Article on Diet after Navratri Fasting in Hindustan (Hindi daily)

Article on Calorie Requirement by different Working Class of Women in Hindustan (Hindi Daily)

Article on Calorie Requirement by different Working Class of Women

EAT HEALTHY BE HEALTHY

Many people ask me, why despite of eating a lot of good things, they do not feel or look healthy? There can be so many reasons for this. Rapidly changing life style, consumption of lots of fast foods, inadequate mental rest, depression, sudden weight loss and weight gain are few of them. Dietary modification according to lifestyle is the key concept to maintain good health. It is very much important to know what diet you are taking every day. Is it properly designed for you or not? Whether it is balanced diet or not? If you are taking any medicines, have you checked for any food drug interactions?
Diet and disease are interconnected to each other. Excess energy intake, particularly when high in animal (saturated) fat content and excess amounts of intake of sweets, simple sugar are causes of a number of diseases, including ischemic heart disease, diabetes and obesity. A relationship between food intake and cancer has been found in many epidemiological studies; an excess of energy-rich foods (i.e. fat and sugar containing), often with physical inactivity, plays a role in the development of certain cancers, while diets high in vegetables and fruits reduces the risk of most epithelial cancers. Numerous carcinogens, either intentionally added to food (e.g. nitrates for preserving foods) or accidental contaminants (e.g. moulds producing aflatoxin and fungi), may also be responsible for the development of cancer.
If you want to keep your body fit and healthy, then eat accordingly:

• Brown rice or brown bread instead of polished rice or white bread.
• Adequate amount of vegetables (40% fresh (raw) foods and 60% of cooked foods
• Sufficient amount of fruits like guava, papaya, watermelon, apple, pomegranate
• Adequate amount of protein like soya, black chana, paneer or flesh products.
• Daily diet should contain nuts and seeds
• A little bit of the flaxseed oil for the essential fatty acids and also to maintain the ratio of the omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids
• Besides the diet one can use many healths promoting herbs/non-foods like tulsi, amla, wheat grass juice, ginseng etc.

OBESITY

Now days, Obesity is a world wide problem. It is almost invariable in developing countries and almost all people accumulate some fat. Previously it was seen that people would become obese when they get older. But now a day Children are becoming victims of obesity. Obesity implies an excess storage of fat. According to the WHO (World Health Organization), when Body Mass Index (BMI) of a person is exceeds 30 kg/m sq. the person is considered as obese.
Many factors related to the home environment, such as finance and the availability of sweets and snacks, will affect food intake. Some individuals eat more during periods of heavy exercise or during pregnancy and are unable to get back to their former eating habits. Not all obese people eat more than the average person, but all obviously eat more than they need.

Classification on basis of BMI
Overweight: 25-30
Obese: > 30
Grade I: 30-35 Moderate
Grade II: 35-40 Severe
Grade III: > 40 Very severe

It is very much alarming that Indians are centrally obese (gynoecoid obesity) which increase the risk of Type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease (hypertension or ischemic heart disease), hyperlipidemia, hypercholesteremia, weight bearing joints pain and lowers the self confidence.
In this condition dietary modification is much necessary. The diet should contain adequate amounts of protein, vitamins and trace elements. A diet per day should be made up of more than 50 g protein, approximately 100 g of carbohydrate, and 40 g of fat (including both visible and invisible). The carbohydrate should be in the form of complex carbohydrates such as vegetables and fruits rather than simple sugars. In this diet vitamins and minerals will be in adequate and supplements are not necessary. Specific calorie requirement is based on BMI, age, sex, and type of physical activities.

Some tips for obese persons:

• Avoid any kinds of calorie rich foods like chocolate, cold drinks, cookies, pizza, burger; dip fried foods and any fast foods.
• Don’t skip the meals. Often it leads to overeating later.
• Eat sprouts everyday at early morning. Don’t take it with other cooked food as the combination of sprouts and cooked food is very calorific
• Take whole fruits instead of fruit juice.
• Take skim milk instead of paneer and cheese as too much of dairy makes the elimination system sluggish, a sensible amount of dairy suits some people but not all blood groups
• Eat varieties of vegetables, not some favorites as daily diet should contain at least 25-35 gm fiber /day.
• Drink tea/ coffee not more than 3 cup a day. Because intake of lots of tannin or caffeine creates toxins which decline weight loss.
• Drinking of soup at night does not suit some women as it promotes water retention and increases weight.
• Don’t take protein reached foods at night even dals which contains 65-70% carbohydrate (so a lot of dals can add lots of carbohydrate too
• Don’t take meal during watching TV.
• Eat slowly (15-20 min) as stomach takes time to tell brain that it’s full.
• Drink minimum 10 glasses of water / day.
• Obese persons are generally recommended to do physical exercise minimum 45 min /day.

