Facts about your daily breakfast - EGG

Egg is the excellent source of protein which are easy to digest .one large egg contain about 213 mg of cholesterol, which is found only in egg yolk not in egg white.Many researches shows that for a healthy diet less than 300 mg cholesterol, we can take in a day,if you have cardiovascular disease, diabetes,high blood cholesterol, you should limit your dietary cholesterol less than 200 mg a day. So if you eat an egg in a given day, its important to avoid other sources of cholesterol for rest of that  day.

Sometime  people think that different colour of egg yolk affects its nutritional value,this is not correct. The different colour of egg yolk depending on what the hens eat. Hens that consume more green plant, corn  they tend to produce dark yellow egg yolk. Egg yolk is rich source of vitamin A.

Many people think that brown eggs must be better than white eggs because they are more expensive,. What makes brown eggs more expensive is as simple as size , the chickens that lay brown eggs are larger than those that lay white eggs and thus their feed costs more. Other than the colour of shell , there is no difference  between white egg and a brown egg, and this is controlled by genetics. Both types egg having the same flavour, shelf life and cooking characteristics. it's not necessarily that the colour of the yolk depends on the colour of shell.

Sometime people think that, the egg they eating are a potential chick embryo. Typically the egg sold in the grocery are produced from hens that do not have rooster present. As a result the egg is not fertilized and can never have a chicken embryo develop.

Eating raw egg can put you at risk for salmonella poisoning, which is a type of food poisoning. Eggs are perishable food and must be properly stored and cooked.

There are pasteurized eggs available in the market, by means of pasteurized egg is, it have been heated at a certain temperature to destroy bacteria that can cause food poisoning. It does not affect the nutritional value of eggs even it is safer to use.

Egg allergies are caused by the same problem all allergies are caused by an immune system malfunction. Your body misidentifies certain egg proteins as harmful even though they are perfectly safe. When you eat eggs, your body thinks it's being attacked and sends out an antibody called immunoglobulin E to fight off the proteins, or allergens. The antibody then triggers a number of chemicals, including histamine, to neutralize the proteins. Histamine is responsible for most allergic symptoms, including sneezing, hives and diarrhoea.

How to choose right cooking oil?

Its difficult for shopper to choose cooking oil because  they come in  long range of prices & variety (like extra virgin oil ,vitamins enriched oil, low smoke oil, rice bran oil  etc.),  confusion becomes more because of  their attractive packaging, price and advertisements.


But we should actually know, which oil is best for baking, frying and sautéing vegetables, and of course for health.

To get started on the selection process, the first thing you should know is the cooking oils smoke point, which is the temperature at which the oil starts to break down and smoke, which ultimately leads to terribly taste of food.

Oils with low temperature smoke points are best for low-temperature food preparation, such as  salad dressing base, and simmering. And oils with high temperature smoke points are best for high-temperature cooking such as deep-frying and grilling.

Of course variety of cooking oils exist in the market, does not mean that you have to carry a large number of different cooking oils in your kitchen. Pick a few that you really enjoy using, both for flavor and for temperature. You can keep soy bean oil, extra virgin olive oil, and sesame oil in your kitchen. The soy oil has the highest smoke point, so it's great for grilling or high-heat frying. The olive oil is tasty, and best for baking and low-and-slow sautéing and also good for your health.

Finally keep your budget in mind. Some are highly refined oils and others that are more natural (have health benefits) are pretty expensive, so do your calculation before buying. There is nothing worse than buying an oil just because it has a high smoke point or someone write in their article that this particular oil good for your health.

Vegetable oils are most commonly used in kitchen. Made from a blend of oils refined from vegetables, seeds, and nuts, vegetable oil is inexpensive and useful for many different types of cooking. This oil has a mild flavor which is ideal for baking and pan-frying. The high smoke point of this oil is also good for deep frying.

Olive oil is less multi-purpose than vegetable oil. This oil can have a different range of flavors and contain varying levels of acidity. Olive oil has a low smoke point and is not recommended for stir-frying. Olive oil is best used for baking sautéing and in salad dressing.

cooking oil with low smoke point: Flaxseed oil, unrefined olive oil.

cooking oil with medium smoke point: coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, corn oil, canola oil.

cooking oil with high smoke point: palm oil, sesame oil, ghee,peanut oil,soy bean oil.

Why gluten is allergic to some of you and how to avoid it.

Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley and rye, as well as foods made from these grains, Because gluten is a protein, it has nutritional value. Gluten also makes foods taste better and improves their texture, so it is added to many processed foods.

Gluten consists of two protein that is gliadin and glutenin. It is the gliadin part that react negatively. Gliadin is alcohol-soluble and glutenin which is only soluble in dilute acids or alkalis.When flour is mixed with water, gluten forms a sticky cross-linked network of proteins, giving elastic properties to dough. Actually the name gluten is derived from these glue-like property.

