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Sagging Skin After Weight Loss!

Tightening Sagging Skin After Weight Loss!

When people lose weight on low calorie, nutritionally imbalanced diets, they always look haggard as the skin wrinkles like old people.

When people lose a lot of weight suddenly, over a short period of time, they develop varying degrees of sagging of skin. When they do so after bariatric surgery or a ‘very low-calorie diet’ (VLCD), nutritionally defined as less than 800 calorie diets, they tend to lose fat and girth quickly and the skin sags a lot, some times so much that the skin around the waist may have to be folded and tucked in, like the folds of a saree!

Such people lose water, glycogen and body proteins from the connective tissue under the skin and from the muscles and finally organs all too quickly. This sudden loss actually causes sagging.

After bariatric surgery, people can hardly eat a few morsels of food before they feel full, and can’t eat anymore. This is the surgical route to a forced starvation based diet.

On starvation based diets under various names, cereals (chapatis, bhakri, rice, bread) and pulses (dals, curries, usual, pithla) are almost completely stopped or severely curtailed. The result is, people, lose inches from their girth quickly and our skin can’t keep pace with this quicker loss of girth and begins to sag.

Our skin is not just an envelope around our bodies. It is not a rubber sheath around the body. It is a live tissue made up of living cells and is wonderfully elastic and has the capacity to tighten up and adjust to the new volume of the body. But this process takes some time, even two or three years if you lose a lot of weight suddenly, so the sagging lasts for some time.

Most people on very-low-calorie diets, suffer from all kinds of nutritional deficiencies and can’t sustain the diet. They promptly regain all the weight they had lost, often ending up fatter than before, as soon as they begin to eat more. So the skin sagging vanishes.

People lose a lot of weight after bariatric surgery. They too suffer from nutritional deficiencies but they are put on ample nutritional supplements. They, of course, can’t go back to eating as they did previously, as there isn’t enough space left in the stomach, so the weight loss continues for a longer period. These are the people who suffer from the worst skin sagging.

People who are obese and ill enough to require bariatric surgery and also wealthy enough to afford it, can also consider plastic surgery to correct the loose skin.

After half a dozen years or so, these people too start regaining weight as the stomach starts stretching and allows them to eat more.

People who lose weight on healthy, normal, everyday food and moderate exercise, even as simple as walking, the weight loss is steady and that allows the skin to keep pace with the loss of the girth and they don’t experience much sagging of skin. In fact the skin becomes healthy and begins to glow beautifully as they lose weight on balanced, healthy food and cardiovascular exercises.

Thus to prevent sagging of skin, you must lose weight on healthy nutrition and moderate exercises and drink a lot of water and remain adequately hydrated. Dehydration worsens sagging while proper hydration prevents it.

Also get ample sleep during and after slimming.

You can use moisturising, rehydrating skin care products of reputed brands to keep the skin in good health, but your inner health is of paramount importance.

Also ageing people must accept the natural wrinkling of their skin gracefully and focus on getting healthy nutrition, adequate walks, water, and sleep, to keep their skin at its best, for their age.

Also read the articles ‘Simple Steps To Slimming’ and ‘Health Benefits Of Weight Loss’ on this website.

Corona Kills the obese people easily

The Mortal Threat Of Corona For The Obese!

Corona Can Cause Severe Complications And Higher Mortality In The Obese!

In a recent study of the people admitted in ICU in UK hospitals, with severe complications of Corona infection, published in the Daily Mail, two-third are overweight or obese or morbidly obese. and although the average age of those with severe complications is about sixty-four, thirty-seven percent are under the age of sixty.

It means that the overweight and obese are, like they are to all other illnesses and infections, more vulnerable to the threat of the Corona infection and also that even the younger people too are not safe from the severe complications of Corona infection. More so if they are obese.

The immune systems of the obese people are constantly so busy fighting against the inflammatory processes that go on in the bodies of the obese, trying to contain them and repair the damage caused by them that there are no resources available for the bodies of the obese, to fight against the new infection of the Coronavirus.

Plus the excess fat in the chest and the abdomen prevents the diaphragm and lungs to expand and inhale oxygen. Starved of oxygen, organs will begin to fail.

The COVID-19 virus kills by spreading deep into the lungs and causing complications such as pneumonia.

The virus finds it easier to invade deep into the oxygen-starved lungs of the obese than the lungs of the slimmer, fitter, healthier people, whose immune systems are stronger.

Many obese people also suffer from critical illnesses like hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, liver, PCOS/PCOD, and kidney diseases. These diseases make people all the more prone to succumb to Corona than to recover from the infection.

The diets of the obese are also more likely to be deficient in fiber, vitamin, and mineral-rich foods like fruits and vegetables, which bolster the immune systems of the body.

Exercise also bolsters immunity by increasing certain immune cells of the body. The obese also lack exercise. Hence they are always immunocompromised and succumb to infections faster.

The arteries of the obese are also more atherosclerotic and clogged and the immune cells are prevented from reaching various parts of the body to defeat infections, fast enough.

This probably explains why the obese are more prone to severe complications of generally all infections including Corona.

So, whether you are obese or not, stay home, stay safe, eat healthily and begin to at least walk regularly at home. Use the compulsory homestay to lose as much weight as you can and get fitter! And don’t stop even after the Corona threat is over, the newer weight and fitness will continue to protect you against all the new infections that will invade the world in the future! If you have any queries regarding how to lose weight at home then you contact our obesity clinic in Pune.

