How should we keep ourselves healthy

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"Health is wealth"

"Healthy mind in a healthy body"

There are so many things being talked about the health in today's world but I have got the feeling that we are not showing enough interest towards our health.

What may be the probable cause?

I guess that this comfort oriented life-style is doing the biggest harm to our health. It is the high time that we start taking active interest in our health issues otherwise sooner or later we will be at the receiving end.

In most of the developing countries including India, there is the least health realted awareness even among the educated people. This is a pain. We need to do something about it.

I have started this thread to invite thoughts from all the readers so that we can make a healthy nation.

Lets bring facts, data and good examples here so that we all can encourage to take the first step towards a healthy life today.

Good Luck !

[http://neerajsingh.bizhat]

IMPORTANT INFO for all ...from Dr.Devi Shetty

Very informative & follow the way as the famous doctor from Bangalore's Narayana Hrudayalaya Dr.DEVI SHETTY AS suggested.

Not only read, also propagate this. Kindly take print out of this and give it to those who are not connected to Internet.

There was a chat, arranged by WIPRO for its employees, with Dr.Devi Shetty, Narayana Hrudayalaya (Heart Specialist). The transcript of the chat is given below:
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What are the five thumb rules for a layman to take care of his heart?
Dr Devi Shetty:
1. Diet - Less of carbohydrate, more of protein, less oil
2. Exercise - Half an hour's walk, at least five days a week; avoid lifts and avoid sitting for a longtime
3. Quit smoking
4. Control weight
5. Control blood pressure and sugar

