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Time of India
2 hours ago
- Health
- Time of India
Sawan 2025: Benefits of Sattvic diet during Shravan and what to eat in your fasting diet
Source: Wikipedia The month of Shravan, also known as Sawan, is a sacred period in the Hindu calendar dedicated to the worship of Lord Shiva. Falling typically between July and August, this spiritually significant month is marked by fasting, prayer, and mindful dietary practices. One such practice is the adoption of a sattvic diet, a mode of eating that is considered not only spiritually purifying but also supportive of physical and mental wellbeing. What is a Sattvic diet? The sattvic diet, derived from the Sanskrit word 'sattva', meaning purity and harmony, is one of the three primary dietary classifications in Ayurveda (along with rajasic and tamasic). It emphasises natural, minimally processed, plant-based foods that are believed to enhance clarity of thought, emotional balance, and overall vitality. Sattvic foods are light, easy to digest, and typically consumed fresh. These include seasonal fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, dairy in moderation, and natural sweeteners like honey. Meals are prepared with minimal oil and spices to preserve the natural energy (prana) of the ingredients. Sattvic diet in Shravan: What to eat and avoid for mind-body balance during Sawan fasting During the spiritually significant month of Shravan, many devotees embrace a sattvic diet to align with the season's cleansing energy and support both physical and mental wellbeing. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Cardiologists Recommend: Eat 1 Teaspoon Tonight – Wake Up With a Flatter Stomach Hollywood News | USA Click Here Undo Sattvic foods to include are fresh fruits, raw or lightly cooked vegetables, whole grains like rice, millets, and barley, sprouted pulses such as moong beans, moderate amounts of nuts and seeds, fresh dairy like milk and paneer, ghee in small quantities, and natural sweeteners like raw honey or jaggery. These meals are best consumed fresh and in a peaceful setting to preserve their life force (prana). Equally important is knowing what to avoid—sattvic principles discourage meat, eggs, onions, garlic, caffeine, alcohol, overly spicy or salty dishes, frozen or microwaved foods, and processed junk. These exclusions are believed to reduce internal restlessness and promote clarity, making them ideal for those seeking a meditative, mindful state during Sawan fasting. Health benefits of a Sattvic diet during Shravan Although rooted in ancient spiritual practice, the sattvic diet offers a wide range of holistic health benefits. It supports not just physical well-being but also emotional and mental clarity—making it an ideal approach during the sacred month of Sawan, when many devotees fast and seek balance. Promotes heart health Sattvic foods like whole grains, fresh fruits, vegetables, and legumes are naturally low in cholesterol and free from trans fats and heavy oils. These ingredients help maintain healthy blood pressure and support overall cardiovascular function—especially important when you're fasting and your body undergoes metabolic changes. Helps balance blood sugar levels The sattvic diet is rich in fibre and avoids processed sugar, making it gentler on blood sugar levels. Regular intake of whole plant foods during Shravan can support steady energy release and reduce the risk of energy crashes or cravings, helping you stay more mindful and focused. Supports digestive health Fresh, seasonal, and minimally spiced meals are easy on the stomach and promote better digestion. Ingredients like leafy greens, cucumbers, fruits, and sprouted grains encourage regular bowel movements and reduce bloating—common issues during seasonal transitions like the monsoon. Reduces internal inflammation Many sattvic ingredients—such as turmeric, ginger, and fresh herbs—are known for their soothing and cleansing effects. By avoiding heavy, fried, and overly spiced foods, this diet helps calm internal inflammation and promotes a sense of lightness and comfort. Improves mental clarity and emotional balance By eliminating stimulants like caffeine and processed snacks, the sattvic diet helps reduce anxiety and mood swings. The emphasis on fresh, nourishing foods combined with the spiritual intention of Shravan fosters mental peace, better sleep, and greater emotional balance. Encourages mindful eating The sattvic approach discourages overeating and promotes conscious, peaceful meals—often eaten slowly and in silence. This helps improve your relationship with food, enhances satiety, and supports better digestion and mindfulness during Shravan fasting. Why the sattvic diet matters during Shravan During Shravan 2025, when devotees engage in spiritual practices like fasting, mantra chanting, meditation, and temple rituals, the sattvic diet serves as a foundational tool to support both physical detoxification and mental clarity. Ayurveda explains that the digestive fire (Agni) is naturally weakened during the monsoon (when Shravan falls), making light and nourishing meals ideal. By following a sattvic diet, individuals allow their body to reset, improve digestion, and enter a state of heightened awareness and devotion. Adopting a sattvic diet during Shravan 2025 offers a powerful opportunity to synchronise one's physical, mental, and spiritual health. Sattvic eating encourages a holistic reset, reducing inflammation, improving cardiovascular function, supporting digestion, and promoting mental peace. As interest in plant-based living and mindful nutrition grows globally, the ancient sattvic dietary philosophy offers a timeless template for wellness—one that is especially relevant during this sacred month of introspection and renewal. Also Read: Why we really crave comfort food: New study reveals the psychology behind emotional eating
Time Business News
19 hours ago
- Business
- Time Business News
How to Safely Add an Agency to Your Google My Business Listing