We have no choice but to stay home, stay safe and get a slim, fit and healthy as we can, while we have the time at our disposal now! Our very survival depends upon it!

Also, read the articles ‘Slimming Successfully, In Spite Of Corona’, the ‘Health Benefits Of Weight Loss!’ and the ‘Distance Program’ on this website.

Health benefit due to weight loss

Health Benefits Of Weight Loss!

Benefits Of Being Slim And Healthy!

Obese people are never fully healthy either physically or mentally. Most obese people have low self-esteem, lack self-confidence and find themselves socially isolated. They tend to be irritable and gradually avoid people. Young people find it difficult to get a good life partner.

Obesity and the faulty lifestyle associated with it, lead to a very wide range of diseases, some of which may not even appear to be directly connected to obesity.

The obese tend to be irritable, stressed out, depressed and may have poor self-esteem. Their energy levels are low and they tire quickly. There are pains and aches everywhere.

Backache and joint pains are common. Spondylosis, prolapsed discs, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, varicose veins, cholecystitis (inflammation of the gall bladder), and some hernias are prevalent in the obese.

Fatty liver (hepatic steatosis) is often associated with obesity. Some fat is there in a healthy liver, but the accumulation of excessive fat in the liver is called fatty liver. It can lead to inflammation and damage to the liver tissue and scarring (fibrosis) of the liver parenchyma. Extensive liver fibrosis leads to cirrhosis, which can cause liver failure, which is a life-threatening illness.

High blood pressure, diabetes, coronary heart disease and cerebral strokes (paralysis) are frequently associated with obesity.

Amongst obese ladies ‘ infertility, difficult pregnancies, and labor, abortions and complications during a cesarean section are common.

Polycystic ovarian disease (PCOD) or polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is common among young women. PCOD is a condition in which the ovaries develop small fluid-filled sacs or cysts, causing hormonal imbalances and the menstrual periods are generally delayed or completely absent. This condition is usually associated with weight gain and frequently with infertility.

The obese always have a greater risk during surgery.

Apart from these diseases, a wide range of other diseases, including some cancers, are linked to obesity and the faulty lifestyle associated with it.

High-Risk Abdominal Obesity:

Excessive accumulation of fat in the abdomen can have dangerous implications for your health. Abdominal obesity can lead to the dangerous triad of hypertension (high blood pressure), dyslipidemia (high levels of cholesterol and blood fats) and type-2 diabetes. These three together can lead to coronary heart disease, myocardial infarction and also death.

So if you have a big belly, it is imperative that you wake up and do something about it urgently.

Effect of weight loss:

When people begin to eat healthily and at least walk regularly, they begin to lose weight and start feeling fresh and energetic. The skin and hair health begins to improve. People begin to like their reflection in the mirror.

Hyperacidity, digestive complaints, constipation get corrected.

The blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, triglycerides levels begin to drop. The bad cholesterol, LDL cholesterol drops down while the good cholesterol, the HDL cholesterol begins to climb.

Various pains and aches reduce. Backache, arthritic pains in knees, hips, pains in heels improve.

Young women overcome PCOD, conceive naturally, stop aborting and become happy mothers, without expensive fertility treatments.

Losing weight protects us from illnesses like hypertension, diabetes, heart disease and strokes, cholecystitis and fatty liver and many types of cancers.

Losing weight can reverse most of the above illnesses and conditions completely and make you slim and healthy!

Lifestyle benefits:

Obesity and most of the illnesses associated with it are lifestyle diseases. The only way to get slim and healthy for a lifetime is to adopt healthy food habits and a healthy lifestyle, for a lifetime. So you learn to eat well and become physically more active and fit for a lifetime.

This is exactly the reverse of trying to lose weight on unhealthy, starvation based or fad diets and injurious exercises off and on. Diets are temporary, so are their results, eating healthy is permanent and so are its results!

Personal, Psychological and social benefits:

Excellent weight loss on your own, normal, everyday, healthy food, moderate and enjoyable exercises, ample water and sleep results in glowing, healthy skin making people of all ages look and feel younger and better. Young men and ladies look naturally more handsome or pretty.

People become happy and confident about losing weight, they regain their self-esteem, they become socially more acceptable, in young people, matrimonial or matchmaking prospects improve. They become more acceptable in the work environment.

Many even middle-aged men and women feel very good to be able to wear better clothes.

Economic benefits:

The cost of medical care and infrastructure comes down if more and people become fit and healthy.

The productivity of the whole society improves if people are more fit and healthy, directly benefiting society.

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For four decades now, we have successfully helped innumerable people get slim and healthy not only in our Slimming Centre in Pune, but all over the world, on our ‘Distance Program’. Absolutely balanced nutrition and exercise even as simple as walking have always been at the core of our Weight Loss Treatment in Pune and all over the world.

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Also read the articles the ‘Basics Of Nutrition‘, the ‘Science Of Exercise‘ and the ‘Simple Steps to Slimming‘. Get in touch with us through the ‘Contact Us’ page on this website.

Slimming Without Stepping Out Of Your Home

Slimming Successfully, In Spite Of Corona!

Slimming Without Stepping Out Of Your Home!

