ISLAMABAD, Dec 26 (APP):The special winter delight Gajar Ka Halwa’ (carrot dessert) demand increased, as citizens of the capital and other parts of the country experience chilly weather.
According to a report aired by a private news channel ,”besides the traditional sweet shops, make shift stalls have also popped up on roadside and markets, where the people buy this winter delight to enjoy it hot with steaming tea.
Large platters of “Gajar ka halwa” adorned with silver vark and crushed nuts are being served in restaurants with windowsills decorated with traditional winter delight.
A seller Hashmat Javed in a local market said that the ingredients for `Gajar ka Halwa’ were identical but every shop has a bit different taste due to added delicacies.
Most people boil carrots in water instead of milk, which is the easier way because it does not have to be slow cooked overnight then.
“However, we add milk, Khoya, ghee and almonds and other nuts to the halwa and our prices are also very reasonable,” he added.
In a cold winter night, there is nothing better than a bite of hot
buttery Halwa followed by a sip of Kashmiri tea,” Huma Seemab, a visitor to a shop said.
Children and younger people can benefit from eating Gajar Halwa but older people should ensure their Halwa contains lesser amounts of ghee as it is rich in cholesterol,” Dr Nasir Mukhtar said.
“It is best to cook halwa at home. If people prefer to buy it from the shops then reputed shops should be selected,” he advised.
………
…………
ISLAMABAD, Dec 26 (APP):The risk of developing an irregular heart rhythm increases as people become overweight or obese, spiking after age 50 for men and age 60 for women, a recent study suggested.
Researchers examined data on almost 80,000 people, ages 24 to 97, in four European studies. When they joined the studies, none of the participants had atrial fibrillation.
After following half of the participants for at least 13 years and some of them for nearly 28 years researchers found that 4.4% of the women and 6.4% of the men had developed atrial
fibrillation.
Compared to people who didn’t develop atrial fibrillation, those who did had a tripled risk of dying during the study period, researchers report in Circulation, The telegraph reported.
Excess weight explained most of the increased risk with atrial fibrillation, said study author Dr. Christina Magnussen of the University Heart Center Hamburg in Germany.
“For each additional 10 pounds, the atrial fibrillation rate increases by 31% in men and by 18% in women,” Magnussen said by email. “As (weight) is a modifiable risk factor, we advise weight reduction for both women and men.”
In atrial fibrillation, the upper chambers of the heart, or atria, quiver instead of beating to move blood effectively.
Few people developed atrial fibrillation before age 50, the study found.
By age 90, roughly one in four men and women had the condition.
High cholesterol didn’t appear to increase the risk of atrial fibrillation. In fact, the opposite held true, especially for women.
The study wasn’t a controlled experiment designed to prove whether or how specific risk factors like high cholesterol or obesity might increase the risk of atrial fibrillation. Some people also might have had undiagnosed atrial fibrillation when they joined the study.
Even so, the results add to the evidence that the risk of atrial fibrillation decreases with weight loss, said Dr. Jonathan C. Hsu, a researcher at the University of California, San Diego, who wasn’t involved in the study.
“As the body ages or gains weight, inflammatory molecules may be released into the blood,” Hsu said by email.
Both men and women can reduce their odds of heart problems such as atrial fibrillation by improving their overall health and losing weight, Hsu added.
“Prior studies have shown that the lifetime risk of developing atrial fibrillation is one in four, with increasing age, elevated blood pressure, obesity, smoking and alcohol consumption being major risk factors, said Dr. Gregg Fonarow, a researcher at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, who wasn’t involved in the study.