29 August, 2005, by VK Baburaj

Are u healthy? ‘Yeah…I am’. This may be the answer if I asked you. Is it true? Oh may be you could say, "I have never been to hospital in my life, so am healthy". Nobody knows the silent disease in us.

People today are living shorter and dying longer. Why? As we all know that yesteryears life threatening diseases were Cholera, TB, Polio, Small Pox etc., and it’s almost been controlled or eradicated by the development of science and technology. But in recent times the threat has been Obesity, Diabetes, Blood Pressure, Cancer, Stroke, Alzheimer’s, Asthma, Arthritis, Parkinson’s and the list goes on.

‘What is the difference?’ You may ask. May I ask u how this happened to us? Why this transformation? Why is it that with all scientific achievement? Sit, relax and think about it.

Yes, am sure it’s just because of our way of life. Fast food mania, pollution, lack of exercise, tension, excessive use of pesticides, non-scientific usage of medicine etc…

What we need to do? We need to create a health conscious society, starting from ourselves. Do we or not? Of course we have to - for a healthy wealthy society. It is very much important and moreover very much essential for a prosperous society.

OBESITY

Some do have genetically more fat cells, it may distribute in some areas of our body like loose flesh having around upper arms, thighs etc.

Women do complain of gaining weight especially after childbirth, and when they get older too. Excessive weight may be cause for painful knees, hips ache, high blood pressure, diabetes and fatigue.

Also, if you are dieting, if you have insulin resistance, your body converts every calorie into fat. Some do eat as much and until it reaches their neck level, and I heard people saying ‘I could eat as much rice even just only with a green chilly’.

Believe it or not, there is no short cut to fight obesity. Probably, you might have seen lot of ads in the media that reduces weight within ten minutes.

The best way is to reduce total intake of calorie, on fats like processed food, meat and pickles, and also avoid soft drinks and candies. A disciplined, regular, timely exercise program like jogging, fast walking, aerobics with a very strict diet control can manage obesity.

How to control our food intake?

The smaller frequent food intake is rather good than larger infrequent. Overloading the digestive system may create excessive calories as fat. Remember it is better to leave one-third of stomach empty always for smooth operation of the digestive process. High carbohydrate, less proteins and anti-oxidants are routine diet of many of us. Proper digestion becomes easy if the combination of food is correct. If we knowingly or unknowingly violate this rule, even nutritious food may produce toxic as a result of decomposition in the digestive tract. Since no enzyme in the stomach, carbohydrates are digested either in the mouth or in the small intestines, whereas digestion of proteins takes place in the stomach.

Suppose we have a meal that contains both carbohydrates and proteins, and if we masticated properly, enzymes in our saliva in the mouth carry out partial digestion of the carbohydrates. But if we don’t masticate properly, the carbohydrates remain undigested in the stomach, on the other hand protein get digested. Therefore, they start decaying in the stomach and produce toxic materials. Chewing food at least 32 times, i.e., one chew for each tooth.

Our overall health depends on what we eat. We must consider food as a drug like medicine. We must use it correctly to protect our health, and if incorrect used, it may create serious health hazard. Nutritional supplementation is now very much essential for each one of us, since we are not getting what we wanted or we are consuming the so called junk food...

Ideal meal time

Ø      Break Fast - 7 A.M

Ø      Lunch - 12 Noon

Ø      Dinner - 7 P.M

Ø      Keep minimum five hours or more between meals

Ø      You can have fruits or fruit juice at 4 P.M.