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Is eating non-veg food (fish) good for the heart?
Dr Devi Shetty: No
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It's still a grave shock to hear that some apparently healthy person gets a cardiac arrest. How do we understand it in perspective?
Dr Devi Shetty: This is called silent attack; that is why we recommend everyone past the age of 30 to undergo routine health checkups.
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Are heart diseases hereditary?
Dr Devi Shetty: Yes
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What are the ways in which the heart is stressed? What practices do you suggest to de-stress?
Dr Devi Shetty: Change your attitude towards life. Do not look for perfection in everything in life.
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Is walking better than jogging or is more intensive exercise required to keep a healthy heart?
Dr Devi Shetty: Walking is better than jogging since jogging leads to early fatigue and injury to joints
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You have done so much for the poor and needy. What has inspired you to do so?
Dr Devi Shetty: Mother Theresa, who was my patient.
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Can people with low blood pressure suffer heart diseases?
Dr Devi Shetty: Extremely rare
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Does cholesterol accumulates right from an early age (I'm currently only 22) or do you have to worry about it only after you are above 30 years of age?
Dr Devi Shetty: Cholesterol accumulates from childhood.
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How do irregular eating habits affect the heart?
Dr Devi Shetty: You tend to eat junk food when the habits are irregular and your body's enzyme release for digestion gets confused.
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How can I control cholesterol content without using medicines?
Dr Devi Shetty: Control diet, walk and eat walnut.
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Can yoga prevent heart ailments?
Dr Devi Shetty: Yoga helps.
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Which is the best and worst food for the heart?
Dr Devi Shetty: Best food is fruits worst are oil.
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Which oil is better - gingili, groundnut, sunflower, saffola, olive?
Dr Devi Shetty: All oils are bad; the so-called best oil company has the largest marketing budget.
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What is the routine checkup one should go through? Is there any specific test?
Dr Devi Shetty: Routine blood test to ensure sugar, cholesterol is ok. Check BP, Treadmill test after an echo.
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How different was it in treating Noor Fatima, the little kid from Pakistan?
Dr Devi Shetty: It was extremely difficult, Because of the media attention. As far as the medical treatment is concerned, she is like any other child
with a complex heart problem.
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What are the first aid steps to be taken on a heart attack?
Dr Devi Shetty: Help the person into a sleeping position, put an aspirin tablet under the tongue with a sorbitrate tablet if available, and rush him
to a coronary care unit since the maximum casualty takes place within the first hour.
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How do you differentiate between pain caused by a heart attack and that caused due to gastric trouble?
Dr Devi Shetty: Extremely difficult without ECG.
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What is the main cause of a steep increase in heart problems amongst youngsters? I see people of about 30-40 yrs of age having heart attacks and serious heart problems.
Dr Devi Shetty: Increased awareness has increased incidents. Also, edentary lifestyles, smoking, junk food, lack of exercise in a country where people are genetically three times more vulnerable for heart attacks than Europeans and Americans.
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Is it possible for a person to have BP outside the normal range of 120/80 and yet be perfectly healthy?
Dr Devi Shetty: Yes.
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Marriages within close relatives can lead to heart problems for the child. Is it true?
Dr Devi Shetty: Yes, co-sanguinity leads to congenital abnormalities and you may not have a software engineer as a child
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Many of us have an irregular daily routine and many a times we have to stay late nights in office. Does this affect our heart? What precautions would you recommend?
Dr Devi Shetty: When you are young, nature protects you against all these irregularities. However, as you grow older, respect the biological clock.
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Will taking anti-hypertensive drugs cause some other complications (short / long term)?
Dr Devi Shetty: Yes, most drugs have some side effects. However, modern anti-hypertensive drugs are extremely safe.
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Will consuming more coffee/tea lead to heart attacks?
Dr Devi Shetty: No.
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Are asthma patients more prone to heart disease?
Dr Devi Shetty: No.
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How would you define junk food?
Dr Devi Shetty: Fried food like Kentucky, McDonalds, samosas, and even masala dosas.
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You mentioned that Indians are three times more vulnerable. What is the reason for this, as Europeans and Americans also eat a lot of junk food?
Dr Devi Shetty: Every race is vulnerable to some disease and unfortunately, Indians are vulnerable for the most expensive disease.
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Does consuming bananas help reduce hypertension?
Dr Devi Shetty: No.
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Can a person help himself during a heart attack (Because we see a lot of forwarded emails on this)?
Dr Devi Shetty: Yes. Lie down comfortably and put an aspirin tablet of any description under the tongue and ask someone to take you to the nearest coronary
care unit without any delay and do not wait for the ambulance since most of the time, the ambulance does not turn up.
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Do, in any way, low white blood cells and low hemoglobin count lead to heart problems?
Dr Devi Shetty: No. But it is ideal to have normal hemoglobin level to increase your exercise capacity.
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Sometimes, due to the hectic schedule we are not able to exercise. So, does walking while doing daily chores at home or climbing the stairs in the house, work as a substitute for exercise?
Dr Devi Shetty: Certainly. Avoid sitting continuously for more than half an hour and even the act of getting out of the chair and going to another chair and sitting helps a lot.
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Is there a relation between heart problems and blood sugar?
Dr Devi Shetty: Yes. A strong relationship since diabetics are more vulnerable to heart attacks than non-diabetics.
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What are the things one needs to take care of after a heart operation?
Dr Devi Shetty: Diet, exercise, drugs on time. Control cholesterol, BP, weight.
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Are people working on night shifts more vulnerable to heart disease when compared to day shift workers?
Dr Devi Shetty: No.
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What are the modern anti-hypertensive drugs?
Dr Devi Shetty: There are hundreds of drugs and your doctor will chose the right combination for your problem, but my suggestion is to avoid the drugs and go for natural ways of controlling blood pressure by walk, diet to reduce weight and changing attitudes towards lifestyles.
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Does dispirin or similar headache pills increase the risk of heart attacks?
Dr Devi Shetty: No.
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Why is the rate of heart attacks more in men than in women?
Dr Devi Shetty: Nature protects women till the age of 45.
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How can one keep the heart in a good condition?
Dr Devi Shetty: Eat a healthy diet, avoid junk food, exercise everyday, do not smoke and, go for a health checkup if you are past the age of 30 for at least once in two yrs. And work very hard...