In celiac disease the immune system attacks the gluten proteins (gliadin), but it also attacks an enzyme in the cells of the digestive tract called tissue transglutaminase, which results in omitting , diarrhoea, and abdominal pain. 

There is another disorder called gluten sensitivity, which is much more common. Although there is no clear definition of gluten sensitivity, it means having some sort of adverse reaction to gluten and your symptom will improve when you start gluten-free diet.

If you have adverse reactions to gluten, then it is called non-celiac gluten sensitivity. In non-celiac gluten sensitivity, there is no attack on the body’s own tissues. However many of the symptoms are similar to those in celiac disease, including bloating, stomach pain, fatigue, diarrhoea, as well as pain in the bones and joints.
Some research indicates that about 0.5 and 1.0 percent of people in the US and UK are sensitive to gluten due to celiac disease, which constitutes an abnormal immune reaction to partially digested gliadin.

Going gluten-free can be difficult at first since you’ll need to learn to read labels of the packets that you bought and identify foods without gluten. If you are allergic then consult your dietitian, they can help you to plan a nutritious gluten-free diet to eliminate symptoms of celiac disease or non-celiac gluten sensitivity. When eating out, ask your server what ingredients are used in food, whether this food is gluten free..

Under regulation of Codex alimentarious and WHO every producer have to mention whether product contains gluten or gluten free on the packaging, To inform consumer about gluten in the product they are consuming.

Reason behind burning throat when you drink soft drinks!!

The carbonation in soda/soft drinks is a primary ingredient.This is carbon dioxide dissolved in water,this forms carbonic acid,which is a weak acid responsible for the tangy  taste and also slight burning feeling when going down to your throat.Some sodas also have other acid added such as coca- cola which added ascorbic acid also adding flavour and burning taste.

Carbonation or fizz is the process of dissolving carbon dioxide in a liquid. The process usually involves carbon dioxide under high pressure. When the pressure is reduced, the carbon dioxide is released from the solution as small bubbles, which causes the solution to become fizzy.

Carbon dioxide is a harmless, odourless and colourless gas, which is present in the atmosphere and gives beverages a tangy taste and an invigorating drink sensation.

Do you know about cheese?

1. Cheese was first used as diet about  2500 year ago.
2. Cheddar cheese was first time originated in England.
3. 100 g cheddar cheese gives about 400 calories
4. Fat content in cheddar cheese is 33 %
5. Colour used in cheddar cheese is not more than 20 ml/100 kg milk
6. Average salt in cheddar cheese is 1.5 %
7. Amount of rennet in cheddar cheese is 15-20 ml/100 lit milk
8. Paraffining of cheese is done for reducing moisture
9. Cottage cheese is made from skim milk
10. Fat content in cottage cheese is 1-2 %
11. Processed cheese is the modified form of natural cheese
12. Fat % in processed cheese should not less than 40 %
13. Eye formation is the quality of Swiss cheese
14. Eye formation in cheese is due to Propionibacterium shermanii
15. Mozzarella cheese originated in Italy
16. Mozzarella cheese is used for pizza making
17. Raw material for mozzarella cheese is cow milk
18. Rind rot is the defect of cheese due to excess acidity
19. Vegetable rennet is obtain from Withania coagulans plant seed
20. Limburger cheese is originated in Belgium
21. Gouda cheese is found in Holland
22. Kumiss is prepared from Mare’s milk
23. Kumiss is used for treating Tuberculosis
24. Kefir is prepared from Goat milk
25. Whole milk curd contain 5-8% fat
26. Sweetened curd contains 6.25% sugar
27. Butter flavour is due to Diacetyl
28. Ice cream should not contain less than 10% fat
29. Superization is a type of pasteurization
30. Whey has green colour

What happen when you consume too much of salt in your diet

Salt is vital for proper functioning of nervous system, without salt electrolyte balance of blood will be impacted, and you might go unconscious if enough salt is not provided to your body. However excess  of salt needs to be filtered out by your kidney in form of urine.  So if you increase your salt intake , your kidney will be overloaded, this slows down water filtering from the blood, hence blood pressure will increase.

The unwanted fluid of your blood is filtered and removed by kidney in the form of urine. To do this your kidney use osmosis process to remove extra water out of your blood. This osmosis process use a balance of sodium and potassium to pull the water from the bloodstream into a collecting channel that is bladder.So when we increase the amount of salt in our diet, the amount of sodium increases in your bloodstream and breaks the delicate balance of sodium and potassium, it reduces the ability of kidney to remove water. This extra fluid and strain on the delicate blood vessels ,result high blood pressure.

