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Depression has its impact on your general health as well

Depression, clinical or physiological, takes a great toll on your system in more ways than one. ”You may see a higher incidence of colds or infections in patients with depressive mentality,” says Katherine Muller, a clinical psychologist at the Center for Integrative Psychotherapy in Allentown, Pa.

But all is not lost, as they say. Or as Aamir Khan would say, ’All is Well’. Here are the ways how depression impacts you. Remember that if you find more than four of these happening to you, you can easily conclude that you are clinically depressed and get help immediately.

1. Immunity lowers: Chronic depression lowers your overall immunity. You become prone to common and infectious diseases and fall sick often.

2. Increase in stress hormones: When coritsol and norepinephrine levels go up, risk of stress related diseases like stroke increase.

3. Dietary hassles: You either lose appetite or eat more than your usual self this can lead to anorexia or obesity

4. Libido loss: Appetite for sex also goes down when you feel blue. Actually, sex can be a great stress reliever, but if clinically depressed, you might find yourself in no mood.

5. No energy: One finds it difficult to do simple things like getting up to get oneself a glass of water. Low energy levels can impact other activities too.

6. Sleep pattern disrupt: One can feel sleep deprived or just find it difficult to sleep because ”the body isn’t getting cues it needs to sleep,” says Barbara E. Ensor, Ph.D., a psychologist at Stella Marin, a long-term care facility in Timonum. Over sleeping is also possible for otherwise light sleepers as their body energy levels are so low that they don’t want to get up. Also, they tend to shut off their problems through sleep.

7. Chronic pain: Because of constant strain and stress on muscles, muscles start paining leading to chronic back and leg pain.

8. Digestive disorder: Stress takes its toll on your digestive system causing constipation or diarrhea.Read more here:formal dresses adelaide

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Hogging on desserts negatively impacts your health due to their richness in added sugars and solid fats, such as butter and margarine.

Your craving for a slice of store-bought chocolate cake may contain 235 calories and that of a slice of cheesecake can have more than 1,000 calories! There is no substitute for this hunger, but you can choose healthier alternatives and tweak your age old dessert recipes that can lower the amount of empty calories you consume.

We unveil 20 healthy desserts with less than 160 calories, provided you eat them within responsible portions!

Mixed halwa (71 Calories)

Ingredients

3/4 cup grated bottle gourd (doodhi / lauki)

3/4 cup grated carrot

3/4 cup grated beetroot

1 3/4 cups low fat milk

1 1/2 tbsp sugar substitute

1/4 cup low fat mava (khoya)

1/4 tsp cardamom (elaichi) powder

1 tsp ghee

For the garnish: 1 tsp finely chopped almonds

Chocolate mousse (150 calories)

Chocolate mousse can have 380 calories and 14 grams of fat. This version has less than half the calories and a third the fat!

Ingredients

1 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt

1/2 cup cocoa powder, unsweetened, sifted

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup semisweet or dark chocolate chips

1/2 cup liquid egg whites, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

Optional- diced strawberries, raspberries, segmented oranges or sliced bananas for garnish (nutrition info not included)

Fruits in chocolate sauce

Cut up any seasonal fruits like mangoes, litchees, melons or berries, pour some dark chocolate sauce and garnish with brown sugar if you want. A bowl of this is enough to satiate your craving for something chocolate and something sweet

Blueberry muffins (150 calories)

Ingredients

Wet-1/2 cup nonfat milk

1/4 cup egg beaters

1 single-serve cup cinnamon applesauce

1 single-serve cup chobani nonfat vanilla greek yogurt

1/4 cup honey

Dry – 1 cup oats

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix-ins- 1 1/2 cups frozen bluberries

1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Biscuits (85 calories)

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsbp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 cup light margarine (40% fat) chilled

1 cup (8 oz.) plain low-fat yogurt

1 tsp. honey

Pineapple orange banana smoothie (150 calories)

Ingredients

Banana

2 cups non-fat yogurt

1/2 cup sliced pineapple

1 cup orange juice

Directions

In a blender blend all ingredients together until smooth.

