Reference: Dr. Shantaram Kane's Book with the same name.
If you are in a hurry
(and trust the authenticity of the material presented below) here is a quick
summary:
Recommended routine:
1.
Give up bad
habits like smoking, alcohol, and overeating.
2.
Start daily
exercise that strengthens you heart, lungs, muscles, joints, and stamina.
3.
Understand
and monitor primary health parameters, like blood sugar, blood pressure, and
body-mass index. Conduct routine (annual) examinations.
4.
Focus on
reducing stress in your daily life through meditation.
5.
Eat often (3
main meals and 2 snacks) and regularly.
6.
Do not sit in
one place for too long. Take a break of 5-10 minutes every 50-60 minutes of
work. Use the break to relax your eyes (look at distant objects) and your body
(stretch, walk), and plan action for the next 50 minutes.
Dietary
recommendations:
1.
Avoid/reduce
food that is rich with carbohydrates and fat. This is not because carb and fat
are bad, but because most foods contain these and there is always a high
probability of exceeding daily requirements.
2.
When you
design your daily food intake (type and quantity), consider the following:
a.
Your daily
caloric requirement based on BMI and age (http://www.my-calorie-counter.com/Calorie_Calculator.asp).
b.
Each food
type has a Glycemic Index – which has to do with the rate of release of
glucose after digestion. A high GI, accompanied by
a high carbohydrate content, causes glucose peaks which in turn cause fat
accumulation and serious long term ailments like diabetes. So,
consider food with low Glycemic load (product of Glycemic index and carb
content). The total glycemic load of a single meal should be less than 35.
3.
Leaky Gut
Syndrome is a common problem (which has to do with unnecessary or excessive
absorption of nutrients in the blood). It can lead to all kinds of health
problems. To prevent this syndrome, avoid:
a.
Stale food,
outside food (especially sweets, deep fried)
b.
Raw
(uncooked) vegetables
c.
Sour, spicy
(red/green chili), pungent, and fermented foods
d.
Excessive use
of medicines
e.
Artificial
agents like sweeteners and preservatives
4.
Avoid eating
sweets and/or fruit along with main meals.
5.
Avoid
tea/coffee just after meals.
Recommended food:
1.
1 Egg per day
2.
1 cup of
buttermilk or yogurt per day
3.
Low-fat cow’s
milk
4.
Fruit
(avoid/reduce banana, chikoo, and sitaphal)
5.
Cooked vegetables:
leafy (e.g. spinach, lettuce, coriander), soybean (tofu or soy milk), carrots,
cucumber, tomatoes, cauliflower, okra, drumstick, etc (avoid/reduce potato,
sweet potato, peas)
6.
Oils:
coconut, canola
7.
Coldwater
fish
8.
Nuts:
walnuts, groundnuts, almond (avoid cashews)
9.
Flaxseed
(jawas)
10. Pulses
11. Spices: cinnamon, fenugreek (avoid red/green chili
pepper)
1.
Stop smoking.
2.
Stop
excessive use of alcohol.
3.
Stop
overeating - stop before getting "full".
1.
Cardio-vascular:
aerobic, running, fast walking, swimming, trade-mill, sports like soccer and
basketball, etc. The goal is to strengthen the heart and lungs and build
stamina.
You also burn calories as a side-effect. If you don’t replace these lost
calories (by eating food) you lose weight. Data point: 30 minutes of walk (2.5
km) incurs a loss of 100 calories.
2.
Stressing and
stretching: Weights, wrestling, suryanamaskar, yogasanas, gymnastics, etc. The
goal is to strengthen muscles and joints.
3.
Breathing
exercise like pranayam: The goal is to strengthen lungs and improve
oxygenation.
Perform regular medical
checkup:
1.
Blood test
2.
Urine test
3.
Blood
pressure
4.
Weight - BMI
(body mass index): Weight in kg divided by square of height in meters. Desired range
of BMI is 20 to 25.
Track health incidents
(illnesses or healthcare treatments) with possible causes.
Diet is about what to
eat, how much to eat, and when to eat. The following factors affect dietary
decisions.
Food is not just about
calories; the body requires different types of food such as, fat, proteins,
vitamins, etc. In a section below, we will list these types.
Food generates energy
(measured in calories) that is used for the daily metabolism of the body. So,
the caloric intake needs to be such that it meets this requirement. But, you
also have to factor in weight-loss or -gain requirements. So, for example, if
you want to lose weight, you need to eat less than your body’s daily
requirement so that the energy deficit is covered by burning some body fat
(which would result in weight loss).
http://www.my-calorie-counter.com/Calorie_Calculator.asp
helps you calculate your daily calorie requirement based on your BMI. For
example, a 35-year old man of 6 feet and 155 pounds requires about 2300
calories per day.
So, you need to ensure
your total daily food intake does not violate the calorific needs of your body.
More about this in a separate section later.
