We generally confuse good health with absence of sickness, whereas in fact absence of disease is not a statement of good health. Ironically, progress in medical science notwithstanding, diseases afflicting mankind are steadily on a rise. What with cancer, heart diseases, respiratory distress and diabetes having become chronic and dibilitating ailments. Even psychiatric and mental disorders have gone up significantly. Doubtless our life style and sedentary habits are the root cause of this ruckus. Also to blame are our gastronomic indulgence, lack of physical exercise and the wide ranging pollution of our material environment. All these factors work doggedly to damage human machinery. Hence it would be imprudent to believe that medicines alone would undo this damage and restore human body its pristine soundness.
The real answer to above lies in the concept of holistic health. With this what I mean in substance is an elevated status of life
energy and body’s disease fighting immue system. This ensures that we remain protected from diseases and physical lethargy. All the same we enjoy youthful energy and longevity in bountifuls.
And the rider is we pay attention to some cardinal principles of human nutrition. When nutrition is improved, say experts, health ups automatically. And what matters most here—is quality of food. We ought to go for a balanced food and take care in eating foods that are chemically preserved and overcooked. Because preservation as well as overheating extails loss of many essential nutrients in significant amounts.
More is the amount of crude fibre in our diet, and inclusion of fresh and raw food items, the better it is for health and longevity.
Raw foods of plant origin are rich in nutritional elements which boost up body’s immune system. That in effect improves body’s ability to fight diseases. The normal wear and tear of body tissues in day to day living is easily made good by including fresh and raw fruits and vegetables, fruit juice, seeds, sprouted seeds, honey and curd in regular meals. This is all thanks to the innate natural character of these food items.
Benefit of eating raw foods
Researches conducted on effect of raw foods on human health have also taken cognizance of their use as medicine to cure diseases. Patients suffering from wide ranging diseases were put on a diet of natural uncooked foods. And results that came to fore were very encouraging. Researches recorded that raw diet has a favourable effect on health and well being. Albeit there are other benefits too of eating food items in their natural raw form. These are :
❑ In raw fruits, vegetables and sprouted seeds, vitamins remain in their innate reactive formation. Subjected to cooking heat vitamins tend to go bust—or loose their potency. Moreover vitamins don’t work in isolation from other nutritional elements. They go hand in hand, else, lose their impact efficacy. Salads are rated high in dietary menu for the simple reason that these contain all necessary vitamins and minerals in effective combination and reactive environment.
❑ Uncooked foods are excellent source of mineral elements, some of which are available, exclusively in raw forms alone.
❑ The process of cooking destroys naturally occuring enzymes in edible items. Raw cabbage, turnip, and sprouted grains are rich in enzyme systems which protect liver and thereby support digestion of food.
❑ Eating of vegetables and fruits in generous amounts stimulates body’s excretory system. Thus body system remains clean and fighting fit.
❑ Raw foods help removing from body such undigested food substances which release toxic substances (on account of rotting putrefaction etc.) endangering health (autointoxication). Body’s acid base balance is also kept in-check. Cooked food tends to push up sodium level in body. Raw foods on the other hand up potassium level, thereby maintaining the critical sodium potassium balance in human body.
❑ Vegetables in their normal form contain colours (bioflavanoid) which protect against toxic germs, fungus and contageous diseases. But when vegetables are cooked, these bioflavanoids are destroyed.
❑ Some nutritional factors found in crude-food are key to many a biochemical reactious in human body, and hence indispensable for health.
Thus, it is clear from the foregoing that apart from the principal cooked meal, raw foods too should be eaten in sufficient amounts. Albeit, amount of them should be raised gradually—in a phased manner. Juice of fresh fruits and vegetables should also be a routine. These extracts are flush with vitamins, minerals and enzymes which help remove toxic and harmful elements from body system. Fresh fruits, vegetables, sprouted grains, pod vegies and curd make excellent natural inclusions in diet. Germinating grains and green vegies may also be consumed as salad. Their bland taste may be improved by adding herbs, lime juice and vinegar. Sprinkling a few slices of cut fruits in salad plate add to the nutritive value of the entire recipe. And is good for stomach too. Obviously, a little bit of experimentation can add to the joy of salad eating.
