessary to consciously combine these foods ("complementary proteins") during the day. Vegetarian children should be able to receive an adequate amount of protein to grow and thrive.

· Iron: Although the availability of iron from plant food is low vegetarians are not necessarily at a greater risk of iron deficiency than non-vegetarians. Pulses, green leafy vegetables, dried fruits and nuts in quantities are all good plant sources of iron. If fresh fruits in the meal (vitamin C) or processing pulse (germination, fermentation) will enhance the iron absorption of plant foods.

· Vitamin B-12: It is synthesised by bacteria and comes naturally from animal sources only. Total vegetarians or vegans need a reliable source of vitamin B-12.

· Calcium: Studies have shown that vegetarians absorb and retain greater percentage of the calcium from foods than non-vegetarians. Vegetable greens such as spinach, mukunuwanna and some pulses and soybean products are good plant sources of calcium.

· Zinc: Zinc is needed for growth and development. Good plant sources include grains and nuts.

It is important for vegetarian women to check their hemoglobin level prior to become pregnant . Elderly vegetarians should check their hemoglobin levels annually.

Though the person is vegetarian, active life style is a must to minimise chronic diseases like diabetes, heart diseases and high blood pressure. Exercise of at least 30 minutes per day by engaging in brisk walks, gardening, sweeping the garden, etc should be done.

Written by-

Dr. Renuka Jayatissa