Health
Checking Weight Through Diet
A high fibre, plant-based diet is ideal for weight-loss and ongoing weight maintenance.
Many diets will help you to lose weight fast, but they come unstuck when it comes to long-term success. Most of us are only satisfied once our tummy is full – literally – we have receptors in our stomach which tell us how much volume is in there and that is part of what gives us satiety or satisfaction with the food eaten.
Unfortunately, our energy dense foods, such as fats, soft drinks and alcohol don’t provide the ‘bulk’ to let us know we are full so we keep wanting more (that coupled with blood sugar fluctuations from processed sugary foods).
Eating whole foods such as vegetables and fibre-rich fruits like apples and pears will help us to feel satisfied so we don’t eat more calories than we need. We all know what the high calorie foods are – and if you don’t there’s loads of places to get the information, apps on your phone, websites and charts. Basically if it is processed, it is going to be higher in calories than its whole food counterpart. We need to keep commercially processed foods to a minimum.
The real key is planning. Stock up on organic vegetables, salads and make crudités for easy snacking and meal preparation. If you feel like eating some ‘treats’ have a bowl of green salad and some crudités first so you can stop at a few pieces of chocolate rather than eating the whole bar. If you are hungry, feed yourself. It’s impossible to keep up a diet that requires you to starve. If you’re eating whole foods and minimising processed foods the weight should start to drop off. For extra help and support a naturopathic nutritional therapist can be useful in helping you overcome any obstacles to your health goals.
It is increasingly accepted that a low-carbohydrate (‘low carb’) diet is the way to lose weight healthily, by minimising excess sugars and starches in diet that the body turns to fat.
Increasing nutrient-dense protein and fat sources satisfies hunger to reduce overall food intake, too. Essentially a healthy low-carb diet for weight loss consists of hearty amounts of vegetables (less starchy vegetables are preferred), seeds, nuts, eggs, fish, moderate meat and butter. Foods are best in whole organic form. People with blood sugar or insulin issues respond particularly well to this weight loss approach.
There are a number of foods and herbs that help the body excrete excess fluid, stimulate peristalsis (the movement of food through the digestive tract) and regulate appetite; these can help support weight loss alongside a mainstream low carb diet. The categories that these foods and herbs fit into are known as diuretics, bitters, aromatics and mild astringents. Here are some examples of these from Traditional Chinese Medicine, where a number of herbs are understood to work synergistically to aid weight reduction:
· Hawthorn fruit – regulates appetite and stimulates peristalsis, especially of the stomach
· Fresh Ginger – aromatically warms and settles the stomach
· Tangerine Peel – (just like the peel in old fashioned marmalade) moves the gut and helps regulate gut symbionts (friendly gut bacteria)
· Radish Seed – strongly aromatic to relieve food stagnation
· Lotus Leaf – helps the body move unnecessary fluid. In China a tea of lotus leaf and Job’s tears (Coix) is drunk daily to help counter obesity
· Plantain Leaf – a diuretic to help excrete extra fluid
· Kelp – a diuretic and metabolism boost
In a weight loss diet aromatic and bitter herbs, spices and foods have amplified benefits; they stimulate gut peristalsis to counter the stagnating effect of a richer, high protein and fat diet; they also make dishes tastier and more satisfying to the senses!
Turmeric
The ground into a deep orange powder and used in curries, has been used for centuries in India for medicinal purposes.
More recently, its active ingredient, curcumin, has been much in the news because scientists have confirmed its remarkable anti-cancer properties. There’s a wealth of exciting information coming through about curcumin’s role in warding off memory loss, depression, chronic disease, and more.
In particular, its potent anti-inflammatory properties can help to relieve the pain of arthritis, and to reduce allergies, psoriasis, eczema, gastric ulcers and inflammatory bowel disease, to name but some of the conditions for which curcumin can be helpful, and for which it has traditionally been used.
Using turmeric in your food a few times a week is a great way to get your dose of curcumin, in normal circumstances.
But don’t forget to add black pepper to your recipe, as the active ingredient in black pepper helps to increase the bioavailability of the curcumin, meaning that it’s more effective for you. For a general anti-oxidant health boost, take ½ teaspoon of powdered, organic turmeric, with a pinch of ground black pepper, in a glass of hot water, once a day. Add some Manuka honey or cinnamon powder for taste.
A naturopathic herbalist can combine therapeutic doses of turmeric into a tincture or powder containing other herbs and spices which are appropriate to your individual needs. Turmeric is generally very safe to use. However, if you are on medication or suffer from a specific medical problem and you are not sure about using it, please consult your herbalist.
Two United States scientists who unraveled the human micro RNA have won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2024.
Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun won the coveted prize for their work on microRNA as their discoveries help explain how complex life emerged on earth and how the human body is made up of a wide variety of different tissues.
MicroRNAs influence how genes – the instructions for life – are controlled inside organisms, including humans.