Today the dreaded Corona pandemic means, our safety lies in staying confined to our homes, at least for the next few months, till the pandemic is controlled.

But the health of millions of overweight people across the globe also depends upon their losing or not losing weight in not too distant future! Some may be threatened more than others! Some may be looking to lose weight for personal reasons like an upcoming event like their own wedding or a one in their close family.

But what choices do they have under the life-threatening pandemic of Coronavirus?

Even the heavily advertised commercial slimming programs, including gyms, selling highly questionable treatments also require you to go over to their premises, which you can hardly risk now!

My ‘Distance Program’ is finely tuned to help people all over the world, get slim and healthy, for over three and a half decades now, with or without meeting me personally or stepping out of home, with equal felicity!

Pune people naturally meet me more often than those abroad or from other towns in India, but a few never do, like a middle-aged Marathi lady from Hyderabad, who lost an amazing twenty-five kg, without ever meeting me! A young man in Frankfurt, originally from Satara, now a German citizen, lost sixteen kg to protect himself from a strong family history of diabetes from catching up with him, met me for the first time only after losing twelve kg when he visited home to India for his annual vacation in July!

This means that if you want to lose weight with a degree of urgency in these difficult times, then it is best that you take a treatment that is completely consultation based and which can be executed completely without leaving the safety of your home.

That is exactly how my ‘Distance Program’ is designed. The entire treatment is manageable online and on video or audio calls, without having either to meet me in person or to step out of your home even for walks!

People invariably contact me by calling or mail or by using the ‘Make A Quick Inquiry’ or the ‘Feedback’ form on my website, some with a word of mouth reference, some finding me on Google.

People from Pune meet me for a free initial inquiry visit after I mail them the basic information and the process of the treatment and a few links of some important pages on the website. People outside Pune and India, join without the benefit of this visit, with only a voice call for more inquiry.

But now we are replacing this personal visit with a video call for everyone who wishes to learn everything about the treatment, till the Corona pandemic threat continues.

The ‘Distance Program’ treatment essentially revolves around planning and helping you to adopt a healthy lifestyle including a healthy nutritional plan based on your own, normal, everyday food and exercise as simple as walking or spot marching or jogging depending upon your age and fitness. We can also use a cardiovascular exercise machine like a treadmill or an elliptical trainer or an exercise bike if you have one at home. This means you don’t have to step out of the safety of your home even for exercise!

There is no starving under bogus slimming machines, medicines, meal replacement shakes or magic diets, no painful workout and protein supplements, no psychological torture involved!

Once the treatment is planned, people under my care all over the world, tell me every day exactly what they have eaten, how much water they have consumed and how much and which exercise they have taken and also its intensity, thanks to modern-day tools of communication and measurement of exercise. People report daily and receive daily advice from me, based on their daily reports.

This excellent system of daily reports and advice, ensures proper execution of the program of every person under my care, dramatically improving results!

Those who are completely satisfied with the full information about the treatment can join the treatment online. Further treatment can proceed completely online!

So, if you wish to start the treatment urgently without waiting for the threat of Corona to get over, without leaving the safety of your home, you can safely join my ‘Distance Program’!

I can guarantee absolutely safe and healthy slimming very much at your home, anywhere in the world!

Call or write to me for more information and to set up a video call for directly talking to me.

Visit the ‘Testimonial’, the ‘Doctors Recommend Us’, the ‘Distance Program’ and the ‘Contact Us’ pages on this website for more information.

High Protein Diets For Weight Loss!

Dangers Of High Protein Diets and Protein Supplements!

For over three-fourths of a century a few ‘obesity experts’ have expounded the theory of how proteins are good and carbohydrates are bad for human health. They have persistently advocated high protein diets as a sure shot weight loss diet. You see them in many variants of high protein – low carbohydrate diets.

Gyms too continue to sell the idea of high protein diets and protein supplements as it suits them to sell expensive protein supplements and strength training exercises under even more expensive personal trainers of questionable expertise.

Such so-called obesity experts and the gym industry thrives on making people believe that they should shun carbohydrates and eat high protein diets comprising of chicken and eggs.

Today millions of people imagine that carbohydrates are bad and proteins and fats are good for their health.

If you are one of them, you will do well to understand:

Carbohydrates don’t make you fat, excess calories do. Both carbohydrates and proteins provide 4 calories each gm while fats provide 9!

If you eat any of the above three nutrients in excess of your requirement, you will gain weight, not just carbohydrates. if you are trying to lose weight then you want to check our distance program. Fats are most likely to provide excess calories as they provide more than twice as many calories as carbohydrates and proteins. If

Most high protein foods like flesh, eggs, full-fat dairy, cheese, full cream paneer, and soya provide more fats than proteins.

So all high protein diets are more high-fat diets than high protein diets.

So they are much more likely to make you fat than carbohydrates’ dominant diets.

Whole grain cereals and pulses, vegetables and fruits are the heart-healthy foods, not high protein – high-fat diets.

Average people need no more than 0.8 gm protein per kg body weight and athletes need 1.5 to 2 gm, both levels can be supplied adequately by balanced, everyday food.

High protein – high-fat diets can increase your total and bad LDL cholesterol and triglycerides and decrease your healthy HDL cholesterol and lead to excess weight and cause hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, strokes and heart disease.

Being very low in fiber, they also cause constipation, piles, fissures and in some, diverticulosis and colorectal cancers.

