Hippocrates, the ancient Greek physician once said:
“Let food be thy medicine”
Even though this statement was made 2500 years ago, he couldn’t have been more right. Each time we eat or drink, we are either promoting health, or feeding disease or fighting it! These three actions are constantly getting processed in our body knowingly or unknowingly.
The modern world is facing a deluge of disorders like Diabetes, Fatty Liver, Skin disorders, Obesity, Blood Pressure, Mood Swings, Depression, ADHD, Symptoms of Metabolic syndrome etc. These are all symptoms/outcomes of improper nutrition & lifestyle. So rather than trying to address the symptoms, one must address the cause. Once nutrition and lifestyle is corrected, one’s health starts to fall in line.
Marie Curie once said,” Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more so we may fear less.”
Below are some common diseases which are feared but rarely understood.
Metabolic Syndrome:
This is a cluster of 5 risk factors which increase the risk of developing Cardio-Vascular Disease, Diabetes & Stroke.
Those 5 risk factors are:
- High Blood Pressure
- High blood sugar levels (insulin resistance)
- Thick Waist
- High triglyceride levels
- Low levels of HDL
Technically having three or more of these factors will result in a diagnosis of metabolic syndrome and it will increase your risk of health complications. But in our experience, even two confirmed factors increase the chances of developing CVD, Stroke & Diabetes.
This is not a website providing medical advice and the information provided below is simply for the purpose of making people understand the various disorders that ail us, in the simplest way possible. Lack of information or misinformation is one of the biggest barriers in surmounting a health disorder.
Obesity:
A common modern age malady affecting everyone from children to adults. It is an outcome of an imbalance of hormones, improper lifestyle, habits etc. The mistake we often make in our endeavour to get fit is, we attack obesity, which actually is a symptom. One cannot sustain weight loss if we just attack the symptom & don’t address the cause of that outcome. Any strategy has to be to address the cause. Our strategy of losing weight to get healthy has to change to get healthy to lose weight. Obesity is a huge health risk leading to Cardio-Vascular Complications, Diabetes, Cancer, Fatty Liver to name a few. The excess weight we carry also burdens our visceral organs like Heart, Liver, Kidneys, Spine, Knees and joints too.
Diabetes:
Diabetes is one of the most common disorders today, seen mostly in adults. Lately, however, its symptoms have been witnessed even in children/teens due to poor lifestyle & eating habits. Primarily, it has to be understood that insulin holds the key to opening all cells for nutrition to enter in our cells. Insulin is a hormone produced & released by the Pancreas whenever we eat or drink anything that results in a spike of Blood Sugar levels. Due to constant snacking, frequent meals sedentary lifestyle and carbohydrate laden food over a number of years, our cells get over fed to the point where they start rebelling against insulin’s knock to open their door (to store more glucose as glycogen) thereby creating excess sugar in the blood because cells refuse to comply. This is called insulin resistance.
Now, because the cells refuse to open their doors to insulin & the feedback loop gets disrupted, pancreas release even more insulin to push things inside and thus begins a vicious cycle. When insulin is unable to get the cells to open up for accepting glucose, there is a build-up of sugar & insulin in the blood. This is the onset of diabetes Type-2. Type 2 diabetes is more common than Type 1 diabetes. Type-1 is usually seen in children, where the beta cells of the Pancreas don’t produce insulin. It could be a genetic issue, some viral infection, auto immune disease etc. Here too there is very strong circumstantial evidence of the subject having developed an auto immune disease on account of processed and ready to eat food given to the children.
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS):
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is a disorder of infrequent, irregular or prolonged menstrual cycles. Often, this is accompanied by excess male hormone (androgen) levels. The ovaries also develop numerous small collections of fluid, called follicles. This can lead to infertility, obesity, facial hair etc. The hormonal imbalances in most of the cases is on account of improper diet & lifestyle.
