Vijay's Blog

Dietary Fibre

2011-10-08T08:17:00.000+11:00

What is fibre?
Dietary fibre is a component of all plant materials. It is mainly made up of types of carbohydrate that your body can’t digest or absorb, and is found in cereals such as wheat bran and oat bran, legumes (e.g. lentils, beans and peas), nuts, and fruits and vegetables. Foods such as meat, fish, eggs, milk and cheese do not contain fibre.
A diet that’s high in fibre is good for your health. High-fibre diets can help:
prevent and relieve bowel problems such as constipation, haemorrhoids, diverticular disease, and irritable bowel syndrome;
improve cholesterol levels in the blood;
reduce your risk of heart disease;
reduce your risk of diabetes; and
reduce your risk of certain types of cancer developing.
Fibre and weight loss
Eating food that’s high in fibre can also help if you’re trying to lose weight. That’s because foods that are higher in fibre make you feel fuller for longer; take longer to chew, reducing meal size; and tend to be less energy-dense than other foods, meaning that they contain fewer kilojoules for the same amount of food.
Soluble and insoluble fibre
Fibre is classed as either soluble or insoluble, depending on whether or not it dissolves in water. Insoluble fibre — sometimes referred to as roughage or bulk — is the best type for relieving constipation because it increases stool volume, as well as the movement of material through your digestive system. Good sources of insoluble fibre include whole-wheat flour, wheat bran, certain vegetables, and nuts.
On the other hand, soluble fibre is the best type of fibre for improving cholesterol and blood sugar levels. This type of fibre combines with water to form a gel-like material, and can help slow down the absorption of sugar. It is found in foods such as oats, citrus fruit, barley and beans.
How much fibre is enough?
According to the Nutrient Reference Values for Australia and New Zealand (developed by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and the Department of Health), adult women should eat at least 25 grams of fibre daily, while men should eat at least 30 grams. Pregnant women over the age of 18 should consume 28 grams of fibre every day, and women who are breastfeeding need 27-30 grams each day.
The NHMRC has also stated that increasing fibre intake even further — up to 38 grams per day for men and 28 grams per day for women — may reduce the risk of developing chronic disease (such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes). And if you get this added fibre by adding extra legumes, fruit and vegies to your diet, you will also increase your intake of antioxidant vitamins and folate, further improving the health benefits.
Unfortunately, most Australians only get about two-thirds of the daily fibre they need, and many people are unsure which foods can help boost their daily dose of fibre.
How can I increase my fibre intake?
Here are some tips for increasing your fibre intake:
Try changing from white bread to whole-grain or multi-grain bread.
Substitute white rice and pasta with brown rice and whole-wheat pasta.
Eat a breakfast cereal that contains lots of oats or bran.
Try to fit in at least 5 serves of vegies and 2 serves of fruit every day.
Add beans or lentils to a casserole.
Instead of chips or chocolate, eat a handful of nuts for a healthy snack.
The amount of soluble and insoluble fibre varies in different foods, so it’s best to eat a wide variety of high-fibre foods. And while it’s possible to increase your fibre intake with fibre supplements, these supplements don’t contain the vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that are found in foods.
When you are buying packaged foods, it’s important to remember that not all foods that are labelled as ‘high in fibre’ actually contain a lot of fibre. It’s safest to read the food label to check just how many grams of fibre they contain.
Also, if you are planning on increasing the amount of fibre you eat, it may be wise to increase it slowly to reduce bloating and gas. Try adding in the additional fibre over a period of a couple of weeks. And remember to drink plenty of fluids too — this helps the fibre pass through your system.
What is the fibre content of different foods?
Take a look at our table to find out the approximate fibre content of some different foods.