Actually, it is innate character of mother nature to lead us to good health. What with immense variety of tasty and health favouring foods she has already blessed us with. All we need to tap on it and understand their secrets and intricacies.
Vegetarian diet is best diet
A non-violent society can be resurrected only on plank of universal vegetarianism. Meat is itself a product of brute violence. It’s only when we quit meat eating, and adopt vegetarianism, that the country and the society can make a real progress.
It’s all too clear that food is a vital necessity for all life forms. But what is lesser known is the fact that food impacts your mind radically. Hence the saying : ‘As you eat, so you think.’ If we eat pure vegetarian food, our thoughts would be pious, our heart full of joy, health excellent and very protected from host of diseases. This is one reason that every religion forbids malignant and excitatory food substances, except for some occasional exceptions. The first head of Indian state, President Dr. Rajendra Prasad had this to say on subject : ‘If world war is to be curbed for good, then first of all it is non-vegetarianism that need to be abolished in total.’
Born and brought up in western culture, Edward N.Rini, the chairperson of Vegetarian Society observed: ‘If planet earth ought to be home to lasting peace, and world denizens aspire for a blissful existence, then vegetarianism soon must be the way of life.’
Sow the seeds of love, peace and coexistence,
Say bye to war, violence, hatred and mayhem,
Lest man starts feasting on nature itself,
Let the lamp of vegetarianism lit in every household.
Every single living soul needs food for its material existence—is common knowledge. But food, as a matter of fact, is also intrinsically linked to our thought process. Constitutional upkeep of human body requires a conglomerate of six principal nutritional elements. These are :
1. Protien, 2. Carbohydrates, 3. Fat, 4.Vitamins, 5. Minerals and 6. Water.
All these above elements are present in adequate amounts in a vegetarian diet which therefore is capable of meeting all our nutritional needs. And the bonus point is this that we remain disease free, sublimal minded, physically healthy, and progressive on moral, societal and spiritual plane. Vegetarianism promotes spirit of companion, cooperation, gratefulness, and non-violence. Doubtless, fruits and vegetables are more useful and nutritious life base than animal flesh and meat products.
Some meat eaters though believe that a non-vegetarian meal is more energising. But this is mere illusion, far removed from truth. Because lion, of all animals, is deemed to be the strongest and most robust. Yet, flesh of this carnivore in so malignant that mere putting it in month will scald your tongue. Infact you need the utensils of gold to hold tiger’s meat unblemished.
Looking at this whole issue from a different angle, consider denture description of diferent animals. The herbivorous animal kinds have flat cutting and grinding teeth. But the carnivorous (flesh eating) have sharp and curved teeth to dig-in and tear animal flesh. Seeing form and formation of human denture, it is crystal clear that nature created man to be a vegetarian mammal.
And consider this : Flesh eating is passport to some 160 nasty diseases, some of them fatal and incurable, for example infestations of tapeworm and liver fluke, heart diseases, migraine, tumours, hernia, colitis, gastroenteritis etc. Meat eaters not only imperil their own lives but also of their near and dear ones. Even the health of their new born babies remains suspect.
Even money-wise, non-vegetarian food in more expensive than vegie variety. No wonder, say economist, one meat eater’s tummy verily consummates diet of seven vegetarians put together.
Temperamentally flesh eating people are hot headed, cruel, unkind and violent. They are addicted to sensual pleasures, given to outbursts of anger and remain generally incompatible irky and indolent. And ditto for animals too. None of the docile and diligent animal feasts on another one’s flesh, for example, horse, camel, bullock, elephant etc.
Non-vegetarians are significant loosers on count of body’s natural immunity. Their blood is found wanting in forces that fight diseases. Their bones are low on tensile strength and their memory is weak. If at all they gain on some count, it is in for of increase in obesity, blood pressure and diabetes. Carbohydrates integral to meat diet one such that they rot in intestines, so much so, that the foul smell may emanate in perspiration.