Enjoy.....Life..........

[http://neerajsingh.bizhat]

Think about health and you would notice it seems to be a remote topic of discussion. In most of the cases people are not able to corelate this word with themselves

I have personally experienced it. That's one of the reasons to start this discussion thread so that we may become more attentive at least towards our health.

I would try to post the relevant informations here. Others are also invited to share their thoughts. Please find some time for this thread as well.

[polujin]

Who sits on the computer 24/7, is NOT a healthy person, that I can prove! (some one like myself.. lol)

[rimcs]

Thanks neerajsingh for starting the topic, it's really the most essential
thing your health is your wealth. It's really sad to see no postings (reply)
to the thread.
Friends if you are not keeping well how are you going to share your
success with ours.

Here are some health tips to those who are on there computers for more most of there time (except offcourse sleeping and eating)

1) Don't sit for more than one and half hours at a strech. Go for a walk for 15 minutes, if not outside strawl inside your house.

2) Wash your eye's and sprinkle it with cold water every 2-3hours.

3) Go for a walk every morning for at least 40-45 minutes.

4) Go to a place where there is lot of green trees, look into the green leeves or the green grass for more than 30 minutes, you must do it daily.

5) Try to breating exercise while you look into the green.

6) Never watch TV immediately after leveaing your computer, wash
your eyes and then after 10-15 minutes you can watch the TV.

7) Just keep yourself away from your computer, it can be any particular day of the week, you must make the habit to do this once every week.
Forget that you even know what a computer is... forget it even if you lose
$1billion that very day.

If you try and follow the aboe it will keep you healthy and fit to persuie
your carrier on the machine.

Be Successfull and Stay fit
Amnitabh

[http://neerajsingh.bizhat]

These are the most valuable tips for all of us.

Thanks for sharing dear.

I am trying to follow all this and have seen that it works.

The bottom line is to wake up early in the morning and do the stuffs as suggested by Amitabh.

Lets headstart towards a healthy life.

Thanks once again Amitabh... lets help each other to live a healthy life.

[rimcs]

Thanks neeraj it's nice to see you have
started to follow the tips. I saw your
posting time (around 4 am), nice that you
got up early.

Please don't getup and sit on the machine
I hope you will promise me not to do it
again. Remember a good friend will always
think for the benifit of his friend, that's why
I am saying so.

By the way do always keep posting in this
perticular thread, I am sure lot of other
friends will join soon. I will also try to keep
posting as often as possible.

Stay fit and be successfull
Amitabh

[http://neerajsingh.bizhat]

Thanks a lot Amitabh. I will stick to your advice dear.

Low - Fat Eating

Eat more vegetables, fruit and grains.

You don’t have to stop eating foods you enjoy that are high in fat, just cut down on the amount of their servings. Use bigger quantities of low-fat foods to accompany them.

Flavor your stew with meat in modest amounts, don’t overpower it.

Eat one egg instead of two.

Eat fatty foods less often. You don’t have to quit your favorite foods completely. For example, you don’t have to have meat every day.

Trim the visible fat. Remove all of the skin from poultry.

Limit organ meats (liver, kidney)

Use lunch meats sparingly (salami, bologna, sausage)

Make egg dishes with egg whites rather than egg yolks.

Drink skim or 1% milk (if you drink milk)

Watch the cheese (sorry!). Look for low-fat varieties, especially for cooking.

Don’t add fat as you cook.
--Instead of :
--Frying

--Use these techniques :
--Roasting (on a rack if possible so fat drains away)
--Grilling
--Baking

Don’t settle for dull. A little imagination can go a long way in keeping foods interesting:
--Try new spices

--Get a good low-fat cookbook with a number of recipes and alternatives. Invest a little time in planning some good alternatives.