The metabolism of protein produces large amounts of acids. This causes acidosis which our body must correct. The kidneys must excrete this acid to maintain the acid-base balance within the body. But the kidneys cannot handle fluids with so high acidity and they must dilute these acids with great amounts of water. Hence the body loses a lot of water and this leads to dehydration.

The body also uses calcium to neutralize this excess acid. Most of the body’s calcium is stored in bones. Thus the calcium is withdrawn from bones and used for this purpose, this leads to osteoporosis and can also cause kidney stones over a period of time.

This puts excessive strain on the kidneys which are already struggling hard to eliminate excessive amounts of waste products and this leads to chronic kidney disease in the long run.

The other vital organ eliminating the toxic waste products of protein metabolism in the liver. So both of these vital organs are overloaded when you take excessive proteins. This leads to kidney and liver diseases if excessive proteins and protein supplements are consumed for a long period. For this reason, people with a history of kidney or liver disease must not take excessive proteins from food and supplements.

Most gym-goers take protein supplements, in addition to eating high protein – high-fat diets in the form of multiple eggs and boneless chicken daily to help build bigger muscles and their recovery after weight training exercises.

For a vast majority of people, excessive consumption of high protein foods and protein supplements have no special benefit in either muscle building or repair. In fact, they do more damage than good.

Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. Our health depends upon getting a particular balance of amino acids, which is provided naturally in a balanced diet. Protein supplements provide a limited range of amino acids, thus severely disrupting this balance which can only lead to grave health risks.

Protein supplements, usually in the form of shakes, are high in calories. Thus they lead to more weight gain.

Most protein supplements are made from casein, whey or soya protein. Many people are sensitive to these proteins and develop gases, abdominal pain, hyperacidity, nausea and diarrhoea or constipation. People who consume protein supplements for sustained periods, and eat little heart-healthy food and fiber, suffer from chronic constipation, piles, fissures, diverticulosis, and colorectal cancers. Straining at stools can cause hernias.

Contamination with toxic elements is an ever-present threat when producing synthetic protein supplements.

A 2010 study found that some of the artificial protein supplements were contaminated with toxic metals like arsenic, cadmium, and lead, which can seriously damage your health.

Thus, obesity, dehydration, constipation, piles, fissures, diverticulosis and colorectal cancers, calcium loss from bones, kidney and liver damage, heart disease and strokes can be long term effects of excessive protein consumption.

So think twice before having high protein – high fat – low carbohydrates diets and buying protein supplements!

There is absolutely no need to waste money and health on high protein – high fat – high-calorie protein foods and protein supplements.

Also, read the article ‘Dangers Of Unscientific Treatments, ‘Dangers Of Protein Supplements’ and ‘Carbohydrates Don’t Make Us Fat’ on this website.

Overcoming Obesity Related Infertility

Weight Loss Should Be The First Treatment For Obesity Related Infertility!

On 5th May 2017, Ms Sarika Shukla, 30, 5 feet 2 inches tall, 93 kg young lady came to me, looking for my help in losing weight that apparently was preventing her from conceiving even after 3 or 4 years of expensive and frustrating fertility treatments that had failed completely, under a well known Pune gynecologist. After spending a few lacs and undergoing two expensive laparoscopies, a doctor relative severely admonished her and sent her to me.

She had also spent huge amounts on trying to lose weight on a few heavily advertised, self-styled slimming centers in Pune, without any success, before coming to me.

I had hoped against hope that she would lose at least 25 to 30 kg weight before she conceived.

No such luck!

Put on a healthy nutritional plan and regular walks, she lost some 4 kg and conceived naturally in a month’s time.

She delivered a healthy baby, absolutely safely, without any complications during pregnancy or delivery.

A few years earlier, a 28 year old, 5 feet tall, 70 kg young lady was referred to me by a top infertility expert in Pune. The lady, whose name I am not at liberty to disclose, is the daughter in law of a famous construction family in Kothrud, Pune and both husband and wife are ayurvedic doctors. She was unable to conceive even on extensive fertility treatments as well as ayurvedic treatments, after suffering from nine miscarriages! Needless to say that she was more sad and depressed than Sarika.

I assured her that we would overcome her problems in a few months and that she should relax, get happy and positive and stop worrying about pregnancy and that everything will fall in place when she loses weight healthily.

She lost 18 kg with me, lost all her gloom, became happy and positive and conceived naturally, without any fertility treatment. This time the slim and fit young lady had no complications of pregnancy and delivered a healthy baby safely.

She too had spent a fortune on many obesity clinics in Pune, without losing weight.

Today millions of women all over the world are suffering from PCOD, menstrual dysfunctions and anovulation, lower conception rates, infertility, higher miscarriage rates and a higher rate of complications during pregnancy.

Most ladies suffering from PCOD are overweight or obese, many of them also suffer from hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance, some of them also suffer from hypothyroidism and many have difficulty in conceiving or are infertile.

The easily perceivable common condition running in most of these ladies is obesity. What is less easily perceivable is that many of these ladies may eat bad and may have sedentary lifestyles.

I have been helping young ladies all over the world, overcome obesity, often with PCOD, history of one or more miscarriages and also infertility, for three and a half decades.

In actual practice, I have found that the root cause of obesity and PCOD, and obesity-related miscarriages and infertility, are bad eating and sedentary lifestyles with an almost complete absence of any physical activity.

