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Tuesday,
October 16, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Have
water, say bye to ills
BP drugs
could halve risk of another stroke
RESPONSE
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Have
water, say bye to ills One-third part of the earth is covered with water and one-third part of our body is composed of water. But we, in general, are ignorant about the importance of water. We use water to fulfill our daily needs. We could not construct huge buildings and cement bridges without the help of water. Water is life-giving. It cures almost all diseases. It would not be an exaggeration to say that water is a panacea. When we meet people we generally discuss our health problems thus: "Dear, I think this asthma will definitely take my life one day!" "Tell me, what should I do for the treatment of my joint pains and obesity?" "Oh my God, I am surprised to hear Vijay that has had a heart attack. Is not he not more 40 years?" "I am worried... I don't know when my gastric trouble will be cured!" "Oh constipation! I daily take this and that medicine, but I have forgotten when I had a natural answer to natural cal!"
The major cause of any disease is the accumulation of toxic residuals of what we eat and drink. No doubt, our body remains busy emitting and evacuating unwanted residual material from the body, we still find sometimes, breakdown in our health due to some fault in this. Repeat the question: "Who is at fault?" Is it your friend, your relative or your enemy? No, no, no. It is only you and you. Look into thyself. Remember the time when you enjoyed erotic food (veg./non-veg.) with whisky, rum, gin, beer or cocktail? When you enjoyed cold drinks, icecreams, cakes etc? When you forgot that your stomach doesn’t have teeth? When you are slave to your taste, when you forget the proverb — eat to live and not live to eat —, you are committing suicide by overloading your belly. Dr F. Batmanghelidj, emphasises in his book, Your Body's Many Cries for Water, that we can treat our aliments by taking simple and pure water. If you want to get rid of piles, acidity, backache, indigestion, asthma, headache, constipation, diabetes, lower back pain, overweight, obesity, joint pains, cervical, spondylitis.... take water. Therefore, if you want to live a hale and hearty life, to have the virtue of looking ever-young and smart (of course free from ailments), adopt the path of yoga and start taking fresh water. Have as much as you can in a day
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BP drugs could halve risk of another stroke New research has found that giving stroke patients blood pressure pills and diuretics could halve the chance of them suffering another stroke. Stroke, which occurs due to a blood clot or bleeding in the brain, is the second biggest killer worldwide. At least a quarter of all stroke deaths occur in people who have suffered a previous stroke or a "mini-stroke," experts say. A major study, presented to scientists at a meeting of the European Society of Hypertension in Milan, found that when the blood pressure drug coversyl, together with a diuretic, were given to stroke patients for four years, one patient in every 14 was spared a second stroke. Other complications such as heart attack and dementia also were dramatically reduced. "There are 50 million people worldwide who have survived stroke. Most of them should get these drugs," said Dr Norman Kaplan, a blood pressure expert and professor of medicine at the University of Texas Southwest Medical Centre, who was not connected with the study. Most patients are given aspirin and an anti-clotting drug to ward off further problems, but still about one in five go on to suffer another stroke within four years. In the study, 6,100 stroke patients from across Asia, Australasia and Europe were randomly given either coversyl and the diuretic natrailix or dummy pills for four years, along with any other medicines they were taking for other problems. In the group receiving the
drugs, 150 people had a stroke compared with 255 of those getting the fake
pills. The treatment worked even for those who had normal blood pressure to
start with. AP
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Smokers at more risk of premature death Heavy smokers face a 20 per cent higher risk of premature death compared with non-smokers, according to a study. The research covered more than 1,000 men living in rural Finland, whose health was monitored between 1959 and 1989, including tests at five intervals of their lung capacity. The men were all aged at least 40 when the programme was launched. The death rate among continuous smokers during this period was a fifth higher than people who never smoked, who had smoked and then gave up, or who stopped smoking for a short while and then resumed, the study, published recently, noted. The risk of premature death was clearly linked to lung function, say the authors, led by Margit Pelkonen of Finland’s University of Kuopio. Pulmonary performance fell among all the men surveyed as they got older, but the drop was far slower among non-smokers. Among the smokers, the decline in lung function was fast and steep, averaging 42 per cent more than that of people who had never smoked. The study is published in Thorax, a
monthly journal of the British Medical Association. AFP
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RESPONSE
The article stresses about avoiding the consumption of proteins and starches together in the same meal by people with sensitive stomach. This concept contradicts the centuries old tradition of combining cereal and pulse or for that matter ‘starch’ or ‘protein’. If we try to look back at what we have been eating and advocating people to eat, the first thing that comes to our mind is a cereal pulse combination (be it dal with rice or dal with chapati). Further, the combinations given suggest nothing about how to supplement the amino acids that are deficient in that particular combination. Again, all except one amino acid, (leucine, which is ketogenic) after the removal of the nitrogenous protion, are glycogenic; that is they are converted to glucose which itself is a simple carbohydrate. There is also no consideration of protein sparing action of carbohydrate that is very important as this helps in utilising the proteins for their real purpose; that is for growth and maintenance rather than for energy. Also, a visible source of fat like mayonnaise or cream sauce is not recommended to be consumed by people keeping in mind the invisible fats in various foods and also the fact that in the present world, half of the population is fighting against obesity and its related disorders. Hence, I think recommending combinations like chicken with cream sauce or mayonnaise and cream with fruits is much against the required guidelines. Moreover, a source of starch like potato itself contains some percentage of protein. What do the writers say about the effect of naturally occurring combinations of starches and proteins on sensitive stomach? It will be advisable to follow the following tips: * Have small meals at regular intervals. * Diet should be low in fibre and spices. * Properly cooked foods should be consumed. * Avoid fried foods. * The food should be consumed in a stress free environment. * Diet should be balanced to avoid any nutritional deficiencies. Regarding weight loss, no basis is mentioned in the article. One has to take into consideration the requirements compared to the expenditure of calories of the particular person. Individualized dietary advice has to be followed in this respect keeping in mind the BMI, age, sex and physical status of the subject in question. The writer is a dietician at
CMC, Ludhiana
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Apropos
the article "Food for sensitive stomach" by Aparna Kapur and Sonia
Gandhi, published in these columns on October 2, We the dietitians of CMC, the
following points in connection with the article: