To brew, or not to brew- that is the question. This is perhaps how Shakespeare would have explained the dilemma of making yourself a cup of coffee in today's day and age. Each fortnight, one comes across studies or experts who are either singing praises of the beverage or discouraging its intake completely. One of the reasons why coffee has gained a bad reputation in world of health and nutrition is its dehydrating effect on your body. Yes you heard us, coffee has been touted as a beverage that can dehydrate. What is it about coffee that makes it share the blame.

Coffee is known to spike energy levels. However, too much of it can make you make a tour of the washroom a bit too often than usual. And this is precisely what gives coffee the infamous rep. Let us explain how.

The caffeine content of coffee is known to have a mild diuretic effect. It is said that excessive intake of caffeine supposedly increase the blood flow to the kidneys, thereby inhibiting the absorption of sodium, which makes coffee a diuretic. So what is diuretic you ask? Diuretics make your body produce more urine. Since you are running to the toilet so often, there is also more discharge of sodium and water. When you lose too much sodium and water you become dehydrated. The key to make sure you don't lose out on too many nutrients in this form is by counterbalancing it by healthy diet.
While chugging down too many cups of coffee may leave you dehydrated, moderate intake may not register that much of a change. Besides, it is not just coffee, even tea has a mild caffeine content. Overdose of tea could also leave such impact. Coffee has been linked with a variety of positive effects too like sharpening mental and cognitive abilities, managing cholesterol levels and lessening risk of diabetes. Therefore, you don't need to toss away your favourite cuppa all together from your lives. A little moderation is all you need to keep the side effects at bay.

We've all read so much about green tea in the past 10 years, we probably know it's nutritional benefits by heart. It's got antioxidants, it helps in proper digestion and maintain overall good health and a trim waist.

However, some people do not like it's taste. For those who can't stand the taste or colour, there's an inky alternative with little flavour and a host of health benefits to try out.

It is made from the blue pea flower (Clitoria ternatea) also known as Asian pigeonwings or bluebellvine. Originating in Asia, this tea is grown in many warm countries now. It's also found in India where it's called Aparajita and had also been used in Ayurvedic medicine.

It has been found to have a host of health benefits

Detox
It's an antioxidant, like green tea and it is anti-inflammatory. It's also diuretic, promoting urination and can be used to treat people who have difficulty urinating. It contains cyclotides, a peptide that has been shown to possess anti-HIV and anti-tumor properties.

Digestion
It's been found to be help the liver produce more bile, which along with its antioxidant properties helps boost digestion. It's also said to have anti-nausea properties.

Beauty
It's good for the skin as it has anti-glycation properties which helps in preventing skin aging and some flavonoids found in the tea boost collagen production, increasing skin elasticity. It's been used to treat male pattern baldness as it has anthocyanin which is supposed to increase blood flow in the scalp and sustain and fortify hair follicles.

Brain Booster
Blue pea tea has been shown to improve brain function in many ways, unfortunately most of those experiments have been done on rats in lab, however their brains are remarkably similar to ours so the results must apply to us as well.

Are you contemplating giving up smoking for the sake of your asthmatic lungs? Read on - this is for you.

Asthma is an airway disorder which commonly starts in childhood and is essentially an allergic response. Smoking though not directly responsible for asthma, is definitely responsible for worsening the condition of asthmatics.

There is enough evidence which point towards the adverse effects of smoking on asthma. Both active smoking and passive smoking are known to influence asthma in one or the other way.

Here are some FACTS YOU MUST know:

* Smoking is the biggest cause of ill health and premature death-whether you are an asthmatic or not. And hence, you are doubling your risks if you continue to smoke with asthma.

* Cigarette smoke irritates the airways and damages the mucous membranes along the respiratory tract. Thus, worsening your already weak respiratory tract.

* Not only does it permanently damage your airway, but it also causes reasonable damage to your lungs.

* Over and above your existent asthma, you increase your chances of developing chronic airway diseases such as chronic bronchitis (CB) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

* You're more likely to need HIGHER DOSE of asthma prevention medicines. Hence, you will subject your body to more drugs, unnecessarily.

* It INCREASES the frequency of asthmatic attacks.

It is safe to say that smoking and asthma don't go together. QUITTING SMOKING is the most important thing you can do to protect your lungs and prevent your asthma from worsening.

A healthy lifestyle involves many choices. Exercise and eating right is always top-most on that list. As every disease condition has a few do's and don'ts, choosing the right diet plan depending on your health issues is most important. If PCOS is your new-companion these small but important changes in your eating habits can help in alleviating your symptoms, increasing your energy levels and in maintaining your weight.

Ditch Processed and Refined Food: In PCOS, the crux of eating healthy is to consume food which is low in calories and is preservative free. Consuming food in its most natural state prevents our hormones from going berserk. In order to keep them in check cutting down on processed and refined food helps immensely.
Opt for whole gluten-free grains like oats, brown rice, millet and quinoa instead of white flour, pasta and bread.

Skip the Sugar: Women with PCOS have high insulin levels and eating too much sugar will add to their existing problem. Not only that, it also makes losing weight more difficult. Eating fewer sugars and simple carbohydrates can help you lose weight and reduce your risk for diabetes. Avoid sweetened juices, cakes, cookies, sodas and those delectable desserts in your refrigerator.

Opt for food that has natural sugars like fruits, jaggery, honey and dates instead of artificial sugar.

Limit the Liquor: Alcohol consumption increases the risk of developing PCOS by 50% and adds to the hormonal imbalance by upping the oestrogen levels.

Apart from that alcohol gets converted to sugar immediately in our body, thereby raising the already high blood sugar levels even further. So alcohol is definitely a no-no as far as
PCOS is concerned.

If u feel like letting your hair down and a drink is a must, limit yourself to just one glass of wine once in a while.

Stay Away From Salt: One teaspoon of salt contains more than a day's requirement of Sodium and high sodium leads to excessive water retention in our body.

There's been an entire shift in the way we see happiness today. With everything getting temperamental, so is happiness and in the process, it metamorphoses into pleasure. So, exit merrymakers, enter hedonists. For the millennials, the line between happiness and pleasure is completely blighted. When it comes to pointing the perpetrators, there's one that shouldn't escape mention - social media.

We are a digital age that doesn’t remember birthdays, doesn't know about weddings, kids, jobs, promotions, day outs, night ins, everything and nothing without social media. And to say it in the most minimalistic way, its wreaking havoc on us. And on everyone.

Instant gratification and positive feedback

Now, we are a generation that feeds on these two. Why are we tempted to check Facebooks and Instagrams as soon as we get up in the morning? We love people liking and commenting on our posts. Studies have confirmed that social media leads to stronger activity in the brain's nucleus when it receives appreciation on social media.

Why addiction?

Addiction, in simpler words, is getting obsessed with something that provides you pleasure but only short term. This is because when you indulge in things you are addicted to, you get dopamine hits. As soon as your hormone gets back to normal level, you want that hit again. Now, why do we tend towards such short term pleasures? Because of a concept called hedonistic treadmill. In simpler terms, it means that anything that goes on in your life for a long duration becomes normal. For example, when you put your hand in warm water, you feel the difference. But when it has been a while since your hand is in the warm water, you stop recognizing the difference and it becomes the new normal.