Seeing all this, there is a positive movement in western countries to abnegate eating of animal flesh and promote all round vegetarianism. If at all we take fancy to western culture, why not follow them in rejecting meat and embracing agrarian food habits.
Vegetarianism is rising scale of human evolution
A victory of non-violence
A victory of man and manliness
All pervading, timeless, unconquerable,
That’s what vegetarianism connotes.
Why cooking is necessary ?
If experts view raw food good for health, why should we hanker after cooking—wasting our precious time? Answer to this is : a well cooked and aesthetically presented food is better liked and relished by us all.
There are several other reason too, behind the norm of cooking our meals. For one, cooking kills germs which are instrumental in causing serious ailments like typhoid, scouring and jaundice. Preliminary cleaning of food items removes many offending and harmful ingredients from their midst. Pressure cooking is best to eliminate harmful microbes. A pressure cooker function optimaly creates a temperature of 121.50C or 250.70F in its inner chamber which suffices to kill disease causing germs taking shelter in edible stuffs.
Boiling is another simple procedure that renders us food and drinking water germ free. A minimum 10 minutes of boiling is necessary to make water free from germs. Unfortunately though, the bacterial spores may persist even on such heat treatment, and multiply when water ought to be covered with lid for storing it after boiling. Ease in digestion is another reason why we cook. Heat treatment of food results in bursting of cell-walls, making concerned mass of veg or non-veg diet easily digestible and assimilable by us. Roasting of spices is typical example of this gastronomic facilitation.
When vegetable spices are roasted by heat treatment, an element named ‘choline’ is liberated. This element is vital for our body cells, especially for the working and regeneration of nerve cells. It also checks deposition of fat in liver. So, as on one hand roasting of spice combinations makes food delicious, on the other it promotes health proactively. This should make clear why traditional Indian cooking is safe and savvy.
Another reason in favour of cooking is that it destroys some elements/factors which hinder bioavailability of nutrients from food. For example soyabean, kidney bean and white of eggs are highly nutritious but hard to digest in raw form because of such blocking elements. These blockers are destroyed on cooking. Hence if you are a Rajma relisher, take care to first boil it in a pressure cooker.
Likewise you are allowed to regard egg as power food provided you keep in mind that it can not only transmit salmonella infection but also some such agent as retard digestion of proteins in small intestines.
The white of egg contains a substance called ‘Avidin’. If egg is eaten in raw form, avidin interfers with digestion of vitamin B (Biotin). But if egg is heat-treated, avidin is destroyed, and vitamin B digestion proceeds unhindered.
Raw crab and oysters contain thiaminase which antagonises digestion of one of the B vitamins called Thiamine. Likewise a group of compounds called goitrogens prevent absorption of iodine (trace element) in thyroid gland. But thankfully these spoilsports are inactivated in the process of cooking, and we are saved from potential harm. Goitrogens are found in common vegies like cabbage, cauliflower, radish, peanuts, turnip, soyabean, pulses and pea. So, even as we cook for sake of taste and flavour, the fact remains that cooking is advantageous from nutritional point of view also. Nevertheless, not all foods need to be heat treated. Some vitamins and minerals in food are so vulnerable that washing, cutting and even mild cooking can destroy them totally. Ergo, including fruits and salad in your diet at least once in a day is necessary to maintain right balance of nutritional elements.
Avoid contaminated food
It is quite interesting to suggest use of milk and eggs for health and strength of body. The advice comes for free from myriad corners, especially from family elders. Yet, it may prove disastrous if accepted without rider. Because savouring milk and eggs without boiling them may trigger a host of diseases like diarrhoea, fever, dysentry, and persistent headache.