Fibre content of different foods
Food	Total fibre in grams (g)
Bread
Bread, rye, 1 slice	2.0 g
Bread, whole-wheat, 1 slice	1.9 g
Bread, multi-grain, 1 slice	1.8 g
Bread, raisin, 1 slice	1.1 g
Bread, Italian, 1 slice	0.9 g
Bread, white, commercial, 1 slice	0.6 g
Breakfast cereals
All Bran, 45 g — 1 serve	12.4 g
Sultana Bran, 45 g	6.4 g
Just Right Original, 45 g — 1 serve	3.8 g
Instant porridge, 1 sachet	3.4 g
Weet Bix, 2 biscuits	3.3 g
Cornflakes, 45 g	1.2 g
Rice Bubbles, 45 g	0.5 g
Fruit
Pear (medium), with skin	5.1 g
Mango	4.1 g
Apple (medium), with skin	3.3 g
Orange (medium)	2.4 g
Banana (medium)	1.9 g
Strawberries, 5	1.3 g
Vegetables
Green peas, 1 cup	8.8 g
Potato (medium), baked, skin on	4.6 g
Sweet corn, off cob, 1 ear	4.5 g
Parsnip, 0.5 cup, slices — 80 g	2.8 g
Sweet corn, canned, 110 g	2.3 g
Potato, peeled and boiled	1.9 g
Carrot (medium)	1.8 g
Tomato, raw	1.5 g
Nuts
Pistachio, 100 g	9.0 g
Almonds, 100 g	8.8 g
Brazil, 100 g	8.5 g
Mixed tree nuts, 100 g	7.7 g
Walnut, 100 g	6.4 g
Cashew, 100 g	5.9 g
Legumes
Lentils, 1 cup	15.6 g
Baked beans, tinned, 1 cup	13.9 g
Red kidney beans, tinned, 1 cup	13 g
Snacks
Muesli bar, fruit, 100 g	4.0 g
Popcorn, air-popped, 3 cups	3.6 g
Mars bar	0.9 g
Potato chips, plain, 10 chips	0.8 g
Cheese crackers, 4	0.3 g
Pasta and rice
Spaghetti, whole-wheat, cooked, 1 cup	6.3 g
Rice, brown, cooked, 1 cup	3.5 g
Spaghetti, white, cooked, 1 cup	2.4 g
Rice, white, long grain, cooked, 1 cup	0.9 g

Black & White

2010-09-18T23:12:00.001+10:00

Black & White, originally uploaded by vijay_chennupati.

Colourful

2010-09-18T23:10:00.001+10:00

Colourful, originally uploaded by vijay_chennupati.

Abi making faces

2010-06-12T11:47:00.001+10:00

Abi making faces, originally uploaded by vijay_chennupati.

Parrot

2010-05-30T16:34:00.001+10:00

20100530 017, originally uploaded by vijay_chennupati.

Flowers

2010-05-30T16:31:00.001+10:00

20100530 021, originally uploaded by vijay_chennupati.

Beautiful bush flower

2010-04-26T13:34:00.001+10:00

Beautiful bush flower, originally uploaded by vijay_chennupati.

Springwood to Martin falls walking track in Blue mountains, sydney

Raavan - Teaser

2010-04-17T22:41:00.001+10:00

Schmap widget for Sydney

2009-07-24T22:21:00.001+10:00

Common sense

2009-07-11T19:46:00.000+10:00

An Obituary printed in the London Times - Interesting and sadly rather true.

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, *Common Sense*, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
- Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
- Why the early bird gets the worm;
- Life isn’t always fair;
- and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.
Common Sense took a beating when you couldn’t defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.
Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;
I Know My Rights
I Want It Now
Someone Else Is To Blame
I’m A Victim

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.

Brilliant !!!! Absolutely brilliant !

Flickr

2009-07-02T22:02:00.002+10:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Here is the link to my photos at Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/vijay_chennupati

National Geographic's best pictures of the year

2009-05-31T08:59:00.004+10:00

Some pics., of interest during India's General Elections '09

2009-05-26T17:14:00.004+10:00

Strange buildings of the world

2009-05-26T08:16:00.008+10:00

Ripley's Building ( Ontario , Canada )
Wooden Gagster House ( Archangelsk , Russia )
Erwin Wurm: House Attack ( Viena , Austria )
Nakagin Capsule Tower ( Tokyo , Japan )
The Ufo House ( Sanjhih , Taiwan )
Hang Nga Guesthouse a.k.a Crazy House ( Vietnam )
. Cubic Houses ( Rotterdam , Netherlands )
Habitat 67 ( Montreal , Canada )
Wonderworks ( Orlando , Florida , United States )
Kansas City Public Library ( Missouri , United States )
The Basket Building ( Ohio , United States )
Ferdinand Cheval Palace a.k.a Ideal Palace ( France )
The Torre Galatea Figueres ( Spain )
Forest Spiral - Hundertwasser Building ( Darmstadt , Germany )
The Crooked House (Sopot, Poland)

cost of living in sydney

2009-05-14T18:23:00.004+10:00

cost of living in sydney has raised significantly in past year. transport fares, electricity rates, water rates, grocery prices etc., all went up considerably eating away into house hold budgets.

But why we have to pay for the state governments mismanagement. Consider the millions of money paid to city rail contractors for work which is never done or the kick backs received by the higher management in city rail.

while the families are struggling to make the ends meet government ministers are devouring on gourmet lunches paid by tax payers money. where is the accountability and responsibility. is this the jinx of being in a democracy.

