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GOOD health can be achieved by each and every one of us. And the means to achieve this lies within you rather than in global remedies. This is because our body has self-healing powers or ‘prana’ or ‘bio-energy’. All that we need to do is to support the activity of this energy system by correcting our eating and living habits. As we continue to grow in technology, we create conditions that systematically interfere with our state of health. Today, we suffer more from lifestyle diseases like diabetes, cardio-vascular disease and cancer, rather than from germ-based diseases like cholera, typhoid etc. How should we take charge of our health? Firstly, listen to your body. Many people drag their way through life. They complain of vague symptoms like back pain, muscles ache, low energy, feeling bloated, especially around abdominal region, constipation, mild depression, dry skin, unexplained weight gain, hair loss etc. They just don’t feel good. But instead of listening to their body’s wisdom they just pop a pill and ‘wish’ it away. Your body is screaming to be heard. Take time out to listen to your body. Minor changes in your diet can help make major changes in your health. To begin with stop eating white flour. That includes rumali roti, naan, white bread and all other foods made from maida. It is a depleted food. It borrows more nutrients from your body in order to get metabolised. Switch to whole wheat bread instead of white bread, brown rice instead of white rice, soya milk instead of whole milk. Snack on sprouts, roasted whole chana instead of farsan and fried snacks. Eat whole fruits instead of juice concentrates. Eat whole grains like jowar, bajri, naachini and whole pluses. 2. Detoxify regularly Inner cleansing or detoxification is a process of clearing toxins from the body, thereby cleansing it of mucus and congestion. It makes you feel energised, light and revitalised. It is important as an overall lifestyle and needs specific dietary changes. It is an important tool in treating obesity, as obesity is always associated with toxicity. Almost everyone needs to detoxify from time to time. Some of us who lead a life of excesses, and those who eat excessively at night, need to detox more frequently (twice a year). Others with toxicity symptoms like headaches, congestion, backaches, digestive problems, allergies, etc will benefit greatly by detoxification. Consume antioxidants. Free radicals are known to accelerate the ageing process. Antioxidants like vitamins E, C, A, selenium, bioflavinoids and polyphenols are known to douse free radical activity and slow down the ageing process. Today's modern man eating “civilised food” is overfed and unnourished. He needs to consume antioxidants. 3. Get in shape Eat food with a new approach. Look at its nutrient density rather than its caloric value. For example, almonds, pumpkin seeds, and peanuts, though rich in calories, contain beneficial oils and a full range of nutrients that improve your health. These do not cause weight gain if eaten in moderation. While eating less fat is good, eating oil-free diets may deprive your body of fat-soluble vitamins and also affect your menstrual cycle. Eating less sugar is beneficial but consuming large quantities of artificially sweetened dessert will cause more toxic overload in the body. By learning to make the right food choices, coupled with a 40-minute brisk walk, we can begin a healing process unlike any other. Most diseases are a result of toxic overload. When you overeat de-natured foods, which are improperly prepared, over-fried, boiled to death, re-fried, containing artificial flavours and preservatives, your body gets filled with toxic wastes and all this upsets your digestion. Despite being aware of this, abstaining from such food is difficult for most people. When you begin eating healthily, drink vegetable juices, eat freshly prepared food and snack on nuts, seeds, fruits and juices, you will develop a healthy immune system, which can add meaningful years to your life and help delay the ageing process. 4. Control stress It begins with the mind. A youthful state has more to do with what's going on in your mind than with what's going on in your body. Each one of us participates consciously or unconsciously in creating our own illnesses. Your attitude towards life shapes your health and looks. Some people remain calm and collected under most situations. Stress has little impact on the physical and mental health of such people. There are others who get irritated over small issues like traffic jams, loud music, delayed breakfasts, waiting for appointments etc. Ordinary day-to-day events seem to be very stressful to such individuals. They are more prone to stress-related conditions like high blood pressure, migraine, eczema, insomnia, backache, muscle pain, etc. Stress eventually wears out the body. 5. Role of relationships in health Try to develop loving relationships with your family, friends, spouse, pets — anyone! Love is rejuvenating. It makes life meaningful. It has healing energy. It is a powerful stimulant for the immune system. People, who bond well with family and friends, feel contented and are better equipped to fight disease. The act of giving and receiving love, acts as a shield from the stressors of life and prevents needless aging. A loving relationship with anyone — even plants and pets is good for longevity and youthfulness. 6. Stop negative thinking 7. Stop smoking Stub out that cigarette! This is probably the single best thing you can do to stay young and healthy. The writer is a nutritionist. She treats obesity and related health disorders online. She can be reached at ask@health-total.com / www.health-total.com