Tip: You can have a really yummy ice candies if you freeze the smoothie in molds.

Peanut butter cookies (87 calories)

Ingredients

1 cup peanut butter

1.5 cup granular Splenda

1 egg

Directions

Mix together all ingredients. Roll into balls and place on cookie sheet. Dip fork in Splenda and press cookies. Bake at 150 for 10-12 minutes.

Fruit salad (140 calories)

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups grapes

1 medium apple, peeled and cut into pieces

Slices of pineapples

1 Orange

1 medium banana cut into slices

Pecans and nuts (optional)

Directions

Wash grapes, peel apple and chop, peel and slice bananas. Mix all fruit into a serving bowl.

Banana oats muffin

Ingredients

2 3/4cup mashed bananas

2 tbs oil, 1 egg

1/2cup fat-free milk

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

2/3cup whole-wheat flour

1/2cup quick-cooking oats

1/4cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt, cooking spray

Method

Preheat oven to 375o. Mix all ingredients together – starting with the wet ingredients and then adding the dry ingredients. Pour into a baking tray. Bake for 18-20mins or until a wooden pick placed in the center comes out clean.

Chocolate chunk oat cookies

Ingredients

Promise fat-free buttery spread, 2 tbsp

Nestle Chocolatier Premium Baking Dark Chocolate (53%) Chunks 0.5 cup

Skim milk, 0.5 cup

Natural oats, 0.75 cup

Eggbeaters, 0.5 cup

Splenda packets, 9 serving

Hershey’s unsweetened cocoa powder, 2 tbsp

Flour, white, 1.25 cup

Granulated sugar, 0.5 cup

Splenda brown sugar blend, 0.75 cup

Carrot cake with coconut and walnut

Ingredients

2 cups almond flour (I imported mine but you can just as easily make it by grinding skinless almonds together in a mixer until they are slightly course and powdery)

2 ½ tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

¾ cup chopped walnuts

1 cup flaked coconut

3 med-large carrots, grated

3 ripe bananas, mashed

½ cup coconut milk

3 eggs

¼ cup honey

Method

In a large bowl, mix the almond flour with the baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Mix in the walnuts, coconut, and carrots. Set a side. In another bowl, mix the bananas, coconut milk, eggs, and maple syrup. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir.

Transfer batter to a greased, parchment-lined loaf pan (9x5x3) and bake at 180 degrees for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Leave it to cool.

Figs or pears in honey and cinnamon

Ingredients

500 gms fresh figs

500 ml dessert wine

3 tbsp honey

2 cinnamon sticks

Vanilla essence

Method

Lightly toss the figs in a non-stick pan. Add the cinnamon sticks, honey and vanilla essence. Let the mixture cool so that it is just warm, pour the wine and serve with low-cal vanilla ice cream if desired. You can replace the figs with pears too.

Low-fat rice kheer

Ingredients

300ml milk

130gms of milk powder

Half cup rice

7-10 almonds

3-4 teaspoons of sugar

Half teaspoon powdered cardamom powder

Method

Add 150ml milk to a bowl, and add 130gms of milk powder while stirring. Keep aside. Pour another 150ml milk in a deep pan on medium heat. Now add half cup washed and soaked rice to the pan and boil for 8-12 minutes. Add the milk mix you’d kept aside and boil for another 5 minutes. Keep stirring. Skin about 7-10 almonds (pre-soaked) and cut them into long slivers. Add these almond slivers with 3-4 teaspoons of sugar and half teaspoon powdered cardamom powder to the boiling mixture. Serve hot, warm or cold.

Almond burfi

Ingredients

125gms sugar

50ml water

250gms of almond meal

3-4 sheets of varak

Method

Add 125gms (or less as per taste) sugar in a deep pan and add 50ml water. Boil till you get a thick, lace-like syrup. This should take about 6-7 minutes. Now take it off the flame and add 250gms of almond meal to the sugar syrup. Stir well to avoid lumps. Once it cools, it’ll become thick. This is when you transfer it to a slightly greased surface and roll out to the desired burfi thickness. Let it cool and add 3-4 sheets of varak (edible silver foil used for sweets). Let it sit for an hour and then cut into squares or diamonds.

