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Avoid fad diets. No diet or regimen makes you lose weight permanently. Only life-time changes in eating habits and exercising work.
Fading of skin that spreads throughout the body is not treatable through its pace can be slowed. Caused by a loss of pigment, melanin, it begins as patches which grow and merge. Ultraviolet light treatment has been suggested but it is risky. It is neither contagious nor harmful. Learn to live with it.
Failure to thrive in the breast-feeding infant is rarely due to insufficient supply of milk. If the baby continues to gain weight and height and has at least six wet diapers and normal stool, the milk supply is adequate. Most mothers worry unnecessarily.
Renew your faith. Strong belief in religion helps you live longer. Renew your faith. Man alone can not survive the rigors of life; share them with God.
How many children should you have and when you should have them are serious questions to consider early in life.
Loss of four kilograms or more over a period of 10 weeks or less, without a deliberate change in eating habits or exercise pattern can be a sign of danger including thyroid disease, hormonal disorder, faulty digestion, cancer of intestine or stomach or tuberculosis. See your doctor.
Fasting does not lead to permanent weigh loss. It is the most ineffective and dangerous method to lose weight.
Use fat substitutes. New discoveries of two fat substitutes, Simplesse and Olestra promise to give you all the fat you want without the calories. Simplesse gives only one-eight the calories in fats but cannot be used in cooking. It is made from egg-white. Olestra is totally calorie-free because it is not absorbed can be used for cooking. It is made fro sucrose and soybean oil to give large molecules that cannot be absorbed. Olestra was approved for use by the US FDA in 1995. Soon these products will be available in Pakistan.
Avoid garnishing with fat. An ideal garnish is salsa (such as kachumber) made from fresh chopped tomatoes, onion, chillies, lime, lemon juice. It is customary to drench otherwise lean meals with sautéed onion or garlic (baghar); stay clear of that. Instead, use lemon juice with mint leaves, baked onions and raw crushed garlic.
Ignore fat claims. The most important cause of heart disease and cancer is the fat in your diet. Remember, all fats ranging from butter to light vegetable oils cause irreparable damage to your body. Never pay any attention to any claims of beneficial uses of fats (oils); cholesterol-free claims mean nothing since the main culprit is the rest of the fat.
Minimise fat in cooking. Use non-stick pans (such as Teflon® coating); they require less oil to cook. Learn the virtues of steaming, boiling, stir-frying, microwave cooking over frying.
Healthy eating does not mean giving up all your favourite meals, or spending hours studying the nutrient and calorie content of foods. The key to a healthy diet is simply variation and balance, extending the range of foods you normally eat and not taking too much of any one kind of food.
Fear intensified apparently without cause results in anxiety attacks with such symptoms as difficulty in breathing, sweating, trembling, diarrhoea. In most cases a change in life style and exercise can help along side use of specific medicines now available to reduce anxiety. Left untreated, chronic anxiety can lead to serious mental disorders.
Half of all men and women feel tired because their diets do not provide adequate nutrition needed for the stressed life style of today. Match your diet to meet challenges of your lifestyle. Aim not for high calories but for a right combination of proteins, carbohydrates and fats plus vitamins, minerals and other macro and micro nutrients.
Women also lose hair as they age, during pregnancy but mostly in the form of thinning over the head, quite different from the typical male pattern baldness.
Testicles contain at least 50 times more vitamin C than the blood that nourishes them. Some causes of male infertility, such as clumping of sperms, can be treated with vitamin C therapy. For optimal fertility, men should consume citrus fruits and vegetables rich in vitamin C at least two or three times a day.
Deficiency of fibre in diet causes most of the diseases of the digestive tract including haemorrhoids, appendicitis, inflammation and formation of pouches in intestine, and colon cancer.
Binge on fibre. Soluble fibre found mostly in oats, legumes, fruits and vegetables helps lower blood cholesterol and moderates blood sugar levels. Insoluble fibre is good for digestive system (constipation) and prevents colon cancer. Try getting about 40 grams of fibre per day from about five to six servings of fruits, breads, legumes, etc. This requirement is about twice what we normally eat.
Fibre supplements should not be used to lose weight; first you will need a lot of these pills and secondly you would lose on other nutritional benefits of foods high in fibre such as vitamins and minerals in fruits rich in fibre.
Finicky children can be coaxed into eating by first giving them their choice foods as long as these are healthy foods and then firmly explaining to them they must eat whatever is served or they may go to bed hungry. They will soon yield.
Fish oils (not the fish liver oils such as the classic cod liver oil) from cold water sea fish contain a fatty acid, omega-3, not found in terrestrial sources. Omega-3 fatty acids are known to prevent heart disease.
For maximum flavour cook fish for ten minutes only for each one inch thickness; it should turn opaque and barely begin to flake.
Eat fish at least 2-3 times a week; however, watch out for the source of fish since many waterways have high chemical contamination. Fish also spoils easily. A fish that smells like a fish is a rotten fish.
Fitness on the run. Not having enough time is the worst excuse given for not exercising. Just like you add tasks, add exercise to your routine appointments. Exercising in bits and pieces rather than waiting for enough to do it all at once is preferred.
Monitor the fitness of your heart by testing how quickly your heart beats return to normal after exercise. Within 30 seconds of moderate exercise the heart beats should be less than 80.
Test your fitness by running for 12 minutes; if you make to about a mile and a half for men and a mile and a quarter for women, you're doing fine. For ages over 50, the limits are lower.
Brush and floss regularly. The best time to brush teeth is before and after each meal. Floss regularly to prevent plaque formation and gum recession. Learn the correct method of brushing and flossing teeth.