These above diseases are caused by microbes of salmonella group which abound in raw eggs, meat and half cooked meat. These bacteria are so virulent that the infected person is seriously jeopardised. Salmonella is principal causative agent in diseases like typhoid, diarrhoea, disentry etc. Contagion by this microorganism is technically called salmonellotis. According to Dr. Umesh Kapil, the nutritionist with All India Institute of Medical Sciences man infected by salmonella exhibits symptoms of abdominal pain, diarrhoea, vomiting, fever and headache. These symptoms appear within 6 to 48 hours of ingesting the infected food material, and get severely aggravated in 3 to 5 day’s time.
Say scientists : Just as salmonella microbes make way to man’s stomach, the acid secreted therefrom, attempts to destroy them all together. Yet some of them escape this acid onslaught and reach small intestines where they multiply rapidly.
Salmonella organisms multiply in exponential numbers. They bore through the inner lining of intestinal tract creating severe inflamation and derailing digestive system.
Dr. Gambhir and Dr. Kapil both are unanimous that the best protection from salmonella, the disruptor of body’s security cordon, is to remain vigilent and take preventive steps. Dr. Gambhir believes that eating-out being fashionable today. Restaurants and hotels ought to be extra cautious regarding their kitchen hygiene. If hands are not cleaned properly after attending to call of nature, pathogenic germs get good opportunity to sneak into body systems.
Doctors advise patients of diarrhoea and dysentry to go in for a thorough medical check up. This would help contain salmonella infection. Catering staff in hotels and restaurants should be well educated so that they remain health and hygiene conscious all through their duty hours.
Even changing your eating-drinking regime can enrich status of your health. Use of frozen meat and pasteurised (packed) milk is safer as compared to their raw counterparts. But before their recipes go on table, it is best to test them for quality.
Indeed, rules and regulations regarding purity and nutritional merit of food served at hotels and restaurants are very much in place. Yet, they are seldom implemented. Although a team of health inspectors is appointed to oversee this job, they seem to behave more as agents of food outlets, than of state administration, ofcourse for their own vested interests. Only a few of such inspectors are true to their calling.
To remain clear of salmonellosis, suggests Dr. Kapil, people should always keep their hair and nails neat and clean. Also, they should ensure that eggs, milk and meat they consume—is propely boiled/heat treated. Because it only by scalding that these microbes, hiding in food stufs, can be killed and eliminated.
Importance of balanced diet for diabetic patients
Diabetes is a tragic fall out of modern life style. By an estimate every 10th person in our society is a victim of diabetes, all thanks to our flaws of eating, drinking and routine living. With right kind of food habits not only can this syndrome be avoided for life long, but also, in case diabetes does strike, it can be restrained and lived-with.
Diabetes and allied ills are major cripples and killers not only in western countries, but in India too. Thanks to lifestyle change, obestity and eating glitches, diabetes has spread fast in India. Blame it on lack of physical exercise, and consuming food energy for in excess of requriement, that India is home to problems of overweight, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, insulin deficiency and full blown diabetes.
Diabetic atherosclerois (thinning of blood vessels), which can snowball into diseases of major blood vessels, has significant chances of striking a diabetic patient. Should this come about, heart attack, epileptic fits and paralysis become fairly imminent.
Patients of high blood sugar are 2 to 3 times more prone to paralytic attack as compared to normal control groups. Even as a string of medicines are now available to treat diabetes, diet control is still critically important. Various kinds and combinations of food stuffs have been tried to tame diabetes. These include fat treated carbohydrates, overly carbohytrate diets, meals rich in crude fibre, and even ‘fasting’. Diabetic patients must eat only such foods those are balance with respect to nutrient elements and calorie contents.
While deciding upon their menu, these need to be considered: the extent of their insulin dependence, body weight, their vocation, life style, and colateral disease conditions. Field observations reveal that 50% of insulin dependent patients are able to control their blood sugar in a span of one to one and a half months only, all thanks to their diet control programme. Ergo, knowledge of right kind of foods, and their judicious combinations, is of vital importance. Those who are weak and underweight, must consume 35 kilo calories of food energy for each kilogram of their body weight.