Do you know, there is a 200% increase in 'near me' searches? It indicates that people are finding… Looking for businesses online. And whenever they visit your nearby location, you would never want to miss that visibility, wouldn't you? This is why creating a well-optimized business profile is necessary. And if you are a business that has taken a wise decision of partnering with a marketing agency, great start! So, if you are planning to give access to a marketing agency, this blog will guide you on how to safely add them to your listing. About 97% of people get to know about local businesses through their Google business profiles. This indicates that Google business listings are now going above websites. Their growing need makes them an essential aspect for any sort of business, whether a physical store or an online one. However, driving traffic and generating leads through these platforms requires extra efforts. And as a business owner who is fully occupied in managing the operations, we know this might be very difficult for you. This is where the role of an online reputation management services Dubai comes into play. Here is how they can help you optimize your business profiles for maximum results. They are aware of the marketing trends. They specialize in using the latest features of the Google My Business listing account. They examine your profile and create a professional appearance They identify areas for improvement and complete your profile Their reports can help you witness real-time results and progress in your business They can run targeted ad campaigns They can create engaging content for your profile Your business profile can have high-quality images that can attract prospects. They can ensure an up-to-date profile that enhances your visibility on Google. Google Business Profile is a feature created by Google for local businesses. It helps them in setting a strong online presence and getting recognized through search results. It will present the following information related to your business. Profile information Business address Operating hours Customer reviews Photos of your business In 2020, businesses experienced a 61% increase in their calls. All thanks to whom? A business profile. All you need to do is have a well-optimized profile that makes it easier for people to get in touch. And for that, consulting with a marketing agency that provides social media management Dubai is your best choice. As an owner of the Google My Business listing profile, you can invite managers to handle your account. If you have started working with a marketing agency, then adding them to your business listing is necessary for getting a well-optimized profile. Here is how you can safely add an agency to your profile. Pro tip : Choose a standout marketing agency that not only manages your Google Business page but also provides services such as Wikipedia Page Creation Dubai . They know more about enhancing online visibility. According to research, more than 5% of people view a Google My Business profile and make a purchase! Considering the number of optimized profiles, this % is massive. So, what are the unique features of Google Business listings that make them a potential source for businesses? The table below will provide an overview of them. Feature Why is it important Company Information Provide all the details to the consumer and encourage quick decisions. Posts Attracts consumers, motivates them to learn more by moving towards your website. Increased Visibility Google business profiles get higher rankings in the search results. This allows businesses to reach the target audience. Insights Offers you a detailed analysis regarding engagement rates, purchase rates, and visibility stats. Reviews Builds credibility among consumers, encourages them to interact with your business. Bookings Facilitates customers with instant appointments without any additional need for calling or texting your business. Free resource Google My Business is a free of cost marketing tool that can boost visibility and drive sales. Live chat Allows businesses to provide quick responses to customer queries. Is it free to list my business on Google? Yes. Business profile creation and listing are free on Google. You can create a free of cost profile and build your online presence. Moreover, with the help of Google and Google Maps, you can increase your visibility and engage with maximum customers online. How to add a manager to my Google My Business listing? Here is how you can add a manager to your Google Business account, Open your business profile Tap on business profile settings Tap the people and access option Choose the user you want to give access to Select their role Click on save What is the full form of GMB? GMB stands for Google Business Profile, which was formerly known as Google My Business. It is a free-of-cost tool that allows businesses to share their information online and set a strong presence on the Google search bar and Google Maps. GMB offers a variety of benefits for local businesses. This free-of-cost marketing tool is an effective way to generate revenue for your business. The secret lies in the right use of this tool, which can only be unlocked by having a marketing expert on your side! By following the simple steps mentioned above, you can easily add an agency to your Google My Business listing. And next, you will witness the huge transformation TIME BUSINESS NEWS
NDTV
19 hours ago
- Science
- NDTV
Humans Are Starting To Sound And Talk Like ChatGPT, Study Shows