World over, most such ladies are directly put under hormonal fertility treatments, without being told to eat better, take up some exercise and lose weight before taking up infertility treatments.

I am sure, most of these ladies will conceive naturally, without any fertility treatments, if only they ate well, at least walked regularly, stopped thinking about pregnancy constantly, became happy and positive and lost weight healthily.

I have demonstrated this fact in my practice repeatedly over the decades!

Unfortunately, most times, such ladies either come to me directly, or a few are referred to me by their gynecologist or infertility specialists, only after all possible fertility treatments have failed.

Once they are put on healthy, balanced nutrition and they start walking regularly, most of them conceive naturally, most often much before they have lost all the weight they need to lose, often by the time they lose 8 or 10 kg, sometimes much less!

Ideally, they should slim down optimally, but since they are not taking any preventive measures, many conceive naturally in a month or two. Losing maximum excess weight protects them from miscarriages and complications during pregnancy and childbirth.

Since obesity, hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, strokes and all the above diseases that accompany obesity, have assumed epidemic proportions in our country too, obesity clinics, slimming centers, weight loss treatments of every hue have sprung up in Pune and all over India.

Few selling these so-called weight loss treatments really know what works long term and either force starvation or painful exercises on their hapless victims! Neither works long term!

It is vital that the lady aspiring to be a mother loses weight on completely healthy, balanced nutrition and gets fit, happy and positive.

A bad weight loss treatment with bad nutrition is also most likely to harm the health of the fetus and also cause miscarriages on its own.

It is wonderful for the pregnancy and the mental and physical health of the baby if both parents are happy, healthy, positive, slim and fit and are free of addictions like smoking, drinking or drugs, at the time of the conception.

I always strive to help couples struggling with obesity-related infertility to achieve these goals, the rest falls in place automatically!

Also read the ‘Testimonials’, ‘Health Problems Of The Young: PCOD’ and the ‘Slim Women Are Healthy Women’ articles on this website.

Obesity Treatment in Pune

Preventing Hypertension

How To Prevent High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure is a leading cause of cardiovascular disease. It accounts for two-thirds of all strokes and half of all heart disease.

One out of every five people in India has high blood pressure or hypertension. The situation is worse in Maharashtra, the ratio increasing to one in three.

Hypertension is often asymptotic. Many people never know that they have hypertension, simply because they have never had any reason to go to a doctor and check their blood pressure. It is often detected accidentally or after some tragedy strikes. That’s why it is called a silent killer!

The incidence of hypertension is so high today that it is vital that young people keep a regular watch on their blood pressure, at least once in every six months, even if they are not overweight, have no personal or family history of hypertension, and more often if they have all three plus stress.

Three decades ago, a survey amongst school children in Pune found a high incidence of obesity and hypertension, the incidence is much higher today! If your child is overweight or obese do get his blood pressure checked regularly and make sure that he loses weight.

Childhood obesity predisposes children to early hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes and heart disease.

Prolonged hypertension damages the blood vessels and various organs of the body.

It causes hardening and thickening of the arterial walls and the narrowing of their lumen. It can lead to weakening and bulging of the arteries. This is called aneurism and such aneurisms can rupture causing grave complications.

Hypertension can cause heart attacks and strokes. Raised blood pressure causes greater resistance to the flow of the blood through the arteries and forces the heart to pump harder to circulate blood through our body, causing hypertrophy (thickening) of the heart muscle. The thickened heart muscle struggles to pump blood efficiently and eventually fails to do so, causing heart failure.

Thickening and narrowing and aneurysms of the arteries in kidneys or eyes can damage these organs can lead to renal failure and loss of vision.

Hypertension also contributes to development of the metabolic syndrome that leads to development of diabetes, heart disease and strokes.

It can also cause circulatory problems and strokes in the brain and lead to impairment of memory and understanding and development of vascular dementia.

Thus you can see that untreated hypertension can cause blindness, renal (kidney) failure, heart attacks, strokes, and death. Even those people who are on proper medication may not necessarily escape these complications.

This said, it is vitally important that people consult their doctor, take the prescribed medication regularly and never stop medication on their own, without the knowledge of the doctor. Many people commit this mistake and pay the ultimate price for it.

Even amongst the people who are on regular medication, few have well-controlled blood pressures, 140/100 m.m. of Hg or more are not uncommon, when the levels should be 120/80 m.m. of Hg or less! Such people run the same health risks as mentioned above.

So our best option is to prevent hypertension and most people can definitely do it.

High blood pressure most often occurs without having any specific underlying disease leading to it. This hypertension is called primary or essential hypertension. About ninety to ninety-five percent of all hypertension cases fall into this category. Only five to ten percent people have an underlying disease leading to hypertension. This kind of hypertension is called secondary hypertension.

Various theories have been put forth about the causes of essential hypertension. Broadly speaking high blood volume, increased cardiac output, increased resistance of the arterial walls due to their thickening and reduced elasticity, narrowing of the lumen of arteries, increased vascular tone and a few other causes are thought to lead to primary hypertension.

But the fact remains that, with proper precautions, most people can prevent the onset of primary hypertension, many may overcome the problem completely.

Here are some interesting facts about the effects of food, exercise and weight loss on blood pressure.