Stunning Photos

2009-04-06T16:16:00.007+10:00

Paintings on Feather

2009-04-06T16:08:00.010+10:00

Impossible Pictures

2009-03-07T23:23:00.017+11:00

FOCUS ON THE DOT!

14.NEXT? FIND THE FACES:

13.NEXT: What do you see here? Do you see the word "LIFT"? Or, a bunch of black splotches ?

GIRLS ARE ABLE TO SPOT THE WORD "LIFT" EASILY. MEN FIND IT DIFFICULT TO SEE THE WORD "LIFT"!!!

A face? ... Or, the word 'liar' ?

11.Who is the tallest?

10.DO YOU SEE FOUR PEOPLE?

9. How many pillers are there ,three or two ??????????? Look at the middle column. Where does it end?

8.In the forest there are five hidden deers....... .Can you find all of them???????? ?

7.water fall or human fall???

6.live carpet

5.Impossible ring

How many people are there ????????

How many horses are there in this picture? Should find 7 ............ ....

Are they audiences or buildings ?????

Are they ships or pillers!!!!

Female Driving

2009-03-07T23:03:00.003+11:00

Photographs from Indian History

2009-03-07T22:44:00.009+11:00

The daughter of an Indian maharajah seated on a panther she shot, sometime during 1920s.

See what India was at 1835......

Women gather at a party in Mumbai ( Bombay ) in 1910

A rare view of the President's palace and the Parliament building in New Delhi

A group of Dancing or nautch girls began performing with their elaborate costumes and jewelry .

The Grand Trunk Road , built by Sher Shah Suri, was the main trade route from Calcutta to Kabul .

Must try - INDIA

2009-01-24T09:37:00.005+11:00

Please click on the image to enlarge.

Some trivia about Warren Buffet

2009-01-24T09:34:00.003+11:00

1. He bought his first share at age 11 and he now regrets that he started too late!

2. He bought a small farm at age 14 with savings from delivering newspapers.
3. He still lives in the same small 3-bedroom house in mid-town Omaha, that he bought after he got married 50 years ago. He says that he has everything he needs in that house. His house does not have a wall or a fence.
4. He drives his own car everywhere and does not have a driver or security people around him.
5. He never travels by private jet, although he owns the world's largest private jet company.
6. His company, Berkshire Hathaway, owns 63 companies. He writes only one letter each year to the CEOs of these companies, giving them goals for the year. He never holds meetings or calls them on a regular basis. He has given his CEO's only two rules. Rule number 1: do not lose any of your share holder's money. Rule number 2: Do not forget rule number 1.
7. He does not socialize with the high society crowd. His past time after he gets home is to make himself some pop corn and watch Television.
8. Bill Gates, the world's richest man met him for the first time only 5 years ago. Bill Gates did not think he had anything in common with Warren Buffet. So he had scheduled his meeting only for half hour. But when Gates met him, the meeting lasted for ten hours and Bill Gates became a devotee of Warren Buffet.
9. Warren Buffet does not carry a cell phone, nor has a computer on his desk.

His advice to young people: "Stay away from credit cards and invest in yourself and Remember:
A. Money doesn't create man but it is the man who created money.
B. Live your life as simple as you are.
C. Don't do what others say, just listen them, but do what you feel good.
D. Don't go on brand name; just wear those things in which u feel comfortable.
E. Don't waste your money on unnecessary things; just spend on them who really in need rather.
F. After all it's your life then why give chance to others to rule your life."

Lessons learned the hard way

2009-01-21T11:00:00.002+11:00

An interesting article on financial planning that i came across today worth sharing.

A generation of investors began the New Year wiser but poorer courtesy of the global financial crisis of 2008.The lessons of last year are likely to reverberate for many years to come. So it is worthwhile to capture the key lessons - while painfully fresh - as a useful reminder for portfolio reviews in the years ahead.

Lesson 1: Risk is not to be under rated.
In the good times we cannot be complacent about risk. It may have taken market events the likes of which we haven't seen for 70 years to demonstrate it but when risk cannot be accurately priced basically anything can happen. Past performance and valuations are rendered irrelevant at that point. Just ask investors in any of the major US investment banks.

Lesson 2: Markets are powerful forces
The events of 2008 surely puts beyond doubt the notion that as individual investors we can somehow outsmart and swim against market currents.

In a year when it seemed most accepted investment approaches failed to deliver the importance of your asset allocation decision was underscored in red ink.

Clearly how much you have in the various asset classes is the most important decision you make. The corollary to that is the need to be disciplined and rebalance around your target asset allocation to make sure overconfidence and risk does not creep up with buoyant markets.

