EATING CAN SAVE YOUR LIFE

Hippocrates , the father of medicine in the fifty century B.C. wrote :

‘Leave your drugs in the chemist’s pot if you can heal the patient with food."

Diet is being recognized as the most important single factor for promoting either health or disease. Sir Robert Mc Carrison, the greatest of food scientists, who has conducted research on the problem of nutrition in India says "the right kind of food is the most important single factor in promotion of health ; and the wrong kind of food is the most important single factor in the promotion of disease."

Nearly all chronic disorders are associated in some way with wrong eating. According to a report from U.S. Department of Agriculture on ‘Human Nutrition’: "Most of the health problems underlying leading causes of death could be modified by improvement in diet."

According to Sir William Osler, aside from infections and accidents, 90 percent of the remaining illness and death are due to the defective food. Obviously, what you eat can have a great deal to do with your health and your longevity. A poorly balanced diet that does not supply all the essential nutrients, or a diet that supplies excessive amounts of refined foods, sugar, salt, fat and artificial additives, can ruin your health and your body- whether you’re overweight or not.

Diet plays a major role in the development of diseases discussed in this chapter. If you suffer from any of these abnormalities, use The Balanced - Nutrient Diet as your foundation., but add general amounts of those nutrients, which your particular condition demands. If you are ill, consult a doctor. Make sure however that he understands and applies modern, scientific nutrition. With such an understanding you can co-operate with your doctor willingly and intelligently and the dietary aids given here will help you understand what a tremendous part nutrition plays in overcoming diseases permanently.

Although your Balanced-Nutrient Diet will eliminate diet’s role in contributing to the development of disease, there are some dietary precautions that should be observed if you want maximum protection against disease.

"NO ONE SHOULD START ON A SPECIAL PURPOSE DIET WITHOUT THE ORDER AND ADVICE OF A DOCTOR"

Chewing of foods thoroughly is an important step to prevent indigestion. It is very important to reduce the foods to small particles in the mouth. The stomach juices will then obtain effective contact with the entire mass, and indigestion can be prevented. Of course there are other reasons for indigestion, other than mechanical aspects, such as lack of B vitamins in diet. B vitamins are essential to a good mobility of intestines required for churning, of food, so that digestive juices with their enzymes can gain access to every particle of food. Indigestion can also occur from a deficiency of hydrochloric acid in the stomach. This requires medical attention. But in majority of people, indigestion is the result of faulty eating. Three golden rules for its avoidance are :

• Eat slowly and chew thoroughly.
• Never overeat.
• Be relaxed while eating.

Dr. H.D. Gandhi in his book ‘Diseases of the Stomach’ states a condition called "Nervous Stomach" . Under tensions, the involuntary muscles and nerves of the stomach are not free to carry out the process of digestion freely. To see anyone eating a hurried meal or discussing business over lunch is to see a case of indigestion. Relax. Shed all cares and worries. Eating is important. Those who have ‘no time’ to eat now, will have ‘ all the time’ in the world to eat later on but in all probabilities may not be able to eat on account of some chronic condition which could have otherwise been prevented.

Follow the rules just laid down. They are important to your only priceless possession - your health. Lastly, follow The Balanced-Nutrient Diet. To be sound in digestion, you must be sound in body. Be sure that the diet is ample and abundant in all the essential food factors - proteins, vitamins , etc.

Portions of your stool will actually float when your diet is rich in fibre. A certain amount of bulky material in the intestines is a necessary stimulus of normal bowel activity. Also important is the consistency (fluidity) of the material. High bulk-high residue diets are often prescribed for correction of chronic constipation. Some case of chronic constipation may require medical attention.

Bulk -diets for constipation stress on fruits, high residue vegetables and liquids such as :

"Fruits" : Oranges, grapefruit, bananas, peaches, pears.
‘Vegetables’ : Leafy vegetables, string beans, cabbage , carrots, cauliflower, mushrooms, okra (lady finger), pumpkin etc.
‘Liquids ‘ : Clear soups, vegetables juices, plenty of drinking water.

DISEASES OF HEART AND BLOOD VESSELS

Heart disease is a major killer in India to-day. Persons who are obese have a higher incidence of the diseases of the heart and blood vessels as compared to persons with normal weight. In any case, whether you are over weight or not, the foods you eat have a great deal to do with heart disease and disease of blood vessels, and therefore you obviously cannot afford to ignore it. Dr. J.R. Moreton, 1947,published his work, showing that the arteries could become hard in individuals whose blood shows a high fat content, derived from the fat in the food. This fatty degeneration of arteries is called ‘Arteriosclerosis.’ Dr. W.J. Gofman demonstrated that this form of arteriosclerosis known as ‘ athero-sclerosis ‘ - and condition characterized by degeneration and hardening of the arteries and sometimes valves of the heart, is associated with certain "lipoproteins" (specialized substances derived from fat) circulating in the blood, as a direct result of ingesting fat in the diet. Dr. H. Necheles showed that in various experimental animals, atherosclerosis uniformly and promptly followed the feeding of excessive quantities of cholesterol.