Exercise alone has been shown to reduce systolic blood pressure by 3.5 and 2.0 mm respectively.

Improvement in diet by shifting to low fat dairy (milk, curds, buttermilk) and fibre rich foods viz. vegetables and fruits, we already have ample pulses and legumes in our food, has been shown reduce blood pressures by 5.5 and 3.0 mm Hg in people whose diets are rich in high fat dairy, flesh foods and low in low fat dairy and fibre rich foods.

Weight loss of every four kg has been shown to reduce systolic blood pressure by 6.25 mm and diastolic blood pressure by 4 mm.

The combined effects of exercise and weight loss has been shown to reduce systolic blood pressure by 12.5 mm and diastolic blood pressure by 8 mm in overweight or obese people.

Exercise has also been shown to improve ventricular mass and wall thickness, reduce arterial stiffness and improve endothelial function, improving our chances of fighting off coronary artery disease, strokes and peripheral vascular health by lowering blood pressure.

Exercise also improves the health of the arteries by reducing inflammation of the endothelial lining of the arterial wall, improves their flexibility, prevents clot formation and also prevents coronary and cerebral vascular accidents.

So you can see why it is essential to eat healthy, exercise regularly and lose weight to overcome hypertension.

Following are the essential steps you must take to prevent this hypertension.

Adapt a healthy lifestyle.

Keep your nutrition healthy, complete and moderate in calories.

Eat minimum fatty and sweet food and red meat.

Eat salt minimally. Avoid high salt foods like ‘papad’, ‘chatani’, ‘pickles’, dried and salted fish. Salt causes the blood volume to increase and this, in turn, causes blood pressure to climb. The sodium content of mineral salt may be higher than table salts. So, contrary to popular belief, mineral salts like ‘saindhav’ may be worse for hypertension than the table salts. Avoid mineral salts and ‘chat masalas’.

In general, foods rich in potassium, beans, dark leafy vegetables, all fruits, notably bananas, potatoes, fish, mushrooms, will help lower blood pressure. So include them in your food regularly.

Foods high in sodium, table salt, mineral salts, chaat masala, pickles, dried fish, fast foods, chips, French fries, salted nuts, canned foods (meats, fish and beans), sauces, salad dressings, will increase blood pressure. Keep them out of your food.

In general, animal source foods are high while vegetable source foods are low in sodium. So eating less of flesh and more of vegetables and fruits will help lower blood pressure.

Workout sufficiently; a brisk walk of at least thirty to sixty minutes will be good enough for most people, thirty if you are slim, sixty if you are overweight.

Make sure that you move around, get a little stroll whenever possible and generally remaining more active during work hours if you have a sedentary job.

Lose weight. A slim tummy will dramatically help bring down blood pressure, blood sugar and blood fats and cholesterol. Abdominal obesity leads to hypertension, diabetes and heart disease.

Quit smoking and consuming tobacco in any form.

Sleep and rest adequately. Seven hours of sound sleep will prove invaluable.

Be happy, positive, contented and peaceful.

A mind full of negative thoughts, sorrow, irritability, anger, endless desires, and a king size ego causes immense damage to our health. This kind of mindset leads people to hypertension, diabetes and heart disease sooner or later.

Any honest and intelligent person can identify if he or she has such a mindset. A bloated ego or plain stupidity can prevent us from identifying that we have such a mindset.

You must calm down your mind, free it from the clutches of negative and violent thoughts if you really want to become happy and healthy and free from the impending threat of hypertension, diabetes and heart disease.

And it can be done for sure, only you should want to be happy and healthy.

Take up a technique as simple as ‘yoganidra’ if not meditation if you wish to be calm, happy and healthy. Consistent yoganidra will immensely help in making you peaceful, happy and positive.

So ensure that you take these steps urgently and see how dramatically your blood pressure and blood chemistry improve. These steps will give you much improved mental and physical health and prevent hypertension, diabetes and heart disease and also slim you down!

Also read ‘Health Problems Of The Young: Hypertension’, ‘Hypertension Prevention And Control Program’ and ‘Preventing Diabetes‘ on this website.

Obesity Clinic in Pune

Can I Eat A Whole Egg?

The Dilemma Faced By Many people!

An egg contains six grams of the best quality proteins with all the essential amino acids.

An egg also contains 6 grams of fat, of which 1.5 grams are saturated fats. It also contains about 210 mg of cholesterol.

The protein content is almost evenly divided between the white and the yellow (yolk) of the egg, just a bit over 3 grams in the white and just under 3 grams in the yolk. The major part of the good nutrition as well as the entire fat and cholesterol are housed in the yolk.

Thus if you eat only the egg white, you get just over 3 grams of excellent proteins with only 12 calories and don’t have to worry about fats or cholesterol. Unfortunately, you miss out on most of the other excellent nutrition housed in the whole egg.

Plus the egg white is rather high in sodium. This could give you elevated blood pressure if you consume too many egg whites.

Eggs are one of the very few foods that contain naturally occurring vitamin D. Thus they help build healthy bones, teeth and help prevent osteoporosis.

Eggs are also beneficial to the health of the eyes. The carotenoid content of the eggs, specifically lutein and zeaxanthin may prevent cataract and macular degeneration, an eye disease that leads to loss of central vision.

Eggs are a good source of choline. Choline is an important nutrient that helps regulate the brain, nervous system, and cardiovascular system.