Women more prone to chronic migraine With effective medical intervention and treatment, chronic migraine can be treated and controlled. Medications, nutritional supplements, lifestyle alterations and avoiding the migraine triggers can help a lot. The disease Chronic migraine is the term referred to migraine headaches that have lasted more than three months. Some people continue to live with them for years altogether. The pain is marked by frequent spills of headache on one side of the head. It is a pulsating throbbing sensation which aggravates from moderate to severe. This is usually aggravated by stress and other triggers that vary from person to person. The disorder is more common in people who are in the profession of higher intelligence such as doctors, lawyers, scientists and, invariably, it is women, who are more prone to it than men. Chronic migraine is most prevalent in people between 20 and 50 years of age and as many as 70 per cent of the sufferers are women. Hormonal changes make women more prone to the disease. Migraine headaches result from a combination of blood-vessel enlargement and the release of chemicals from nerves that causes the sympathetic nervous system to respond with feelings of nausea, diarrhoea, and vomiting. Often these can be debilitating and lead to sensitivity towards light (photophobia) and sound (phono phobia) in the sufferer. In extreme cases, such people avoid going into crowded areas and like to be left alone in a “dark room”. We are encountering cases of childhood migraine as well, as schoolchildren are also coming with the complaint of chronic migraine. The symptoms in children are lack of concentration, abdominal pain and giddiness. According to the World Health Organisation, 303 million people worldwide were “migraineurs” or migraine sufferers (as per a 2003 study). Chronic migraine sufferers often reach a state where popping in commonly available painkillers does not help; usually a combination of specific medicines is required then, to be taken throughout the day, to keep a check on their recurrent headaches. Migraine attacks cause significant pain for hours to days and are so severe that all you can think about is finding a dark, quiet place to lie down. Some migraines are preceded or accompanied by sensory warning symptoms (aura), such as flashes of light, blind spots or tingling in your arm or leg. The cause of migraine headache is unknown; the most supported theory is that it is related to hyper-excitability of the cerebral cortex (a part of the brain responsible for information processing and plays a key role in memory, attention, perceptual awareness, thought, language, and consciousness) and/or abnormal control of pain neurons in the trigeminal nucleus of the brainstem. Some solutions Preventive treatments of migraines can be an important part of migraine management and include: medications, migraine surgery, nutritional supplements, lifestyle alterations, such as increased exercise, and avoidance of migraine triggers like acidity, sun exposure etc. The goals of preventive therapy are to reduce the frequency, painfulness, and/or duration of migraines, and to increase the effectiveness of abortive therapy. Another reason to pursue these goals is to avoid medication overuse headache (MOH), otherwise known as rebound headache. Yet, there are people for whom conventional medicine too fails. For such people, doctors may use Botox. Approved by the Food and Drug Administration of the USA for prophylaxis in adult patients who suffer headaches 15 or more days per month, each lasting more than four hours, the drug may help in managing the severe pain in many people. The writer is a senior consultant and director, Department of Neurology, BLK Super Specialty Hospital, New Delhi
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We use chemical fertilisers to increase yield, we use pesticides to increase the shelf life of our fresh produce. We use food additives to increase the shelf life of our packaged products. In our pursuit to improve the shelf life of edible products, we are in turn reducing our own shelf life! The net result is that we suffer more from bad eating and living habits, than from actual disease. 
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Change your diet
Negative thoughts make you take negative action, which brings about negative reactions from others. This increases stress in your life. Negative thinking can make you depressed and look old. Every time you become negative, consciously shift your thoughts. Alternatively go for a walk on the beach or in a garden or tend to your plants at home. Connect with nature. It helps dissolve negativity.
Frequent