--Avoid
--Butter
--Lard
--Palm oil, coconut oil
(These contain about 40% saturated fat)
--Use
--Olive oil
--Use a vegetable oil spray to brown or saute food.
--Canola, safflower, sunflower, peanut, and corn oil.
(These contain about 20% saturated fat)

Read the labels (follow the links). Unfortunately, you really have to pay attention to some foods that say "Healthy" or "No cholesterol". They may still contain large amounts of fat and saturated fat!
Make some reasonable substitutions

Use prudence when dining out.

Courtesy : http://www.heartpoint.com

[Guttu]

Nice thread

[http://neerajsingh.bizhat]

[TheMaxx]

Keeping healthy is simple in my opinion. Walk daily, eat at home, and dont do things like smoking/drinking.

[http://neerajsingh.bizhat]

Well, I do agree with you. Walking daily is really helpful. I have seen its importance.

One thing that I would like to share with you all that walking daily in the morning is unlike any other medicine, where you need to wait for sometime to see its effect. But with morning walk, you will feel yourself charged and energized instantly... Surprised... try it..

And as TheMaxx said, avoid smoking / drinking and eat healthy food.

Thanks TheMaxx for sharing your view with all of us.

[indianbaba]

Big big big one.
Will comment later.

[http://neerajsingh.bizhat]

Morning Walk

There are many things in life that require one’s undivided attention, which we seem to completely ignore. A great walk in the morning is one of these. Ordinarily, in today’s hectic world, its quite possible that amidst so much that’s happening around you, making you feel that an ideal life is but a living dream, (which may remain as one), you tend to lose out on great many things that the future holds for you. A great walk in the woods while admiring nature talks to you in many ways than one. For many of us this may be one of those things for which you either need luck or perhaps the time. And most of us believe that these are never in one’s grasp.

There are many ways you could possibly benefit from an exercise as simple as morning walk. Up front, in today’s irritatingly fast world, you deprive your self of the much needed oxygen, that is anyways getting depleted with time. The earliest hours in the morning would probably give you this and the quality time to spend with the greenery around you, and observe around you things that only perhaps writers and poets around you seem to notice.

The oxygen that you get earliest in the morning also gives great amount of energy especially to your joints. The movement in your legs releases the good cholesterol in your blood, opening up some of the "chakras" or channels of energy, constantly moving your joints and increasing your blood circulation in a way that can only be completed with your daily morning walk.

By Prerna Salla
Published: 12/8/2004
http://www.buzzle.com/

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Morning Walk Continued....

Benefits of a great stroll

Besides a lot of things put together, a lot of people have noticed that despite the universally addictive feeling of laziness to leave their cosy bed, realize that a stroll helps in reducing stress. The wintry air in the morning that is at its coolest, soothes your nerves and allows your toxins to get cleared.

A naturally available medicine, your morning walk also allows you to get rid of any gastric blockages that might not allow you to get a sound sleep, and also adding to the excesses of pain to your body. Most diabetics have noticed a remarkable decline in their blood sugar levels, thanks to their regular promenades, especially the one taken earliest in the morning.

A boon to those who thanks to their heredity are blessed with diabetes, the morning walk is supposed to be the best option only next to their insulin injections. By and large these people who have to make the insulin injections their best friend have noticed that regular walks in the morning can also let them bid farewell to these forever! If you don’t believe me, just try it once for at least a month, I can guarantee you that you shall observe a marked difference in your entire lifestyle.

Its true that the things that work best in this world are expensive, and it cannot be more true than in the case of getting up early. What’s really the additional benefit is that morning walks are most of the time responsible for inducing great sleep. Titillating the pituitary gland, the oxygen which is best given to us by our green friends, (plants) the entire bodily system is revitalized helping the skin glow at its maximum. The facial muscles are royally treated with the windy atmosphere, lowering your blood pressure and helping you deal with a normalcy that you thought medicines would allow you to! Well, let me tell you that you thought wrong! And if you’ve already had a good walk in the morning, your cardio vascular exercise is completed and your body has completed its full circle, making you look at life rather differently and bringing in some harmony too!

By Prerna Salla
Published: 12/8/2004
http://www.buzzle.com/