Fatty liver:
Fatty liver disease (FLD)- There are two types of FLD: 1) AFLD (Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease) & 2) Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD). In both the conditions liver starts building layers of fat akin to that of milk spilling out of the container when boiled. When alcohol is consumed, the sugars present in alcohol cannot be utilized by any cells in our body & they straight go to the liver for processing. The liver converts those sugars to fat. In the same way, even non alcoholics develop a fatty liver on account of excess sugars & fructose (fruits, fruit juices, High Fructose Corn Syrups in processed foods) in their diet. All excess sugars are converted to fat by the liver & in the bargain over a period of time even the Liver starts accumulating fat. In the beginning there are no symptoms. Sometimes there may be tiredness or pain in the upper right side of the abdomen. Advancement of this condition leads to cirrhosis, liver cancer, sexual dysfunction etc.
High blood pressure, or Hypertension:
High blood pressure, or Hypertension refers to the force with which the blood pushes against the walls of the artery through which it flows. In Hypertension, the level of pressure is higher than normal and the heart has to work that much harder to push the blood. Usually, one is diagnosed as Secondary Hypertensive or Primary Hypertensive. Secondary hypertension is when there is some obvious visible cause, for eg, improper kidney function. In Primary Hypertensive, no cause is visible & therefore generally such people are advised to reduce salt, exercise, & given anti-hypertensive meds. However, there is clear link between the various Metabolic syndrome factors & HBP. Therefore, by making the necessary changes in diet & lifestyle, metabolic factors can start getting corrected & in turn correct the HBP. In fact, Insulin Resistance has a direct link with HBP. This is so because Insulin Resistance hardens the arteries, retains more Sodium, depletes Potassium & all these ingredients are a perfect recipe for HBP. Therefore, there is a cause & effect relationship between HBP & IR.
Depression:
Depression is that constant feeling of sadness and loss of interest, which stops you from doing your normal activities. Generally, it is understood that Depression does not result from a single reason, but from a mix of events and factors. However, what is known and proved is that there is a very strong link between food & symptoms of Depression. It is the imbalance of Amino Acids in our diet which prevents our brain & gut from producing Neurotransmitters/Hormones like Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, Endorphins, GABA, Acetylcholine, Adrenaline etc, hormones that are critical to our mental health and wellness, that ultimately leads to one experiencing symptoms of Depression.
Psoriasis:
Psoriasis is not a direct skin disorder but an auto immune condition that reflects on your skin. The symptoms cause red, itchy scaly patches, most commonly on the knees, elbows, trunk and scalp. Very few people are predisposed to this condition from the genetic point of view, however the rest of the cases are due to hyper-active immune soldiers produced by our body. Due to intake of foods unsuitable to our gut over a sustained period or frequent intake of painkillers/ antibiotics can result in our gut walls becoming permeable. Permeable gut walls lead to food particles and microbes getting inadvertently released from the gut/intestinal walls into the blood stream. The presence of such unplanned particles and microbes in our blood automatically makes our immune system hyper-active. The immune system goes berserk trying to protect our body from these un-invited, perceived invaders & in some people they start attacking our own skin cells in a friendly fire. This how we end up with what is called Psoriasis. In Greek ‘Psora’ means skin & ‘Iasis’ means itchy.
ADHD:
ADHD is Attention-Deficit-Hyperactivity-Disorder. This condition affects mainly children & sometimes continues even into adulthood. Restlessness, lack of focus, irritability, inability to complete tasks, impulsive behaviour etc are the main symptoms of ADHD. This is not a mental disorder, it’s a nutritional deficiency. When the diet lacks in B12, B1, B6, B3 & Vitamin D mainly or when we eat unsuitable, processed foods, which erode the above vitamins from our body, the symptoms of ADHD become very apparent.
Most people believe that our illnesses are hereditary. The truth is we can make lifestyle and diet-based choices that minimize the chances of the expression of genes that make us sick.