New research shows that, contrary to previous belief, moderate consumption of eggs does not have a negative impact on cholesterol. Research suggests that it is saturated fat that raises cholesterol rather than dietary cholesterol.

According to a study by the Harvard School of Public Health, there is no significant link between egg consumption and heart disease.

One study suggests that regular consumption of eggs may help prevent blood clots, stroke,and heart attacks. Another study suggests that women who consumed at least 6 eggs per week lowered their risk of breast cancer by 44%.

Eggs also promote healthy hair and nails because of their high sulphur content and wide array of vitamins and minerals.

Thus it is clear that eggs are highly nutritious. But an egg still provides two third of the safe upper limit of the daily recommendation of cholesterol for a healthy person, viz. 300 mg, while a person with high cholesterol or bad lipid profile shouldn’t cross 200 mg.

Dr. Thomas Behrenbeck, a Mayo Clinic cardiologist, advises that a healthy person should not cross 4 whole eggs a week.

A person with high cholesterol or bad lipid profile should follow his doctor’s advice.

Even a healthy person should avoid eating other high cholesterol and high saturated fat food and fatty deserts the same day.

Newer research thus tends to exonerates the egg from the demon of heart disease, but prudence must still be exercised while eating whole eggs.

It would be a good idea to keep an eye on your lipid profile every six months if you eat whole eggs regularly.

For more information about fats and cholesterol, read the article ‘Basics Of Nutrition‘ on this site.

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Health Benefits Of Brown Rice

Why You Must Replace White Rice With Brown Rice

Rice is a cereal and all cereals have more or less similar nutritional composition. But this is true for whole grain rice, not the polished white rice that people generally eat.

A grain of rice that is obtained after removing the husk by minimally processing it is the whole grain rice.

It is brownish in colour and is called the brown rice.

Brown rice is further milled to separate the outer cover called the bran and the germ from the rest of the grain of rice.

This grain is the white rice and it is composed mostly of the endosperm.

Brown rice and white rice have a similar number of calories and carbohydrates. The main differences between the two forms of rice lie in processing and nutritional content.

The bran and the germ house most of the fibre, vitamins, minerals, healthy fats, antioxidants and about twenty five per cent of the proteins from the original whole grain rice.

The white grain of rice left behind houses most of the starch and seventy five per cent of the proteins from the original whole grain rice.

In short, brown rice is the whole grain rice, while white rice has the bran and germ layers removed from the whole grain rice, this process strips away the fiber, vitamins, minerals and healthy fats and the antioxidants from the whole grain rice.

Thus brown rice is superior to white rice when it comes to fibre content, minerals, vitamins, and phytochemicals.

The fibre content of the whole grain rice is 3.5 gm while that of the white rice is 0.5 gm.

The higher fibre content in the brown rice slows down the absorption of carbohydrates in the blood and does not generate as large an increase in blood sugar levels after a meal as white rice, that is the glycemic index of brown rice is lower than that of white rice.

Milling and polishing brown rice removes most vitamins and minerals. In addition, milling strips away most of its fibre, which helps deter diabetes by slowing the rush of sugar (glucose) into the bloodstream.

Eating white rice daily may help trigger the onset of diabetes in those who are at a higher risk of developing diabetes due to family history or poor lifestyle, poor nutrition, lack of exercise and stress.

Replacing white rice with brown rice in four or five meals a week will substantially lower this risk.

Several vitamins and dietary minerals are lost in this removal and the subsequent polishing process. A part of these missing nutrients, such as vitamin B1, vitamin B3, and iron are sometimes added back into the white rice making it “enriched”, as food suppliers in the US are required to do by the US Food and Drug Administration. We have no information what happens in India.

One mineral that is lost substantially in white rice is magnesium.

When the bran layer is removed to make white rice, the oil in the bran is also removed. Rice bran oil may help lower LDL cholesterol. Rice bran oil contains ‘Oryzanol’ which is considered to be helpful in lowering blood cholesterol levels.

Among other key sources of nutrition lost are small amounts of fatty acids and fiber.

Summary:

Brown rice is more nutrient dense offering more fibre, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and healthy fats.

White rice is primarily a source of easily digestible carbohydrates and some proteins but significantly less nutrients.

Read the article ‘Basics Of Nutrition‘ on this website for more information

Carbohydrates Don’t Make Us Fat!

The Myth Of Low Carbohydrate Diets!

Carbohydrates are the first source of energy of our body. Amongst the three major components of our food, viz. carbohydrates, proteins and fats, the primary role of carbohydrates is to provide energy that our body needs for all it’s basic needs. We use energy drawn from this source for all our daily activities and for all the processes that go on in our body day and night.

Fats are the reserve source energy of our body and they are drawn upon for energy only when carbohydrate energy is exhausted.

Proteins are the most important constituents of most of the tissues of the body. They are essential for the growth, development and repair of the daily wear and tear of the body. They are responsible for the defence mechanism of the body. They are also essential for the formation of various enzymes and hormones in our body.

Proteins are not meant to be an energy source. Body uses proteins for energy only in survival mode when you are on a ‘very low calorie diet’ (VLCD), or on a diet very low on carbohydrates, our principal fuel energy source.

