daily health tips

An exclusive diet of raw juices of fruits and vegetables results in much faster recovery from diseases and more effective cleansing and regeneration of the tissues than the fasting on pure water. Dr. Ragnar Berg, a world-renowned authority on nutriton and biochemistry observes: "During fasting the body burns up and excretes huge amounts of accumulated wastes. We can help this cleansing process by drinking alkaline juices instead of water while fasting. I have supervised many fasts and made extensive examinations and tests of fasting patients, and I am convinced that drinking alkali-forming fruit and vegetable juices, instead of water, during fasting will increase the healing effect of fasting. Elimination of uric acid and other inorganic acids will be accelerated. And sugars in juices will strengthen the heart. Juice fasting is, therefore, the best form of fasting."

Certain safety measures, especially, for people in sedentary occupation, are necessary to relieve and prevent backache. The most important of these is exercise which improves the supply of nutrients to spinal discs, thereby delaying the process of deterioration that comes with age and eventually affects everybody. Safe exercises include walking, swimming and bicycling. The latter should be done keeping the back upright. Controlling one's weight is another important step towards relieving backache as excess weight greatly increases the stress on soft back tissues. Those with sedentary occupations should take a break to stand up every hour. Soft cushioned seats should be avoided and position should be changed as often as possible. Persons with back problems should sleep on a firm mattress on their sides with knees bent at right angles to the torso. They should take care never to bend from the waist down to lift any object but instead should swat close to the object, bending the knees but keeping the back straight, and then stand up slowly.

Anaemia is much more easily prevented than corrected. A liberal intake of iron in the formative years can go a long way in preventing iron-deficiency anaemia. Diet is of the utmost importance in the treatment of anaemia. Almost every nutrient is needed for the production of red blood cells, haemoglobin and the enzymes, required for their synthesis. Refined food like white bread, polished rice, sugar, and desserts rope the body of the much-needed iron. Iron should always be taken in its natural organic form as the use of inorganic can prove hazardous, destroying the protective vitamins and unsaturated fatty acids, causing serious liver damage and even miscarriage and delayed or premature births. The common foods rich in natural organic iron are wheat and wheat grain cereals, brown rice and rice polishings, green leafy vegetables, cabbage, carrot, celery, beets, tomatoes, spinach; fruits like apples, berries, cherries, grapes, raisins, figs, dates, peaches and eggs. It has been proved that a generous intake of iron alone will not help in the regeneration of haemoglobin. The supplies of protein, too, should be adequate. The diet should, therefore, be adequate in proteins of high biological value such as those found in milk, cheese and egg. Copper is also essential for the utilisation of iron in the building of haemoglobin.

The treatment of alcoholism begins with resolute choice of the alcoholic to recover. The chronic alcoholic first of all must make a firm resolve to stop drinking. He should abstain from alcohol all at once for the habit cannot be got rid of in gradual stages. The most effective way to treat alcoholism is to build the body's nutritional integrity soaps to prevent craving for stimulants like drinks. The patients should be put on a cleansing juice fast for at least ten days in the beginning. During this period, he should have juice of an orange every two hours from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The juice may be diluted with warm water, if desired. If orange juice does not agree, vegetable juices may be taken. Each day while fasting, bowels should be cleansed of effete and poisonous matter thrown off by the self-cleansing process set up by the body. This can be achieved by warm water enema. During the juice fast, the patient will usually feel no craving for alcohol. This will give a good 10 day start towards breaking the drinking habit and would help remove not only the physical dependence but also the psychological factors. After the initial fast on juices, the optimum diet of vital nutrients is essential. Such a diet should consist of whole grains, cereals, nuts, seeds and sprouts, fresh fruits and vegetables.

The chief cause of bronchitis is wrong feeding habits. The habitual use of refined foods such as white sugar, refined cereals and white-flour products results in the accumulation of morbid matter in the system and collection of toxic waste in the bronchial tube. Another important cause of this disease is smoking. Excessive smoking irritates the bronchial tubes and lowers their resistance so that they become vulnerable to germs breathed in from the atmosphere. Other causes of bronchitis are living or working in stuffy atmosphere, use of drugs to suppress earlier diseases and hereditary factors. Changes in weather and environment are common factors for the onset of the disease.

The more fibre, the better. There are divergent views as to the requirement of dietary fibre for good health. There is no recommended daily dietary allowance for it and hardly any data about optimum amounts. Some Africans known for lower incidence of degenerative diseases take about 150 grams of fibre a day. In Europe and North America, where there is a high incidence of such diseases, people take 25 grams or less a day. Dr. John H. Cummings, a noted fibre expert in England, considers that a fibre intake of 30 grams (about one ounce) per day is sufficient for good health. Excessive consumption of fibre, especially bran, should however, be avoided. Due to its content of crude fibre, bran is relatively harsh and it may irritate the delicate functioning of the digestive system, especially in the sick and the weak. Excessive use of fibre may also result in loss of valuable minerals like calcium, phosphorus, magnesium and potassium from the body through excretion due to quick passage of food from the intestine.

Many opine that eczema results from an imbalance of the immune system. This is not correct. The real cause of eczema however is the failure of the human system to excrete the poisons from the various orifices of the body. Waste matter is excreted from the rectum through stools, from the bladder through urine, from the lungs through breath and from the pores of the skin through sweat. Sometime the pores of the skin are overworked as waste matter is not properly eliminated from the other orifices. If the pores are not given the chance to perform their normal function, the sweat will be full of morbid matter and this gives rise to skin diseases like eczema, acne, boils and other eruptions.

The most important cause of arteriosclerosis is excessive intake of white sugar, refined foods and high fat diet, rich in cholesterol. A sedentary life and excesses of all kinds are the major contributing causes. Hardening of the arteries may also be caused by other diseases such as high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, rheumatism, Bright's disease, malaria, and syphilis. Emotional stress also plays an important part, and heart attacks are more common during the periods of mental and emotional disturbances, particularly in those engaged in sedentary occupations. Heredity also plays its role and this disease runs in families.

Despite the scepticism of American specialists, food allergy is an important cause of disease. There are two methods to detect disturbing foods. The first method is the trial-and- error elimination diet. This automatically eliminates many hazards and foods. Keep to organic, untreated, unprocessed foods as far as possible and you will eliminate another set of hazards such as pesticides, various sprays and other poisons. After having eliminated as many disturbing factors as possible, a self-search should be carried out to ascertain any suspicious symptoms from foods. It is advisable to try an elimination diet, excluding suspected foods for two weeks until the cause is detected. Occasionally, by changing the brand or the type, you can find a food substitute that does not upset you.

Here are the Ten Commandments for Problem Drinkers, as given by psychiatrist Dr. William B. Terhune. These are:
(i) Never drink when you "need one."
(ii) Sip slowly.
(iii) Space your drinks, waiting 30 minutes for a second drink after the first and then an hour before the third.
(iv) Dilute your alcohol.
(v) Keep an accurate and truthful records of the number of drinks you take.
(vi) Never conceal the amount you drink.
(vii) Never drink on an empty stomach.
(viii) Never drink on cue (for lunch, for dinner, just because you are tired, in bedroom seduction, because you are bored or frustrated, or at bedtime).
(ix) Never take a drink in the morning to break a hangover.
(x) And never drink to escape discomfort, either physical or mental.