What is cholesterol ?

Cholesterol is not a fat. Cholesterol is a normal and necessary fat-like substance that circulates in our blood. Chlesterol forms part of the wall around each cell in the body. Cholesterol is a basic ‘building -block’ of a major group of the body’s chemical messengers, called the Steroid hormones. In some people high blood cholesterol tends to settle down in excessive patchy deposits inside blood vessels, leading to a premature hardening and narrowing of arteries i.e. "atherosclerosis". The arteries commonly involved are coronary arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle. If these vessels become thick and narrowed, not enough blood gets to the heart, when it works hard and the result is chest pain - "Angina pectoris" or even a heart attack - " Myocardial infarction." Extensive research has shown that the risk of heart attack rises by 2 per cent for every 1 per cent increase in blood cholesterol. The risk drops at the same rate when blood cholesterol level is lowered.

What is a high level of cholesterol ?

Studies have shown that heart attack risk begins to rise steadily once the total cholesterol level exceeds 200 miligrams per deciliter ( mg/dl). A level between 200 and 240 mg/dl, high. Results of a research study showed that among men forty-four years of age, those who had cholesterol count of more than 265 mg/dl ran a five time greater risk of heart attack than those with a count consistently under 220 mg/dl. Although the total amount of cholesterol in your blood should not go above 180 mg/dl , the ‘type’ of cholesterol in your blood provides a good clue to your susceptibility to cardiovascular disease. Research in recent years has shown that there are ‘two’ forms of cholesterol in the blood, and only one is harmful. It has been discovered that the body binds cholesterol together with proteins to form lipoproteins. There are two forms of lipoproteins, a low-density or light weight one called LDL and a heavy one called HDL. LDL contains more fat than HLD and therefore floats, which is why it is the more light weight substance. The LDL can thus be regarded as the ‘bad’ lipoprotein, which deposits cholesterol in the walls of arteries. The HLD on the other hand, seems to be operating in the reverse by mopping up ‘loose’ cholesterol from the arteries and elsewhere and coming it back to the liver where it is broken down in the bile and excreted. It has also been discovered that if people have a greater proportion of HDL in the blood, the effect is beneficial.

What are triglycerides, often mentioned in connection with cholesterol ?

Triglycerides are not cholesterol - they are fatty molecules (lipids) formed in the liver from the fats you eat. Research studies suggest a possible connection between triglycerides, cholesterol and heart disease. Studies have shown that , the higher the level of triglycerides, the lower the HDL, the heart - protective cholesterol - and vice versa. In persons with high triglycerides levels, the incidence of heart - attack is also found to be higher, than persons with normal levels.In general, triglycerides should be 100 to 120 mg/dl.

Is it possible to lower blood cholesterol by changing life-styles factors ?

Medical scientists seeking ways to reduce levels of blood cholesterol have suggested certain changes in the key lifestyle factors to lower the blood cholesterol levels and atherosclerosis :- such as a) Diet b) Weight c) Exercise.

DIABETES MELLITUS is frequently associated with obesity. Eight out of ten adult diabetics are obese when symptoms first appear. This is a condition arising out of the body’s failure on one hand to burn sugar (glucose) for energy and on the other hand failure to convert glucose to glycogen for storage in liver and muscles. Sugar thus accumulating, in the blood is eliminated by the kidneys in the urine. The single substance responsible for burning sugar in the body is a hormone called ‘insulin’ produced in a ductless gland called ‘pancreas’ situated in the abdomen, behind the stomach.

Inability of the body to produce the insulin it needs to burn sugar ( glucose) for energy or to store it as glycogen results in such early warning signs as fatigue, frequent urination, excessive thirst and excessive hunger.

The exact cause of diabetes is unknown. There is a strong presumptive evidence to the effect that the excessive consumption of refined carbohydrates including sugar, contribute to the development of diabetes by flooding the blood with glucose , thus over-working the pancreas.

When whole grains are processed to produce white flour and refined cereals, many nutrients are lost, including the trace minerals, chromium, zinc and vitamin B (thiamine). There is now some evidence to indicate that a ‘chromium’ deficiency resulting from excessive consumption of refined carbohydrates also contributes to the development of diabetes. Since the body needs zinc to produce insulin, a ‘zinc deficiency’ resulting from subsisting on refined carbohydrates may also contribute to the develop- ment of diabetes.

Diabetes in young people - ‘juvenile diabetes’ can be a hereditary disorder. But when it develops in adults, it may be caused (and controlled) by diet. Eight out of ten diabetics discover that they have diabetes after age 45 - maturity-onset diabetes, indicting that diet may be a more common factor than heredity.

It is now a known fact that diabetics do well on a diet high in natural carbohydrates. So whether you’re preventing diabetes or treating the disease, The Balanced-Nutrient Diet will serve you well. You should, of course, be under a doctor’s care if you have diabetes. Only a doctor should diagnose and treat diabetes.