Prolonged high intake of salt , will overload kidney and might damage your kidney. Once the blood pressure raised due to too much salt intake may damage the arteries, leading to the brain and heart and causes a slight reduction in the amount of blood reaching to the heart and brain. In this condition heart and brain don't work as well as they should, because they are not receiving enough oxygen and nutrients. If this happen over the time the part of your brain and heart that was not receiving blood from longer time ,it dies and results heart attack.

On the other hand in low blood pressure may help to reduce some of the problems.

How to prevent fruits and vegetables from turning brown in colour after cutting?

Some fruits (pears, bananas, peaches, apple),and vegetables(potatoes) turn brown in colour after cutting because there is a enzyme called poly phenol oxidase or tyrosinase present in the cells ,after cutting when these iron containing phenol comes in contact of air it produce a set of reactions You see the browning when the fruit is cut or bruised because these actions damage the cells in the fruit, allowing oxygen in the air to react with the enzyme and other chemicals, called enzymatic browning.
How to prevent:
 When you cut fruits like banana, pear ,and apples that you don't want to turn brown ,just squeeze some lemon juice over them.No need to measure a certain amount,you can use fresh or bottled lemon juice .Now cover the fruits tightly with plastic wrap.

Reaction:

Use stainless steel to remove onion/garlic odour from your fingers

Most of the Indian woman are home makers, but they don't like the smell of  onion and  garlic  coming from their fingers after chopping onions/garlic .One household tip for removing this odour from your hand is to rub your hand across the blade of the stainless steel knife.

As we know Onions and garlic contain sulphur compound ,When you cut an onion ,you break cells releasing their content. Amino acid sulfoxides from sulfenic acid .Enzymes that were kept separate now produce a gas that  react with water in  your eyes , These compounds are responsible for burning your eyes while cutting and also for characteristic odours. If these sulphur compounds bind with steel during rubbing your finger, then the odour will remove from your fingers. This trick can works but only up to a point.

Passport in Bangalore took 45 days (My Experience)

Getting a fresh Tatkal passport is not an easy deal, in Bangalore APO asked me to get Annexure-F despite its clearly written that 3 out of 12 listed documents is sufficient for applying in tatkal on passport website. 

Annexure F is a document a normal human being can not get, as it requires an IPS or IAS officer to certify you that you are not a criminal, so unless you have a very close relative , you can not get annexure F done legally (optionally you can bribe some IAS IPS to get this done) . 

So after visiting PSK twice I could not apply in tatkal despite I had 3 out of 12 listed documents along with Age and address proof.  . Now since I can not convert my tatkal appointment into normal I could not apply normal on the same appointments and most recent next appointment was only available in Hubli (yes, I applied at Hubli despite I am From bangalore) ) on Jan 7th. I took it as I needed the passport in urgent. 

Now here is what happened after that 

• Jan 7th : Applied for passport at PSK , very smooth process due to TCS managed PSKs.
• Jan 8th:  Police Verification reached nearest Police Station.
• Jan 10th:  Police Verification Done , Reached Police Commissioner office.
• Jan 11th  and 12th : was weekend and 
• Jan 13th:  Evening , Status changed to "PV Done and Passport printing is in progress" 

This is where government stupid employees show up there true work ethics. Status show "printing is in progress" but in real Police Verification was sent to my Allahabad address where I stayed in last 1 year. Status was absolutely misleading. I approached RPO to convert my application into Tatkal , but completely rude officer outright rejected my request saying proof of urgency is required, and no way you can submit proof of urgency of your husband. My Husband had a urgent Job , and he was travelling on work visa to USA, he had proof of urgency , and since I am his wife clearly his urgency applies to me as well. But the idiot sitting at the RPO out right rejected my request, asking me to produce proof my urgency.   

Anyhow ignorant of all this around 25th Jan I knew from my uncle that Police visited my house for police verification. I requested my brother to follow up with police to make sure PV process completes sooner. 

After this by Jan 30th My PV at both the address was done and status show that. 

"Your police verification is received and you passport will be dispatched once report is found clear" , we hoped to get it fast , as many people think that passport delays happen only due to Police verification, but this is not true RPO offices are full of stupid people. After waiting a week long , I decided to reach RPO again. To my surprise I ended up dealing with same idiot and he said your passport can only be dispatched after 1 month (already one month is over) My husband was traveling in 2 weeks , I am not a native of bangalore. If I would not got the passport I had to stay separate from my husband in Bangalore all alone just to receive my passport. I broke down at the counter, this officer was extremely loud and not ready to listen to me at all. I stayed and waited and spoke to another counter where a lady was sitting, she was nice, and asked me to produce proof of urgency of my husband , I provided and then she asked me to meet APO. 

After meeting APO , she told me that I will get passport issued on Feb 13. As she said I got it dispatched on Feb14 and I received the passport on the same date.

45 days long agony got over!!

Learnings: 

1. Police verification is not blocks your passport, if followed up properly.
2. RPO is full on indian shitty government officers.