Relatively greater amout of food calories are required for pregnant and lactating mothers, as well as for growing children. These calories should be aptly distributed between 2 major meals and two light breakfasts in a day’s time. These whole lot of required calories must come from 3 major food components i.e.—carbohydrates, proteins and fats. About 60% of calories should be sourced by carbohydrates, 20% from proteins, and the rest from fat.
Carbohydrates
Regarding the optimum amount of carbohydrates required by a diabetic patient there are differences in expert opinions. Many a patients fear eating rice and potatoes, lest their blood sugar shoots up to dangerous level. A typical Indian diet, in particular, is predominantly carbohydrated (to the extent of 70-80%). Many a studies have revealed that dietary fat should be replaced by carbohydrates in a phased manner since by so doing blood cholesterol level can be significantly lowered. In addition to that kind and quantity of triglycerides remains in check, chances of a cardiac attack are greatly minimised and blood sugar level remains benign.
Indian researchers have found that with the help of a carhohydrate rich diet blood sugar level can be steadied and food calories can be better utilized. American and European diabetic association recommends that heart diseases, and deaths on account of them, can be prevented by reforming food habits.
Therefore, complex carbohydrates, fibrous green vegetables, pulses and pod vegies should be consumed in sufficient amounts.
Fat
Amount of fat in diet should contribute no more than
20-25% of total energy requirement. And this too must come in equal contribution from each of the 3 fatty acids, i.e. saturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids.
Daily intake of cholesterol, inherent in food substances, should alway be less than 300 mgs. It is well worth remembering that ‘fat’ is also available to us as natural ingredient of myriad food items like cereals, pod vegies, pulses and seeds. Even in this innocuous form, fat contributes 10% of the total energy supplied by the host food. In milk and milk products, generally rated as vegetarian diet, amount of fat may range from 4 to 5%.
Yet, we ought to remember that fat obtained from milk and milk products is unsaturated fat. Keeping this in mind, it is advisable that polyunsaturated fat is kept below 10% of the overall calorie pool lest serum HDL cholesterol is raised leading to threats of cancerous conditions. Rest of the energy should come from monosaturated fatty acids. Our body needs two essential fatty acids, one—Linoleic acid (N-6), two—alpha linoleic acid (N-3). The ratio between these two acids should be less than 10; and they should contribute a mere 3% of the total energy. These two fatty acid are found in coarse cereal grains, pulses, pod vegies, green vegetables, fenugreek seeds, mustard, soyabean, oil and fish.
Protein
Our daily requirement of protein is 0.8 gms per kg of body weight. Our daily intake of proteins should be 1.2 to 2.0% of our body weight. Vegetable protein are superior in quality as compared to animal protein. Hence the traditional Indian food, is contanining rich amounts of cereals and pulses, is rated an ideal cuisine. These two are present in such ratio that supply of amino-acids is adequately taken care of. Lactating mother and growing children need more of protiens, whereas in kidney diseases only limited amount of proteins should be taken. However in insulin dependent diabetic patients, proteins are seen to encourage insulin production, and thereby help keep blood sugar levels in check.
Spices and condiments
In traditional Indian cooking, spices and condiments have a place of pride. Most of these ingredients are rich in fibre and essential micronutrients. It is seen that fenugreek helps in lowering sugar, cholesterol and triglycerides from blood.
Salt
As a rule of thumb, we should take a minimum of 6 gms of common salt in our daily diet. However, its used should be limited to about 3 gms in patients of high blood pressure and kidney diseases.
Alcohol
Use of alcohol increases chances of diseases like hypoglycimia, ketoacediosis, lactic acidiosis etc. And there is every danger of nervous disorder as well. An excessive use of alcohol can lead to hypertriglycimia and hyperruricimia. There it is best to keep alcohol at distance.
Fibres
Fibres come from vegetable cells, and are of two kinds—soluble in water and insoluble in water, for examples cellulose and hemicellulose.
Generally speaking, water soluble fibres are found in fruits and podded greens, whereas insoluble fibres are found in cereals and coarse grains. As compared to insoluble variety, soluble fibres are more helpful in controlling blood sugar and blood lipid levels.