VARICOSE VEINS

A problem which can be extremely annoying is that of varicose veins. It is common in young people as well as older ones and is particularly aggravated by the problem of obesity in an individual. These unsightly veins occur, usually on legs and thighs and are a result of failure of blood to return to the heart normally, due to poor muscle tone. The heart pumps pure oxygenated blood to all parts of the body through arteries. Arteries end into capillaries and capillaries from veins.

The veins carry impure blood containing carbon dioxide back to the heart for purification (oxygenation) thus completing the circulation of blood. The return of impure blood to the heart from the feet, for example, is accompanied by contraction of muscles. The blood is pushed from capillaries into the veins and through the veins towards the heart each time a muscle contracts. The backward flow of blood is prevented by valves, in the veins. As the muscles relax, new blood through arteries flows into the capillaries, forced in because of the pumping of the heart. In varicose veins, the contraction of the muscles is so weak that blood is not forced out of them, it clots, closing off the veins, which becomes swollen and painful. This condition is aggravated in an obese person in whom the deposits of fat exert pressure which partially closes the veins between the leg and the heart. The prevention of varicose veins, therefore, or the means of preventing them from becoming worse after they have started, is to build up the body to such an extent that strong muscle tone exists which can forcefully push the blood on towards the heart. It is also equally important to lose weight on a medically oriented weight loss programme to reduce the pressure of fatty deposits on capillary beds and veins to prevent them from closing off, and impairing proper circulation.

Proteins and almost every vitamin and mineral plays some role in maintaining the elasticity and contractibility of the muscles. The person who suffers from varicose veins, therefore, should immediately place himself on the Balanced-Nutrient Diet. At the first sign of a varicose vein, consult your doctor , for much can be done if proper treatment is instituted in time.

In general, avoid foods which are high in purines, as uric acid is formed from purine. Foods to be avoided are :

‘Meat ’: Kidney, liver , brain.
‘Fish’ : Sardines.
‘Vegetables’ : beans, peas lentils and pulses.
‘Sauces ’ : anchovy sauce.
‘Soups ’: meat extracts.

Just about everyone develops some form of arthritis at some time in life. And it is generally agreed that there is no cure for arthritis. But according to some Nutrition authorities "Hereditary and diet are believed to be underlying factors in the degeneration of cartilage in the joints."

What you eat may have something, to do with the development or the severity of your arthritis, so it’s important to make sure that your diet is nutritious and well-balanced as in The Balanced-Nutrient Diet. Foods should be completely natural whenever possible. For example the fruits in your diet give you vitamin C you need for strong collagen in your cartilage. You must eat a lot of nutritious food to ‘prevent’ arthritis as well as to ‘treat’ arthritis. This can be easily done by eating, all the foods included in The Balanced-Nutrient Diet.

CANCER

Cancer remains a medical mystery. No doctor can assert any specific cause of cancer. Statistical evidence suggests that incidence of cancer is high in obese persons. Doctors at the National Institute of Health Baltimore U.S.A. indicate that obese men have a higher incidence of certain cancers, such as those of colon, rectum and prostate. Overweight women run a greater risk of developing malignant tumors of the ovaries, uterus and after menopause, the breasts.

Dietary factors have been implicated in the development of cancer. The forms of cancer that appear to be dependent on nutrition include stomach, liver, breast, prostate, large intestine, small intestine and colon.

Colon cancer is believed to be caused largely by lack of adequate fibre in the diets that contain too much of refined carbohydrate. Too much fat in the diet has been linked to breast cancer as well as to colon cancer.

There is evidence that Vitamin deficiency plays a role in the occurrence of cancer of the oral cavity and the oesophagus. Chronic B complex deficiency, due to inadequate supply of vegetable in the diet, appears to be responsible.

A deficiency in any vitamin or mineral can be a contributing factor in the development of cancer. Vitamins A and C , for example, are important in the construction of strong tissue that is resistant to invasion by cancer cells. Vitamin C and E have anti-oxidant properties that protect cell membranes from the destructive effects of oxygen. Deficiencies in such trace minerals as zinc, selenium and magnesium, which occur as a result of refining grains, may also contribute to the development of cancer. Whether you’re overweight or not, it’s important to pay close attention to what you eat. Anyone can lose weight by eating, ‘less’ . The secret of ‘healthful’ dieting, however, is food selection. You must supply your body with essential nutrients. Your Balanced-Nutrient Diet takes all this into consideration. With the large part of your energy nutrients coming from natural carbohydrates, you’ll get the fibres you need along, with trace minerals and other essential nutrients.

Adequate fibre in your diet will speed emptying the waste matter from your colon, preventing conversion of bile acids to carcinogenic toxins. You need all the vitamins, minerals, and fibre if you want to stay slim and maintain your body’s resistance to cancer or any other disease. Don’t just quit eating when you want to lose weight. Instead, make an effort to eat ‘properly’ and ‘sensibly’. For a longer, slimmer, healthier life make your Balanced-Nutrient Diet a lifetime diet.