The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots, such as ChatGPT, has changed how humans communicate with each other, a new study has claimed. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Germany, found that humans are starting to speak more like ChatGPT and not the other way around. The researchers analysed over 360,000 YouTube videos and 771,000 podcast episodes from before and after ChatGPT's release to track the frequency of so-called 'GPT words'. The outcome showed that ever since ChatGPT became popular, people are using certain words much more often -- words that pop up a lot in AI-generated text. "We detect a measurable and abrupt increase in the use of words preferentially generated by ChatGPT such as delve, comprehend, boast, swift, and meticulous, after its release," the study, published in the preprint server arXiv, highlighted. "These findings suggest a scenario where machines, originally trained on human data and subsequently exhibiting their own cultural traits, can, in turn, measurably reshape human culture. This marks the beginning of a closed cultural feedback loop in which cultural traits circulate bidirectionally between humans and machines." While previous studies have shown that AI models were influencing written communication for humans, it is the first time that research has shown its impact on verbal language. ChatGPT or any other AI model is trained on vast amounts of data using books, websites, forums, Wikipedia, and other publicly available resources. It is then fine-tuned using proprietary techniques and the reinforcement learning process. The end result is a linguistic and behavioural profile that, while rooted in human language, "exhibits systematic biases that distinguish it from organic human communication". "The patterns that are stored in AI technology seem to be transmitting back to the human mind," study co-author Levin Brinkmann told Scientific American. "It's natural for humans to imitate one another, but we don't imitate everyone around us equally. We're more likely to copy what someone else is doing if we perceive them as being knowledgeable or important."
Time of India
20 hours ago
- Health
- Time of India
Are spicy foods good for your health? Science-backed benefits of chilli peppers and capsaicin
Source: Wikipedia Many people love the rush of eating spicy food, but there's more to hot peppers than a burning tongue. A growing body of research suggests that regularly consuming spicy food, particularly chilli peppers, may support everything from heart health to metabolism and even gut health. The secret lies in capsaicin, the compound responsible for the heat. But how exactly does it benefit the body, and how much is too much? Can spicy food really benefit your health? What the research says A 2020 meta-analysis found that people who frequently ate spicy peppers were 25% less likely to die prematurely compared to those who avoided them. The study linked chili pepper consumption with reduced risks of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and respiratory conditions. This promising link between spicy food and longevity is largely attributed to capsaicin's ability to influence the body's metabolic and inflammatory processes. Capsaicin activates a receptor in the body known as TRPV1. This receptor appears to play a role in fat metabolism and appetite regulation by triggering adrenaline release, which helps burn calories and control blood sugar levels. According to a study , capsaicin, the key compound in chili peppers, influences metabolism, gut microbiota, and inflammation, showing potential benefits for heart, brain, and overall systemic health. How chili peppers and spicy food help reduce inflammation and support heart health Inflammation is a major driver of chronic diseases such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Some animal and lab studies have shown that capsaicin may help reduce inflammatory responses by calming overactive immune cells. In human observational studies, people who consumed more chili peppers had better cardiovascular outcomes, such as lower blood pressure and healthier cholesterol levels, than those who didn't. An Italian study found that people who ate chili peppers had broader heart health benefits than those who favored sweet peppers, which contain much less capsaicin. A 2023 study further found that hot peppers tend to contain higher levels of antioxidants and polyphenols—natural compounds that help fight oxidative stress, another key contributor to chronic disease. Interestingly, even moderately hot varieties like jalapeños showed significant antioxidant activity at tolerable heat levels. How to build spice tolerance for long-term health benefits If you're new to spicy food, it's best to start slow. Begin with milder peppers like poblanos or banana peppers, then gradually move to jalapeños and hotter varieties. Regular exposure helps desensitise your tongue's pain receptors, making it easier to enjoy spicier meals, and possibly reap more health benefits. Studies suggests that the health perks of spicy food may also be partly behavioural. When food feels hot in the mouth, people tend to chew more slowly, take smaller bites, and pause between mouthfuls. This slower eating pace can improve digestion and help with portion control, potentially contributing to better weight management and blood sugar stability. Tips for eating spicy food the right way for maximum nutrition Not all spicy food is created equal. Research indicates that fresh or lightly cooked chili peppers retain more nutrients than dried or heavily processed varieties. Red peppers, which are riper and generally hotter than green ones, often contain higher levels of capsaicin, antioxidants, and vitamin C. However, roasting can enhance other beneficial compounds like flavonoids and polyphenols, making a variety of preparations useful for health. Combining spicy peppers with healthy fats like those found in olive oil, avocados, or full-fat dairy can help absorb capsaicin and reduce its burning sensation. This also helps your body better absorb fat-soluble nutrients. Simple ways to incorporate this include infusing olive oil with chili slices or serving peppers alongside guacamole, Greek yogurt, or fermented foods like sauerkraut for added gut benefits. While spicy food isn't a cure-all, research continues to uncover fascinating links between chili peppers and better health. From lowering inflammation to supporting metabolism and enriching gut flora, moderate and regular consumption of spicy peppers may be a smart, flavourful addition to a healthy diet. Just remember: more heat doesn't always mean more benefit, and it's important to listen to your body when introducing new levels of spice. With mindful preparation and gradual adaptation, the fire in your food could offer more than just taste—it could lead to better health. Also Read: Jack Dorsey launches Sun Day app to track UV exposure and vitamin D levels using real-time UV and skin data; here's how it might benefit you
Business Times
a day ago
- Business
- Business Times
AI is killing the Web. Can anything save it?