Essential micronutrients
Many a studies are underway to know the nature and function of myriad micronutrients and antioxidants. Hopefully these studies will help check level of blood sugar in diabetic patients. Obviously, the benign kind of diabetes is amenable to a composite regime of medical treatment, balanced diet and exercise, if only the patient is well informed in matters of eating and drinking.
Wayward eating invites problems
Way back in 1981 many a physicians raised an issue in Lancet, the apex international medical journal, that an excess of iron in body leads to diseases of cardiac vasculature (heart attack).
A mere hypothesis to begin with, it gained wider acceptance when a team of epidemiologists, after a five year long research work sponsored by the Government of Finland, reached to the conclusion that next only to chain smoking, the other major cause of cardiac diseases or heart attack is accumulation of iron in body tissues.
In this above experiment 1931 male adults of Finland aged 42 to 60 years were choosen. Reason being that Finland citizens, of all the people worldwide over, are most vulnerable to cardiac diseases.
To scale the extent of iron reservoir in body, researchers tested the level of serum ferretin, and found that for each 1% rise in serum ferretin level, chances of cardiac arrest increase by 4%. With serum ferretin rising to 200 microgram in blood, danger of a heart attack striking rises two folds. This is in sharp contrast to hitherto held view that 100-400 micrograms per liter of serum ferretin is safe for health. This revelation created quite a flutter in print media and medical journals (like Journal of Americans Heart Association), and was widely discussed and debated.
How then, does iron, the elemental iron, work in human body? The most important function of this element is to carry oxygen to every nook and corner of body through the blood stream. Iron also helps in regeneration of new cells in place of old and the dead, as also in burning of body’s fat depots to release energy. Ergo, iron store in body is mandatory lest its dependent functions suffer in deficiency of it. Since iron is not synthesized in body, a regular supply of it, albeit in extremely small amounts, is important. When there is iron dificiency in body or when need for iron suddenly goes up, the absorption of iron from food (by the intestinal walls) also goes up.
Talking of iron in this chapter, three questions are significant. One, what is the role of cholesterol (a kind of fat)? Two, how does an excess of iron impede heart function? Three, how come that body systems permit accumulation of iron to dangerous levels?
The first two of above queries have just one answer. Iron (the elemental form) and the cholesterol overly work hand in hand. A survey of ‘Extended cross population’, conducted in year 1991 revealed that the rate of mortality in cardiac diseases is influenced by a rise in the level of Iron and Cholesterol duo, not by a raise in either of them alone. Heart attacks in USA, England, Australia and northem Europe register only medium level fatalities. Reason being that even though people in these countries have a very high level of serum iron, their cholesterol levels are either normal or below normal. Investigations carried out in Finland and at international level came to one and the same conclusion: Those in whom serum ferretin and serum cholesterol both are on a higher side, have four folds higher risk of suffering a heart attack.
How do iron and cholesterol work in tandem to precipitate atherosclerosis? It is this way—The low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol gets lodged in the inner wall of blood vessels. Iron will line along the vascular wall after oxidation of this LDL coating. Iron spurs oxidation of LDL, and that sets in the process of atherosclerosis formation.
Various experiments home demonstrated that cholesterol is not oxidised properly if iron is lacking. After oxidation, cholesterol lodge into the cells of blood vessels. This cause enlargement of cells size as well as their rapid multiplication. The lumen of blood vessel thereby get constricted (even blocked) leading to ceassation of blood supply to heart musculature—and subsequently the cardiac arrest.
And the story doesn’t end with heart attack. Iron remains busy even threafter, damaging heart muscles. During heart attack, blood supply to a portion of heart tissues is stopped. Thus oxygen is denied to target area. Following this, iron stored in effected cells is released into inter cellular spaces.