Lesson 3: Invest in what you understand.
Innovation became a dirty word in terms of investment products. Engineered products like mortgage-backed CDOs were claimed to lower risk by diversification- they actually built a pyramid of systemic risk that ultimately came crashing down on the very people who developed them. They were exposed as wealth creation vehicles for investment bankers simply interested in selling more and more and therein lay the seed of the boom's bust. Investors are entitled to ask how so many smart people got it so wrong: greed and hubris surely were a major part of the answer.

The promises hedge funds and alternative assets generally were exposed and did not deliver on the promises and industry estimates are that around 30% of US hedge funds will shut this year. The lack of transparency and regulation (particularly in the US) meant that many investors did not understand what they were investing in.

Lesson 4: Liquidity is worth something
When credit markets seize up suddenly the value of liquidity is understood and appreciated.

Lesson 5: Ignore the fixed interest markets at your peril
Our willingness to invest more and more of our portfolios in growth markets and shun the unexciting fixed interest world was probably the single biggest mistakes most investors made in the years leading up to 2008. Although the initial impact of the liquidity crisis also affected fixed interest market spreads when the crisis first hit by year end spreads had settled down to more normal ranges. Most impressively investors in high quality fixed interest investments earned double digit returns in 2008 - for example using Vanguard's Index Diversified Bond Fund which invests in 40% Australian fixed interest and 60% international fixed interest as a proxy for fixed interest markets investors earned 11.4% for the year.

It is perhaps salutary to turn back the pages of history and remind ourselves that 50 years or so ago the common investment practice was to have the majority of assets in fixed interest bonds and a small speculative portion in shares. The old-fashioned 1950s approach does not look quite so silly anymore.

Lesson 6: Gearing goes both ways
The most telling sign of over confidence in the ability of equities to deliver long-term returns was the level of gearing or borrowing some investors - with the urging of some advisers -took on.

The combination of borrowed money to buy highly geared products has proven the saddest litany of the 2008. This is also goes to lesson 3 - some of the most "innovative" product developments wrapped up multiple layers of gearing with catastrophic consequences.

Lesson 7: Have a long-term financial plan
If ever there is a year that the financial advice industry has the opportunity to demonstrate its value it ought to be 2009. Strategic asset allocation, risk assessment and portfolio construction are areas where investors will value - and now understand the need - for good advice.

Sadly, the financial planning industry has an ability to shoot itself in the foot. If it were a soccer team it would probably lead the scoring averages for own goals.

The unraveling of the Storm financial gearing model is likely to give the industry its latest black eye.

But there is a need to separate the industry's reputation from the individual adviser. Client feedback and market research has shown over many years that where people have an adviser they trust they give their adviser high scores on client satisfaction criteria.

For 2009 perhaps the challenge is finding that right adviser.

Having a written financial plan is a powerful way of maintaining a portfolio review discipline while making sure the long-term goals are not lost in the emotion of short-term market movements.

A financial plan is the compass to help navigate the storm.

Source: Vanguard Investments

Western culture vs Asian culture

2009-01-19T14:33:00.021+11:00

Understanding of Asian culture vs. Western cultures

Interesting Depiction. It applies to all Asians, including the Indians, Japanese, Thais, Koreans, Indonesian, Malays, etc ...

These icons were designed by Liu Young w ho was born in China and educated in Germany .

Blue --> Westerner Red --> Asian

Opinion

Punctuality

Contacts

Anger

Queue when Waiting

Sundays on the Road

Party

In the restaurant

Travelling

Handling of Problems

Three meals a day

Transportation

Elderly in day to day life

Moods and Weather

The Boss

What's Trendy

Third World standards

2009-01-15T16:25:00.003+11:00

today morning while i was waiting for my train i overheard a rather interesting conversation of my fellow commuters.

women 1: geez ! it is so hot out here and the damn air conditioners doesn't work in our trains. i heard in the news the other day that only a third of city rail trains are air conditioned.

women 2: we are better off than the third world countries where people have to travel on top of the train. i have seen this in india and thailand.

women 1:but the fares are cheaper as well so they can't complain.

I stick with women 1's aurgument. As she mentioned we pay through the nose to use city rail services, but the service we get is sub-standard. No, i'm not whinging about the ontime arrival of time. From my personal experience most of the trains run within 2-5 minutes of their time table.

I'm talking about over crowding during peak time. Imagine this: temp., is 35- 40 degress outside - no air conditioning in the train - train is jam packed - you have to stand 45 min., of your trip.

And why is city rail increasing fares twice a year wihtout any improvement in their service. Why should the customers pay for thier mismanagement (remember all those scandals with city rail maintenance contracts involving top level managers)

Coming back to third world, i won't be bothered to be in crowded bus / train coz' i'm only paying a fraction of what i'm paying for cityrail.