HEALTH

Soya milk one-up on cow milk: cardiologist
R. Suryamurthy
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 30
Soya milk is superior to cow milk. Such a statement coming from the land of cows would surprise many.

However, the claim is based on scientific research done globally.

“Soya milk is superior to cow’s milk. It is a heart-healthy drink without saturated fat and cholesterol of dairy,” said Dr S C Manchanda, head of the cardiology unit of All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

Soya products have been shown to benefit people suffering from heart disease, an increasing health concern in India.

The World Health Organisation predicts that deaths caused by heart diseases will double in India by 2015.

Research attributes this rise in India’s increased consumption of dairy and meat and adoption of a ‘cheeseburger’ lifestyle, while the US and other western countries are moving towards more vegetarian items.

Dr Manchanda was speaking at a function in Adhyatma Sadhana Kendra, where the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine had gifted a soya-making machine, a release said.

Medical studies, including the Harvard Nurses Study, have monitored the health of 75,000 women over the course of a decade. The women included those who drink milk and those who do not. The studies show that dairy products may actually contribute to osteoporosis and bone breaks.

Men, too, are at risk. Results of the landmark Physicians’ Health Study of 20,885 doctors showed that men who consumed at least 2-1/2 servings of dairy foods daily were about 30 per cent more likely to develop prostate cancer than men who averaged less than half a serving per day.

The follow-up study of the health professionals found that men who consumed high amounts of dairy products had a 70 per cent increased risk of prostate cancer. British researchers have found that men who eat a diet without dairy products and meat have lower levels of certain protein associated with prostate cancer.

The study, published in the British Journal of Cancer, found that levels of IGF-1, an insulin-like growth factor believed to play a key role in causing prostate cancer were nine per cent lower in vegetarians than non-vegetarians.

A study of children in 40 countries published in the American Journal of Nutrition said that the incidence of juvenile diabetes was directly linked to diet.

The higher the consumption of cow’s milk and other animal products, the greater the chances of developing diabetes. Conversely, children who consumed a largely vegetarian diet had a much lower incidence of diabetes.

Session on hypnotherapy
Our correspondent
Tribune News Service

Gurgaon, October 30
International Cultural Center (ICC), a local organisation, held a talk on `hypnotherapy’, a revolutionary self-healing technique for the benefit of the stressed-out urban Indians. The mind-healing process is based on the premise that mind is the ultimate healer of the body, explained the key speaker, Dr Vanit Nalwa.

Hypnotherapy works through the mind at a subconscious level where the root cause of most ailments resides. “Attend to this cause and the problem automatically solves,” claims the lady.

The talk was followed by a lively question-answer session. ICC has been formed to organise cultural programmes, talks and lectures on subjects of common interest and to organise events that foster a feeling of fraternity among the local people, asserts the organisation president, Mr Vishnu Sahai.

SPORTS

Delhi announces Ranji team sans Sarandeep
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, October 30
Punjab off-spinner Sarandeep Singh has been kept out of the Delhi Ranji Trophy team, which will be led by Mithun Minhas, though provision has been kept for his inclusion as and when he gets the necessary permission from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to shift from his parent association, Punjab, to Delhi.

Mithun Minhas will lead the 14-member squad with Rahul Sanghvi as his deputy. Minhas will skipper Delhi in the first three matches in the absence of wicket-keeper batsman Vijay Dahiya, who is recovering from a shin injury. Delhi takes on Services in their first match on November 1.

The mantle of captaincy should have fallen on Rahul Sanghvi who was the vice-captain under Dahiya but for his preference to concentrate on returning to the India team. The Delhi squad comprises many youngsters, whose inclusion shows the new line of thinking among the Delhi selectors, particularly chief coach Bishan Singh Bedi.

The inclusion of 17-year-old leg-spinner Abhishek Sharma, opening batsman Radhey Shyam Sharma, T Anand, Sohail Rauf and Amit Suman is a good sign, designed to give the Delhi squad a balanced look. But in the bargain, some "old faces" like fast bowler Robin Singh Jr, opening batsman Ashu Dani, Devender Sharma, Pankaj Joshi, Sandeep Angurala and Vishal Sharma have been cast away. The selection committee, comprising Chetan Chauhan (chairman), Sunil Dev (convener) Madan Lal, Sunil Khanna, Atul Wassan and Bishan Singh Bedi (chief coach), deliberated at length before picking the squad. The team: Mithun Minhas (captain), Rahul Sanghvi, Akash Chopra, Gautam Gambhir, Pradeep Chawla, Varun Kumar, Sohail Rauf, Amit Bhandari, Arun Singh, Amit Suman, Abhishek Sharma, Harender Chaudhary, T Anand and Radhey Shyam Gupta. Bishan Singh Bedi is the chief coach, Surinder Khanna the coach and Rajeev Vinayak the manager.

Uma Bharti congratulates Humpy
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, October 30
Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Uma Bharti has congratulated Junior World Chess Champion Koneru Humpy, who has become the first Indian woman to achieve two Grandmaster norms.

Applauding her performance, the minister said the young girl had done the nation proud by her achievements. She conveyed her best wishes to Humpy who needed just one more norm to create history and win the Grandmaster title. Humpy achieved the feat when she settled for a quick draw against Grandmaster Goran Kosanovic of Yugoslavia in the ninth round of the Third Saturday GM chess tournament being played at Belgrade.

Ms Bharti said Humpy's performance had added to the long list of Indian achievers in the field of sports this year.