On such a low fuel energy mode, body cannot burn fats fast enough to meet it’s immediate energy needs and uses up proteins from food for energy, depriving the body of the vital role that proteins perform. Thus you need enough carbohydrates in your food to ‘spare’ proteins from being used for energy. This is the vital ‘protein sparing’ function of carbohydrates.

And as a last resort, the body also raids the proteins in the connective tissue, the muscles and vital organs of the body for energy. This is the reason why people on low calorie – low carbohydrate diets become wrinkled, shrivelled and look older with sagging, unhealthy skin and go on to suffer from multiple dietary deficiencies.

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Carbohydrates are of two types, viz. simple and complex carbohydrates.

Simple carbohydrates are made up of one or two sugar molecules while complex carbohydrates are made up of long chains of glucose molecules.

Sugar, jaggery, honey, arrowroot, sago, rava, maida, refined corn flour are simple carbohydrates.

Starch and fibre are the two main types of complex carbohydrates and cereals and pulses are the main sources of complex carbohydrates.

Simple carbohydrates are digested quickly and cause sharp spikes in blood sugar and lead to hyperinsulinemia, insulin resistance, weight gain and can also lead to diabetes.

In contrast, complex carbohydrates are digested slowly and provide steady supply of glucose and hence energy to the body, preventing spikes in blood insulin levels, hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance, weight gain and diabetes.

The sugars in fruits are simple carbohydrates, but due to the ample fibre and water in them, these simple sugars are absorbed slowly in the body and do not cause sudden spike in blood sugar. Thus fruits behave more like complex carbohydrates than simple carbohydrates.

So it is consuming too much simple carbohydrates regularly that leads to hyperinsulinemia, insulin resistance, weight gain and diabetes, not complex carbohydrates.

Complex carbohydrates foods like cereals and pulses are also rich in essential nutrients like fiber, vitamins, especially B vitamins and minerals like iron, magnesium and selenium.

Complex carbohydrates are the only source of fibre in our food.

Fibre is of two types, insoluble and soluble.

Insoluble fibre is crucial to digestion, bowel movement and to the maintenance our gut health.

The insoluble fibre helps regulate blood sugar and cholesterol.

Complex carbohydrates contribute to satiety, helping to control appetite and reduce overall calorie intake. Having well balanced food with adequate complex carbohydrates, without of course over eating, helps in controlling weight rather than causing obesity as is often wrongly projected.

Brain function: Glucose is the primary source of energy for the brain. Complex carbohydrates provide steady supply of glucose to the brain cells and this helps in the smooth functioning of the brain and helps support cognitive functions, including memory and concentration.

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Lack of adequate complex carbohydrates in food leads to low energy levels, fatigues and deficiencies of vital nutrients like fiber, vitamins, especially B vitamins and minerals like iron, magnesium and selenium.

Lack of insoluble fibre in low carbohydrate diets leads to constipation, haemorrhoids (piles) and fissures and can also lead to development of conditions like diverticulitis and colon cancer.

High levels of fat and hence calories, in low carbohydrate diets can also cause obesity.

Lack of soluble fibre and presence of high levels of saturated fats in low carbohydrate diets can lead to raised levels of LDL cholesterol and total cholesterol, heart disease and strokes.

Low carbohydrate diets also lead to impairment of cognitive functions including memory, concentration and mental clarity and focus.

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Researchers like Sara Seidelmann, a researcher at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, a top US hospital, have found that people on animal based low carbohydrate diets are associated with shorter life span and should be discouraged.

According to this study, people who got 50 – 55 % of their calories from carbohydrates, on an average, outlived those on low carb diets by four years and those on high carb diets by one year.

So we can conclude that high animal source, low carb diets are worse than high carb diets and balanced nutrition is the best choice whether you are looking to lose weight or simply live healthy!

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Thus a low carbohydrate diet is bad either for healthy living or for losing or maintaining weight. You must have enough carbohydrates in your food irrespective of whether you are losing weight or maintaining healthy weight.

People losing weight on balanced, healthy nutrition, slim down with glowing, healthy skin and look fresh and young!

You definitely can lose weight and stay slim and healthy on balanced, healthy nutrition, in fact you can’t lose weight healthily without being on healthy nutrition.

Yes, over consumption of simple carbohydrates is bad for your blood sugar and weight, but not complex carbohydrates.

Yes, simple carbohydrates lack any significant nutrition, but complex carbohydrates provide us with sustained energy, ample vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, help regulate blood sugar, cholesterol and also weight.

Complex carbohydrates don’t make us fat, it’s excess calories that make us fat and excess calories come from overall overeating, not just overeating carbohydrates!

Excess proteins, over and above your daily needs and fats also contribute calories that account for your weight gain.

In fact fats provide over twice the number of calories supplied by carbohydrates and proteins, nine per gm as compared to four each per gm supplied by carbohydrates and proteins.

So why single out carbohydrates as the villain?

Low carbohydrate diets are invariably not ‘high protein diets’ as they are projected to be, by their sponsors, but they are more ‘high fat’ than high protein diets. Such diets send your blood triglyceride levels shooting up and eventually your cholesterol levels will also shoot up. This is an invitation to heart disease and strokes.

So low carbohydrate diets are more likely to give you heart disease and strokes than make you slim and safe from hypertension, diabetes, heart disease and strokes!

Read the article ‘Basics Of Nutrition’ and ‘The Good And The Bad Carbohydrates’ on this website for more information.