Now presuming that the man recovers from heart attack, and blood supply is resumed to effected area, the oxygen supplied to damaged tissues is trapped by free iron of intercellular spaces as part of an uncontrolled process called ‘Iron Catalysed Oxydation.’ (ICO). As a result of ICO, cardiac cells degenerate fast and extensively. Experiments have proved that use of iron chelating medicines significantly reduce damage to heart cells following heart attack.
If an excess of iron is so damaging for us, how come it is so common in western countries, and seem to be spreading even in eastern countries?
The answer lies in non-vegetarianism of west. As most denizens are meat eaters and meat naturally contains an excess of iron, more of it absorbed by their intestinal tracts. On the contrary iron contained in fruits, vegies and grains is not so readily absorbed by intestines. Rather, the absorption is totally stopped if adequate or excessive iron is already present in host body. But the flesh-linked-iron is absorbed even in situations of iron overload. Obviously those who eat meat, knowingly burden their body with surplus iron. And as they progress in years situation goes from bad to worse. Notably, use of alcohol tends to speed up indiscriminate absorption of iron.
In this way, meat and wine raise surem ferretin level periliously. On the other hand vegie gentry pools up little iron, and remains distant from heart failure.
Now you may aver that safe heart of vegetarians is on account of their low cholesterol uptake, and not on acount of low iron content of their food. In fact cholesterol level in this group is only marginally low, thanks to milk and milk products like ghee, paneer, chhena, butter, sweatmeats, khoa, kheer and icecream which are hugely popular especially in Indian subcontinent. More so because these items are generally rated as health foods. Ergo, with their uptake even vegetarians pool up as much cholesterol as their meat eating brethren.
This explains clearly that the difference between status of cardic diseases in East and West is not on account of cholesterol (which is nearly same in both part of the world) but because of iron. Studies have also revealed role of iron in causation of several other diseases like cancer and gout.
Iron, though indispensable for growth and cell division; becomes carcinogenic in presence of oxygen.
Infact cancerous cells depend on iron for their rapid fire growth and multiplication. ‘New England Journal of Medicine’ 1988 issue carried a sanguine report supporting close corelation between cancer and iron-excess.
This above survey revealed that those who have an excess of iron in their blood are 37% more prone to contract cancer of lungs, large intestine, food pipe and stomach as compared to their peers with low-iron in their blood samples. A surveyer in Norway was first to prove that gout could be treated by altering diet specifically with regard to its iron content.
A study published in Lancet in 1991 prevailed on tackling problem of gout with vegetarian diet. It talked of cardinal role played by iron in triggering heart diseases, cancer and gout. The surmise was based in observation that the patients of hemochromatosis (excess iron in blood) generally suffered from cancer, heart diseases, gout and diabetes.
Hemochromatosis is mundane disease, mostly with genetic predisposition. It generally afflicts people consuming iron in excessive amounts. For example, women who take a course of iron capsules to fight anaemia—but stick to medication for as long as 10 to 12 years.
Ergo, balancing is key to smooth run of body’s biochemical reactions. To balance intake of iron, following tips can help:
❑ Don’t eat meat.
❑ Eat fruits, vegies and cereals.
❑ Take meals rich in phytic acid, for example wheat bran, and whole wheat flour. Merit of phytic acid lies in the fact that it absorbs excess of iron from large intestines like a piece of sponge.
❑ Don’t drink, else, use less of liquor.
❑ Physical exercise should neither be overdone nor underdone. A study in Finland has revealed that as the health of heart and lungs improves, the level of serum fesetin goes down in commensurating measure.
So, in sum and substance, don’t be a flesh eater.
Meals devoid of salt
Patients suffering from kidney diseases are given low protein therapeautic diet. This diet is devoid of common salt. It is also low on overall quantity of sodium and potassium ions. At the same time it is made sure that proteins may not be used as energy sources, rather, adequate amounts of carbohydrates are used for body’s energy needs.
Keep these at bay
❑ Excess of milk and milk products.
❑ Meat, fish, chicken, and too many eggs.
❑ Pulses, cereals in bulk, soyabean, pea, pod vegies.
❑ Dry fruits, peanuts and coconut.