Fluoride is needed to protect teeth. It strengthens enamel and thus makes it less susceptible to damage. Use only fluoridate tooth-paste since adequate fluoridation of water supply is questionable.
Keep flour refrigerated, preferably frozen, to keep it fresh and free of insect and bacterial growth.
Immunity to flu is difficult to establish because the virus keeps changing every year; flu vaccines are commended for the elderly at health risk; generally, the vaccines do not prove very useful.
Drink water. No other fluid gives you greater vitality than pure water. Essential to keep body metabolism normal, water also protects your kidneys. Taken in any other form, as soft drinks or syrupy or fruity liquids, it only gives you unnecessary calories and electrolytes to load kidneys.
Yeast, beef liver, spinach, beans, and broccoli are good sources of folic acid, essential in promoting growth, preventing anaemia, other blood disorders and gastrointestinal disturbances. Folic acid deficiency is the most common vitamin deficiency, specially in our part of the world.
The dose of folic acid, a vitamin of the B-complex family, should be increased if you are taking any medication regularly, planning to become pregnant, have difficulty in gaining weight or have frequent bouts of diarrhoea. Get folic acid through foliage, from where the word is derived; liver, milk and yeast are also good sources. Provide at least 100 microgram of folic acid per day. Chances are you would need a supplement product to get sufficient folic acid.
Garlic is proposed as panacea for ailments ranging from infections, pimples, boils, whooping cough, measles, worms, to heart disease. Though all other claims have fallen by the way side, the effect of garlic is established in reducing blood pressure, inhibiting coagulation of blood, reducing bad cholesterol and increasing good cholesterol.
Foods are merely a source of calories and nutrition; unless you are allergic to it, they do not produce any specific therapeutic effect.
Foods are absorbed after digestion as amino acids, monosaccharides and fatty acids regardless of their source. Combining foods may affect absorption of calories but it can not produce any harmful effects.
Food cravings are common not only during pregnancy or lactation but also when using some drugs; for example, diuretics increase craving for salty foods. When taking any drug, consult your physician about any new food craving.
Identify and use all food groups. Take 7-8 servings of complex carbohydrates breads, pasta, rice), 4-5 servings of fruits and vegetables, 1-2 servings of white meats and 0-1 servings of simple carbohydrates. Rich complex carbohydrates are in; fats totally out. (One serving is a common single portion, generally one piece of fruit, one slice of bread, a one tablespoon serving size or about 100g weight.)
Eat a widely varied diet. We are discovering every day newer components of diet that appear to be essential to health; don't be left out in tomorrow's discoveries. Also, eating one kind of food may expose to its ill effects such as small amount of toxins, chemical contaminants etc.
Improve appearance of food. The appearance, smell and taste of food and the emotional climate in which it is served are crucial in preparing the body to digest and absorb food. Emotions of fear, anger, and worry depress these functions. Eating on the run and under stress guarantees indigestion.
Eczema, arthritis and asthma symptoms may be caused by allergies to foods; try an elimination diet plan to ascertain your sensitivities to milk, wheat, tomato, preserves, sauerkraut, spinach, sausages, tuna, chocolate, strawberries, shellfish and citrus fruits.
Foods do not give any special effect depending on the climate of use; cold foods do not produce colds and hot foods do not make you sweat. It is all right to eat ice creams in winter and nihari and paya in summer. (Whether any of these foods is healthier, is a different question.)
Food intolerance with symptoms similar to food allergy can be caused by food additives, colouring agents, preservatives, flavour enhancers, sulphites to stabilise food colours, etc. There are no laws in Pakistan to list these additives on packaged foods. Watch out!
Avoid food-drug interactions. Food interacts with absorption and action of many potent drugs; follow instructions carefully.
Give your feet a salt bath when tired. Gravity can cause feet to swell when sitting or standing for long time, particularly during long flights. Raising feet even a few inches above ground when sitting makes a lot of difference.
Italian and French breads are made without any fat; when made with whole wheat, they make an excellent choice. They are now freely available in Pakistan.
In French restaurants, order fish or poultry that have lighter sauces. For desserts used poached fruits and fruit tarts and do not cover them with sauce or custard. In Chinese restaurants select vegetables and foods using fish, ginger, plum and garlic sauces. Avoid fried rice and beware of the Chinese salt to which many people are allergic. Mexican foods offer excellent choice of vegetables; avoid avocado. Italian pastas with tomato sauce and vegetable are the best; ricotta and mozzarella cheeses are also low in calorie. Avoid Greek meat dishes, instead try the low calorie feta cheese especially the dishes using aubergines that give the distinct Greek flavour.
Do not play or swim in fresh water. You can easily catch schistosomiasis, an infestation of a small worm that causes liver, kidney and bladder disease. On the ocean beaches watch out for jelly fish.
Eat fresh foods. Dried, canned, frozen, and prepared foods contain too much fat, salt, sugar, and unhealthy additives, and rarely do they taste as good as fresh foods.
While in bed, do not fret if you can not fall asleep; it will make it even more difficult; instead count sheep, think about your loved ones or some other pleasant thoughts. If you can not sleep, get out of the bed and do not go back to bed until sleepy.
Honest friends lower your blood pressure. Find out who is honest with you. Lying smiles tighten muscles around the mouth and produce narrowing of lips; true smiles produces wrinkling of the skin around the eyes.
Fructose, the fruit sugar is actually sweeter than the table sugar and is healthier compared to refined sugar. It is best to get it from fruits.
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