Simple baked apples (120 calories)

Ingredients

6 apples (peeled cored and sliced)

12 cup white sugar

3 tbsps all-purpose flour

12 tsp ground cinnamon

12 tsp ground nutmeg

14 tsp ground cloves

12 cup raisins

12 cup chopped walnuts

12 cup milk

Cheesecake

This delicious cheesecake has the goodness of real foods like nuts and honey and none of that processed flour and sugar.

Ingredients

200 g ground almonds

60 g (or thereabouts) of unsalted butter

3 teaspoons of (cinnamon/ginger/nutmeg/cloves/all spice in any combination according to taste)

2 eggs, separated

300 g ricotta cheese

200 g soft cream cheese

3 dessertspoons of liquid honey

1 lemon, rind and juice

1 orange, rind and juice

Method

Melt the butter and then gradually add the spices and ground almonds to form a ’crumb/thick paste’.Pour into a lined greased tin (10 x 8 inch) and use the back of a spoon to press the mixture evenly to form a base. Place in oven at 130 deg C for about 5-10 minutes to ’dry off’. Don’t allow it to brown at all.Remove from oven.

Mix egg yolks, cheeses, honey and the rind and juice of the lemon and orange. Separately whisk the egg whites until firm and then fold them into the cheese mixture to form a smooth paste.Pour the mixture onto the crumb base and bake in the oven at 130 deg C for around 20 – 25 mins until golden and set.

Leave to cool completely before cutting into portions.

Best served chilled with fresh fruits of the season and store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Sooji halwa

Semolina (sooji) has low glycemic index and is digested more slowly, it is beneficial for those wanting to control their body weight and blood sugar level.

Ingredients

1 ½ cup Sooji

½ teaspoon ghee

3 cups water

1 cup sugar

1 tbsp canola oil or low fat butter

Grated nuts and raisins for garnishing

Coarsely powdered cardamom

Method

In a small bowl, add sugar to the water and mix properly. In a frying pan, take some ghee and sooji and keep stirring continuously until the semolina turns light brown in color. To this, add the oil or butter and continue cooking on low flame. Add the grated cardamom, raisins and nuts to this mixture and then slowly add the water-sugar solution. Always remember to continue stirring as you add the sugar solution. As the water evaporates, add the remaining nuts and serve hot.

Strawberry popsicles

Ingredients

1 pint fresh strawberries

2 tbsp sugar dissolved in 2 tbsp warm water

25 g yogurt

Method

Blend strawberries until they are pureed. Stir in sugar and water. Stir in yogurt. Pour into Popsicle molds and freeze for 4-6 hours.

Badam phirni recipe

This is yet another low fat festive sweet recipe that is preferred by people of all age-groups.

Ingredients

3 cups rice

21/3 cups skimmed milk

Powdered cardamom seeds

Sugar to taste and 10-15 silvered

Grated almonds

For garnishing, you can use silver foil or warak

Method

For a few hours (2-3 hours), soak the rice in water so that it becomes soft for grinding. Next, drain the water and grind the rice into a smooth paste. In a skillet, bring the milk to boil under medium flame and then add the rice. Allow the rice to cook for some time until a thick consistency is achieved. To this, add the cardamom powder and nuts and the transfer inside the refrigerator. Prior to serving, garnish with the silver foil.

Sweet rice pudding

Heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a deep pan, add 7-8 cloves and stir for a minute. Now add 1cup water, half teaspoon turmeric powder, and bring to a boil. Add 1cup pre-washed and soaked rice to the pan. Partially cover the pan, and cook the rice for 15 minutes (on low). Now add half teaspoon cardamom powder, sugar to taste (about 5 teaspoons) and raisins. Keep stirring and cook for another 5 minutes.

Remove from heat when all water evaporates. Garnish with slivered nuts.Read more here:red formal dresses