❑ Potato, almonds etc.
❑ Cakes, pastries, jams and jellies.
❑ Sweetened drinks, lemon and fruit juices.
❑ Protein, vegies rich in sodium and potassium—like dry pea, spinach.
Habits can harm our health
Habits are integral to life. Whereas good habits make us healthy and beautiful, bad habits make life baneful. Bad habits promoted by laziness, and lackadaisical attitude, not only ruin health, but your working capacity as well. It is possible to overcome these bad habits. All you need is a strong will power. Also, consider these points :
Never watch television while having your meals. Else, you will pick up habit of overeating and become obese. Chew each morsel of food properly. This will break food substances into fine particles which would be easy to digest.
Don’t swing on your chair. Don’t sit with shoulders droping. These perversions of posture not only cause pain in back and lets, but impede circulation of blood as well.
Never have tea with your meal. Tennins in tea retard absorption of iron elements in intestinal tract.
Shallow breathing impacts your health adversely. Because your lungs get inadequately filled with air, and lack in sufficient amounts of life giving oxygen. Consequently you become irritable and depressed. So—breathe deeply. And at the same time take care that you breathe through nose—and not through your mouth. Oral breathing is obnoxious as also disease inviting. Because the kind of moist and hairy filter which nose puts forth to incoming air (to clean it of dust etc), is lacking in oral cavity.
Having enjoyed a good night’s sleep, don’t get up from bed jerkingly. Even allowing for the fact that you have so-much-to-do. House wives in particular panic and make haste immediately on getting up easly in the morning. But take it easy, give your body a little time to brace up from night long inertia. Just as you go to sleep in a phased manner, your waking up too should be gradual. Don’t come in way of nature’s innate working and tax your mind and body.
Take care of morning breakfast
Our breakfast in morning is vital for good health. After our supper late at night we fast for a stretch of 9 to 10 hours till morning on day next. During this interregnum, body’s hunger for food builds up quite naturally.
Yet, children going to school without breakfast, or with only a hurried go at snacks, is common practice.
Of whatsoever is known till date regarding skipping or skirting breakfast, following research findings are significant :
- It lowers down performance of students and the white collar workers.
- Output at work till afternoon is low and minimal.
- If breakfast is low on nutritive quality, even then performance at work is badly affected.
- Surprisingly no-breakfast is no way to cut down on body weight. On the contrary, when you miss breakfast, you tend to overeat at lunch because of a consequent wild hunger. This, in effect, adds to your bulk, making you overweight.
- Your morning breakfast should be so nourishing as provides you a minimum 1/3 of your whole day’s body needs.
- If your morning bash is protein rich, you feel peppy and one-up till middle of the day.
- Get up early, so that you have time to enjoy your breakfast at leisure, and not in haste.
A cup of milk, or beaten curd, are best for breakfast. In addition, go for chapatis, bread, poridge, cornflakes, idli, dosa and any other such item. Egg, paneer and sprouted pulses are also recommended, as these add to protein pool significantly. Sprouted pulses—raw or boiled (2 big spoonfuls) are highly nourishing.
Should you prefer boiled pulses, make sure you boil them in pressure cooker using only a reasonable amount of water. Seasonal fruits too go well with breakfast. For example banana, orange, papaya etc. At the end of it all, tea or coffee may be taken as wash-down. But fried foods should be avoided as these promote lethargy and are potential bulk boosters. Breakfast for school going children, who study hard during the day, is critically important. A cup of milk coupled with egg or with sprouted lentils will keep them alert and awake during their school time.
For tiffin that goes with school bog, parantha and bread (with butter, jam or paneer helping) are ideal. In addition, some roasted peanuts, and biscuits, and if possible fruits like banana, orange, guava and apple may also be packed.
Women folk generally get so lost in their morning chores that they overlook their breakfast. Albeit they ought to realise that a nutritious diet is also a priority requirement of life.
Indeed, after taking a good breakfast, you will yourself realise how you stand to benefit in terms of work capacity and feel good-factor.