AROUND the beginning of last year, Matthew Prince started receiving worried calls from the chief executives of large media companies. They told Prince, whose firm, Cloudflare, provides security infrastructure to about a fifth of the Web, that their businesses faced a grave new online threat. 'I said, 'What, is it the North Koreans?',' he recalls. 'And they said, 'No. It's AI'.' Those executives had spotted the early signs of a trend that has since become clear: artificial intelligence is transforming the way that people navigate the Web. As users pose their queries to chatbots rather than conventional search engines, they are given answers, rather than links to follow. The result is that 'content' publishers, from news providers and online forums to reference sites such as Wikipedia, are seeing alarming drops in their traffic. As AI changes how people browse, it is altering the economic bargain at the heart of the Internet. Human traffic has long been monetised using online advertising; now that traffic is drying up. Content producers are urgently trying to find new ways to make AI companies pay them for information. If they cannot, the open Web may evolve into something very different. Since the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022, people have embraced a new way to seek information online. OpenAI, maker of ChatGPT, says that around 800 million people use the chatbot. It is the most popular download on the iPhone App Store. Apple said that conventional searches in its Safari Web browser had fallen for the first time in April, as people posed their questions to AI instead. OpenAI is soon expected to launch a browser of its own. Its rise is so dramatic that a Hollywood adaptation is in the works. As OpenAI and other upstarts have soared, Google, which has about 90 per cent of the conventional search market in America, has added AI features to its own search engine in a bid to keep up. Last year, it began preceding some search results with AI-generated 'overviews', which have since become ubiquitous. In May, it launched 'AI mode', a chatbot-like version of its search engine. The company promises that, with AI, users can 'let Google do the googling for you'. Yet as Google does the googling, humans no longer visit the websites from which the information is gleaned. Similarweb, which measures traffic to more than 100 million Web domains, estimates that worldwide search traffic (by humans) fell by about 15 per cent in the year to June. Although some categories, such as hobbyists' sites, are doing fine, others have been hit hard. Many of the most affected are just the kind that might have commonly answered search queries. Science and education sites have lost 10 per cent of their visitors. Reference sites have lost 15 per cent. Health sites have lost 31 per cent. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up For companies that sell advertising or subscriptions, lost visitors means lost revenue. 'We had a very positive relationship with Google for a long time... They broke the deal,' says Neil Vogel, head of Dotdash Meredith, which owns titles such as People and Food & Wine. Three years ago, its sites got more than 60 per cent of their traffic from Google. Now the figure is in the mid-30s. 'They are stealing our content to compete with us,' adds Vogel. Google has insisted that its use of others' content is fair. But since it launched its AI overviews, the share of news-related searches resulting in no onward clicks has risen from 56 per cent to 69 per cent, estimates Similarweb. In other words, seven in 10 people get their answer without visiting the page that supplied it. 'The nature of the Internet has completely changed,' says Prashanth Chandrasekar, CEO of Stack Overflow, best known as an online forum for coders. 'AI is basically choking off traffic to most content sites,' he notes. With fewer visitors, Stack Overflow is seeing fewer questions posted on its message boards. Wikipedia, also powered by enthusiasts, warns that AI-generated summaries without attribution 'block pathways for people to access…and contribute to' the site. To keep the traffic and the money coming, many big content producers have negotiated licensing deals with AI companies, backed up by legal threats: what Robert Thomson, CEO of News Corp, has dubbed 'wooing and suing'. His company, which owns The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post, among other titles, has struck a deal with OpenAI. Two of its subsidiaries are suing Perplexity, another AI answer engine. The New York Times has done a deal with Amazon while suing OpenAI. Plenty of other transactions and lawsuits are going on. (The Economist's parent company has not taken a public position on whether it will license our work.) Yet this approach has limits. For one thing, judges so far seem minded to side with AI companies: last month two separate copyright cases in California went in favour of their defendants, Meta and Anthropic, both of which argued that training their models on others' content amounted to fair use. US President Donald Trump seems to accept Silicon Valley's argument that it must be allowed to get on with developing the technology of the future before China can. He has appointed tech