SHARAN

Testimonial of Madhavi Barot

Madhavi Barot had become a recluse. She was experiencing hot flushes regularly and just didn’t want to meet anybody. Her body had constant aches and pains. She had terrible mood swings and was suffering from Irritable Bowel Syndrome and frozen shoulder. In just one year of changing her diet, Madhavi is a changed person. Today she is called the Tofu Queen, as she makes the most delicious organic and home- made tofu and conducts cooking sessions for SHARAN! She herself is surprised at her impressive change!

Read on to know about her inspiring journey…

Cold Beetroot Soup

Let this nutrient-dense pink vegetable make your meal wholesome and delicious. Bon Appetit.

Ingredients

• 1/2 kg organic beetroots

• 1 cup vegan sour cream

• 1 cup spring onions, finely chopped

• salt to taste

• 1/4 cup fresh chopped herbs

Method

Wash and steam organic beetroots and put in the blender and make a coarse puree. Add herbs and salt to taste. Pour in a bowl and top with vegan sour cream and finely chopped spring onion greens so that the red, white and green colours provide a contrast. Serve chilled.

Sour cream recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup cashews (broken cashews can be used)

• Juice of 1 lime

• 1/2 tsp salt

Method

Soak the cashews for about 2 hours. Drain the water and put the cashews in a blender. Blend, adding a bit of water till a thick creamy consistency is reached. Add lime juice, salt and blend again. Add more water if needed to get a thick but flowing consistency. It is ready to serve.

Serves 4-5

Food for Thought

FACEBOOK SUPPORT GROUP

If you love Facebook, then join us to be supported on your plant based journey. We offer 3 possibilities from 1st Jan 2016.

1. SHARAN India This is SHARAN’s main Facebook page which you can like and follow for getting useful daily updates and news from the plant based health world. You will also get news about the latest SHARAN events, see testimonials, and more.

2. SHARAN’s Vegan Support Group This is an open support group to know more about vegan/plant-based lifestyle. Here you can ask questions and share inspiring stories, tips, recipes, etc.

3. SHARAN’s Plant Powered Health This is the new group only for the past attendees of SHARAN’s events: seminars, cooking classes, retreats or longer programs.

All our doctors and presenters will be here to answer your questions and give you tips. If you have attended our events join this group to be a part of our family.

Please like the main SHARAN page and join the group(s) applicable to you.

Menopause

Menopause should be considered a graduation in the life of a woman. It’s a change, a reason for celebration, but instead, it’s often associated with age-ing, degeneration, osteoporosis, hot flushes, weight gain, emotional and sleep disturbances, heavy or irregular periods and more. However with a right diet it’s actually possible to bypass all these symptoms and transition into menopause without feeling it.

The average age for menopause is 51 years. The reduction in the production of the hormones – estrogen and progesterone initiates menopause. This is nature’s way of saying these hormones are no longer needed. Hormone replacement therapy is not required at this time. What is required is to understand nature and work with it so as not to suffer from any consequences during this change.

Read on for some facts that you should know and what you can do…

1. Periods will become irregular This occurs in the years leading to menopause, which could be from your thirties to forties.

2. Menopause happens when you have had NO periods for 12 months

3. Early Menopause Is before the age of forty and this usually occurs due to autoimmune disorders or medical treatments such as  chemotherapy, radiation etc.

4. Hot flushes This is a common symptom and can happen at any time of the day over a short or longer period of time. Your upper body temperature begins to rise leading to sweating, dizziness, heart palpitations. After this you may start to feel cold. Caffeine, liquor, spicy foods, smoking, stress and even being over-weight triggers the flushes. The whole plant based diet started well in advance of menopause can minimise or prevent this altogether.

5. Bone loss Menopause can lead to bone loss due to the reduction in estrogen. Contrary to popular beliefs, at this time no calcium supplements are needed simply because our food is not deficient in calcium. Calcium supplements can actually cause harm in the form of atherosclerosis and kidney stones. What is needed is testing the levels of vitamin D and supplementation if necessary.

6. Menopause may increase risk of heart disease Protect yourself with a whole plant based diet which is naturally free of cholesterol and and low in fat.

7. Weight gain Changes in hormonal levels and aging may cause weight gain. Here too, a whole plant based diet and regular exercise can help prevent this.

8. Mood swings, emotional disturbances, depression Regular exercise increases natural endorphins which help with mood changes and irritabilty. Also accepting this change and looking forward to enjoying the freedom from periods, can make it much more easier to sail through this transition. Being busy in productive work will also help a lot in this area.