TURMERIC FOR JAUNDICE: FRIEND OR ENEMY

Turmeric the wonderful, versatile herb has been used by many different cultures, to treat a myriad of diseases and ailments. Turmeric has been used as an anti-inflammatory agent in the treatment of sprains, cramps, bruises, and muscle pain. The healing properties of turmeric lie in the golden fingerlike stalk, or rhizome, the same part that is used to flavor, color, and preserve food. Turmeric is commonly found in Indian curries, giving the food a golden orange color. Turmeric has hundreds of molecular constituents, each with a variety of biological activities. Clinical and laboratory research indicates that diets that include turmeric or curcumin "stabilize and protect biomolecules in the body at the molecular level", which is shown in its anti-oxidant, anti-mutagenic and anti-carcinogenic action. It is a cholagogue, stimulating bile production in the liver and encouraging excretion of bile via the gallbladder. This improves the body's ability to digest fats. For chronic digestive weakness and/or congestion turmeric is recommended. In spring more consumption of herbs and foods can strengthen the liver. It is said to shrink engorged hepatic ducts, so it can be useful to treat liver conditions such as hepatitis, cirrhosis, and jaundice. In Jharkhand jaundice is one of the very common diseases. People here believe that in jaundice one must not take yellow color food, so they use to avoid turmeric in jaundice instead of the fact that turmeric is a traditional remedy for jaundice and other liver ailments. So, keeping this in mind a small survey was carried out in Jharkhand. Our study suggests that most of the people here are firm believer of the myth that Turmeric cannot be given at time of jaundice. 95% does not know that turmeric is a good remedy for liver ailments. 90% of patients refuse to take turmeric when suggested by Dietician. Our study suggested that an awareness program is a must to help people know about goodness of this wonder drug.

RECOMMENDED DIET FOR DIABETICS MAY NEED CHANGING

Diet is the hardest part of diabetes management. The high-cereal high fiber diet emphasized “brown foods” such as whole-grain bread and breakfast cereal, brown rice and potatoes with the skin on. The low-glycemic diet included beans, peas, lentils, pasta, quickly boiled rice and certain breads, rye, as well as oatmeal and oat bran cereals. It’s these very specific low-glycemic carbohydrates that do a much better job. Following such a diet is complicated, since the glycemic index of a food can change depending on how it is prepared and served. Researchers have found that people with Type 2 diabetes on a high-fiber diet kept their blood sugar under better control when they ate foods like beans and nuts instead of the recommended whole-grain diet. Beans and nuts are among foods that only modestly increase blood glucose levels; scientists describe these foods as having a low glycemic index. The new study, which lasted six months, is one of the largest and longest to assess the impact of foods with a low-glycemic index. The patients were divided in two diet groups. Both diets are low in saturated fat and trans fat. Both groups were told to limit their consumption of white flour and to eat five servings of vegetables and three servings of fruit each day. It was seen that the diabetic men have twice the risk of heart disease, and diabetic women, have four times the risk. The study found that the participants on the low-glycemic diet also saw significant improvements in cholesterol after six months, with increases in HDL, the so-called “good” cholesterol associated with a reduced risk of heart disease. Medicines used to control Type 2 diabetes have not shown the expected benefits in terms of reducing cardiovascular disease. Participants on the low-glycemic diet saw their hemoglobin A1C levels reduced slightly, by 0.5 percent on average, but experienced significant improvements in HDL, which increased by 1.7 milligrams per deciliter of blood on average. Those on the high-cereal diet saw smaller reductions in hemoglobin A1C and slight drops in HDL. Therefore there is a need to change the recommended diet for diabetes.

Further reading:

1. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/19/health/19diet.html?ei=5070&emc=eta1
2. David J. A. Jenkins et al. Effect of a Low–Glycemic Index or a High–Cereal Fiber Diet on Type 2 Diabetes: A Randomized Trial. JAMA. 2008;300(23):2742-2753.

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