boosters as advisers on AI, and sacked the head of the US Copyright Office soon after she argued that training AI on copyrighted material was not always legal. AI companies are more willing to pay for continuing access to information than training data. But the deals done so far are hardly stellar. Reddit, an online forum, has licensed its user-generated content to Google for a reported US$60 million a year. Yet its market value fell by more than half – over US$20 billion – after it reported slower user-growth than expected in February, owing to wobbles in search traffic. (Growth has since picked up and Reddit's share price has recovered some lost ground.) The bigger problem, however, is that most of the Internet's hundreds of millions of domains are too small to either woo or sue the tech giants. Their content may be collectively essential to AI firms, but each site is individually dispensable. Even if they could join forces to bargain collectively, antitrust law would forbid it. They could block AI crawlers, and some do. But that means no search visibility at all. Software providers may be able to help. All of Cloudflare's new customers will now be asked if they want to allow AI companies' bots to scrape their site, and for what purpose. Cloudflare's scale gives it a better chance than most of enabling something like a collective response by content sites that want to force AI firms to cough up. It is testing a pay-as-you-crawl system that would let sites charge bots an entry fee. 'We have to set the rules of the road,' says Prince, who adds that his preferred outcome is 'a world where humans get content for free, and bots pay a tonne for it'. An alternative is offered by TollBit, which bills itself as a paywall for bots. It allows content sites to charge AI crawlers varying rates: for instance, a magazine could charge more for new stories than old ones. In the first quarter of this year TollBit processed 15 million micro-transactions of this sort, for 2,000 content producers including the Associated Press and Newsweek. Toshit Panigrahi, its CEO, points out that whereas traditional search engines incentivise samey content – 'What time does the Super Bowl start?', for example – charging for access incentivises uniqueness. One of TollBit's highest per-crawl rates is charged by a local newspaper. Another model is being put forward by ProRata, a startup led by Bill Gross, a pioneer in the 1990s of the pay-as-you-click online ads that have powered much of the Web ever since. He proposes that money from ads placed alongside AI-generated answers should be redistributed to sites in proportion to how much their content contributed to the answer. ProRata has its own answer engine, which shares ad revenue with its 500-plus partners, which include the Financial Times and The Atlantic. It is currently more of an exemplar than a serious threat to Google. Gross says his main aim is to 'show a fair business model that other people eventually copy'. Meanwhile, content producers are rethinking their business models. 'The future of the Internet is not all about traffic,' says Chandrasekar, who has built up Stack Overflow's private, enterprise-oriented subscription product, Stack Internal. News publishers are planning for 'Google zero', deploying newsletters and apps to reach customers who no longer come to them via search, and moving their content behind paywalls or to live events. Audio and video are proving legally and technically harder for AI engines to summarise than text. The site to which answer engines refer search traffic most often, by far, is YouTube, according to Similarweb. Not everyone thinks the Web is in decline – on the contrary, it is in 'an incredibly expansionary moment', argues Robby Stein of Google. As AI makes it easier to create content, the number of sites is growing: Google's bots report that the Web has expanded by 45 per cent in the past two years. AI search lets people ask questions in new ways – for instance, taking a photo of their bookshelf and asking for recommendations on what to read next – which could increase traffic. With AI queries, more sites than ever are being 'read', even if not with human eyes. An answer engine may scan hundreds of pages to deliver an answer, drawing on a more diverse range of sources than human readers would. As for the idea that Google is disseminating less human traffic than before, Stein says the company has not noticed a dramatic decline in the number of outbound clicks, though it declines to make the number public. There are other reasons besides AI why people may be visiting sites less. Maybe they are scrolling social media. Maybe they are listening to podcasts. The death of the Web has been predicted before – at the hands of social networks, then smartphone apps –and not come to pass. But AI may pose the biggest threat to it yet. If the Web is to continue in something close to its current form, sites will have to find new ways to get paid for content. 'There's no question that people prefer AI search,' says Gross. 'And to make the Internet survive, to make democracy survive, to make content creators survive, AI search has to share revenue with creators.' ©2025 The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved
