'Turn to old remedies against today's lifestyle disorders'

"We have to go back to our ancient remedies to solve today's problems which includes eating whole grains, drinking enough water and traditional forms of exercise like yoga and pranayama," wellness expert Shikha Sharma said at the Women's Science Congress, being held on the sidelines of the Indian Science Congress here.

Highlighting the role of nutrition in women, she pointed out that due to household responsibilities and safety issues, women do not get a chance to exercise.

"For women who cant go out because of responsibilities at home and lack of safety outside exercising indoors becomes a challenge because they are distracted constantly. So we must look at traditional methods like yoga and pranayama which do not require expensive equipment and can be easy to do," said Sharma.

According to her, superfoods like amla, aloe vera juice and various types of whole grains must be incorporated in women's diets to make up for the increasing consumption of refined and starchy foods.

"Aloe vera juice has detoxifying properties and is good for the skin. Grains like chana dal etc provide the essential fibres and nutrients which are not present in refined foods," she pointed out.

Taking about stress, Sharma advised doing breathing techniques like pranayama to mitigate the problem.

"Stress is nothing but our perception of outside events. To change the perception overnight is not possible so what works is breathing," she said.