Every cell in the human body contains the same raw genetic information, locked in our DNA.
However, despite starting with the identical genetic information, the cells of the human body are wildly different in form and function.
The electrical impulses of nerve cells are distinct from the rhythmic beating of heart cells. The metabolic powerhouse that is a liver cell is distinct to a kidney cell, which filters urea out of the blood.
The light-sensing abilities of cells in the retina are different in skillset to white blood cells that produce antibodies to fight infection.
So much variety can arise from the same starting material because of gene expression.
The US scientists were the first to discover microRNAs and how they exerted control on how genes are expressed differently in different tissues.
The medicine and physiology prize winners are selected by the Nobel Assembly of Sweden’s Karolinska Institute.
They said: “Their groundbreaking discovery revealed a completely new principle of gene regulation that turned out to be essential for multicellular organisms, including humans.
“It is now known that the human genome codes for over 1,000 microRNAs.”
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has begun acting to curb effects of antibiotic pollution.
The new guidance on wastewater and solid waste management for antibiotic manufacturing sheds light on this important but neglected challenge ahead of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) High-Level Meeting on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) taking place on 26 September 2024.
The emergence and spread of AMR caused by antibiotic pollution could undermine the effectiveness of antibiotics globally, including the medicines produced at the manufacturing sites responsible for the pollution.
Despite high antibiotic pollution levels being widely documented, the issue is largely unregulated and quality assurance criteria typically do not address environmental emissions. In addition, once distributed, there is a lack of information provided to consumers on how to dispose of antibiotics when they are not used, for example, when they expire or when a course is finished but there is still antibiotic left over.
“Pharmaceutical waste from antibiotic manufacturing can facilitate the emergence of new drug-resistant bacteria, which can spread globally and threaten our health. Controlling pollution from antibiotic production contributes to keeping these life-saving medicines effective for everyone,” said Dr Yukiko Nakatani, WHO Assistant Director-General for AMR ad interim.
Globally, there is a lack of accessible information on the environmental damage caused by manufacturing of medicines.
“The guidance provides an independent and impartial scientific basis for regulators, procurers, inspectors, and industry themselves to include robust antibiotic pollution control in their standards,” said Dr Maria Neira, Director, Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health, WHO. “Critically, the strong focus on transparency will equip buyers, investors and the general public to make decisions that account for manufacturers’ efforts to control antibiotic pollution.”
In a concerted effort to curb brain drain, the Kebbi State Government has harmonised medical doctors’ salaries to be at par with their colleagues in the federal government’s tertiary health facilities.
Kebbi State Commissioner for Health, Musa Inusa-Isma’il, disclosed this at the handing over of ambulances to the state-owned health facilities at the Ministry of Health in Birnin Kebbi yesterday.
Inusa Isma’il, according to a statement by Ahmed Idris, the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, said the essence of the harmonisation was to retain the existing medical doctors and attract more to the services of the state.
According to him, the doctors across the state had already started enjoying the new salaries from August 2024.
He said the release of the vehicles was in fulfilment of Governor Nasir Idris’ promise to uplift health care services in the state.
“His Excellency said I should inform you, the beneficiaries of this gesture, that the vehicle should be strictly used for the intended purpose. It should not be used for anything else.
“If there is no referral case, each of the vehicles must be parked at the hospital by 6 pm. The governor said you should warn your drivers against reckless driving as well as violating the instructions.
“We should also do everything possible to reciprocate the gesture by working according to the terms and conditions attached,” he advised.
The benefiting health facilities included Sir Yahaya Memorial Hospital, Birnin Kebbi; State Teaching Hospital, Kalgo; General Hospital, Argungu; General Hospital, Yauri; General Hospital, Zuru; and General Hospital, Bunza.
In his speech, the permanent secretary of the ministry, Dr Shehu Koko, recalled that the ambulances were handed over to the ministry last Friday by the governor for the onward handover to the benefiting hospitals.
He observed that the ambulances would go a long way in improving the referral system in the state, adding that delays in reaching the secondary and tertiary facilities would be eliminated.
The permanent secretary attributed the high rate of maternal mortality in the country to delays in getting to the health facilities for proper medical care.
“We believe with the provision of these ambulances, part of the gaps we have in our referral system will be addressed, whereby patients who require secondary healthcare could be easily transported to secondary and tertiary health centres, where they can get such help,” he said.
In a goodwill message, Commissioner for Information and Culture Alhaji Yakubu Ahmed expressed gratitude to the governor for the support he has given to the ministry to excel.
While advising the beneficiaries to use the vehicles judiciously, the commissioner advised that services and maintenance of the vehicles must be prompt to derive the maximum benefits from the vehicles.
The commissioner also highlighted some achievements recorded by the government in the last year, including beautification of the state capital, completion of a multimillion-naira ultramodern state secretariat, road construction, construction and renovation of classrooms and upgrading of some health facilities, among others.