This has to do with the rate
of glucose release after every meal. If this rate is high, it causes a
higher glucose peak in the blood (i.e. a larger amount of glucose that needs to
be burnt) which in turn causes a larger amount of insulin release (which is
needed to burn the glucose). These glucose peaks, if abnormally high and
repeated, have detrimental effects on the body in the short and in the long
term.
Glycemic load (GD) is the
product of grams of carbohydrates and the glycemic index (GI - rate at
which glucose is released). For example: for cheese GI is 50, carbohydrate
content is 6%, so GD per 100 gm is 50 x 0.06 = 3.
Glycemic load (GD) per
meal should be less than 35 to avoid abnormally high glucose/insulin peaks.
Basically the daily food intake should be such that the glycemic load is distributed
rather than concentrated. More details about this will be covered in a
separate section below.
This has to do with
unnecessary or excessive absorption of nutrients in the blood, which is caused
by increased permeability of the intestinal mucosa to macromolecules, antigens,
and toxins. This can lead to all kinds of health problems. It is initiated by
any inflammation of stomach and intestinal lining.
This sort of inflammation
is caused by:
A daily dose of cultured
yogurt or buttermilk is an excellent treatment for avoiding leaky gut
syndrome, or for mitigating it.
You need to take a
quantitative approach to get an idea of your daily caloric intake. There are a
lot of resources on the Net that give caloric content of various types of
foods.
In general:
·
Calorie
content (per gram) of Indian snacks: Highest for dosa, farsan, chivda, chakli
(basically all fried snacks), barfi, samosa, and comparatively low for pohe,
upma, idli, dahi vada.
·
Among fruit
banana, chikoo, custard apple have high calorie content.
·
Among
vegetables potato, sweet potato, peas have high calorie content.
The following sites
provide the glycemic index (GI) of various foods:
http://www.glycemicindex.com/aboutGI.htm
http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes
Using GI and the
carbohydrate content we can compute the glycemic load (GD).
For example:
Apple: GI is 38, carb content is 13.5%, so GD per 100 gm is 38 x 0.135
= 5.13
Banana: GI is 55, carb content is 27%, so GD per 100 gm is 55 x 0.27 =
14.85
Glucose: GI is 100, carb content is 100%, so GD per 100 gm is 100 x 1 =
100
As discussed earlier,
high glycemic loads cause high glucose and insulin peaks, which in turn cause
the following negative effects.
Effects of these
peaks: In the short term,
excess glucose gets converted to fat and cholesterol. Over long term the high
levels of glucose in cells cause damage to its lining. High level of insulin
causes fluid retention which in turns causes high BP and congestive heart
failure as a result.
Repetitive attacks of glucose/insulin
peaks can cause insulin resistance which in turn causes hyperglycemia,
which is the beginning of the "metabolic syndrome" - high BP,
obesity, and diabetes. Diabetes type I actually shows high levels of insulin
which is created by the pancreas to deal with high levels of glucose. In type
II pancreas starts failing to produce sufficient insulin causing insulin
deficiency.
What to do:
Glycemic load (GD) per
meal should be less than 35. Shift your diet to foods having low glycemic index
and control consumption of carbohydrates. Fruit and sweets contribute
significantly to GD; hence they should be eaten separately from regular
meals.
Number of meals: 3 meals
+ 2 snacks. Helps distribute the glycemic load. Early breakfast (within 2 hrs
of waking) helps restore glucose, avoid digestive problems, and prevent
problems like migraine. Snacks should consist of nuts and fruit.
While choosing foods, one
must check its calorie content (to fit the daily total) as well as its glycemic
load (to fit the per-meal limit).
Dietary proportion of
carbohydrates, fat, and proteins should be 55-25-20 (American standard
40-30-30).
Carbohydrates:
Since all foods contain
carbohydrates, the challenge usually is to keep the intake low and not
whether we are meeting the required daily dosage.
Fat:
Similar to carbohydrates,
fat intake is to be watched carefully on the higher side rather than worrying
whether we are getting enough. Hydrogenated oils (vegetable) must be
controlled. All fried items are to be avoided.
Among Saturated fats,
the so-called MCTs (medium chain triglycerides or low/medium molecular weight
fats) are very useful to the body (coconut oil and cow's milk contain these).
Other types (high
molecular weight) of Saturated fats (contained in most red meat and
hydrogenated oils) are hard to digest and have other undesirable effects, and
must be avoided if possible. These fats are contained in many commercial
products - biscuits, cakes, chips, French-fries, mayonnaise, cheese, and other
deep-fried foods.
Olive oil is a rich
source of monounsaturated fats.
Omega-3 fats are
essential for the body and are available in coldwater fish (salmon,
sardines, etc), cod-liver oil, walnuts, purslane (a salad vegetable), flaxseed (jawas),
canola oil.
A family of 4 should have
about (and no more than) 100 gm of vegetable oil per day.
Proteins:
Proteins are a poor
source of energy; instead they are essential for muscular and structural
elements, key regulatory chemicals such as hemoglobin, antibodies, enzymes, and
hormones.
Recommended daily
requirement of proteins is 1 gm per kg of body weight.
To achieve the daily
target of protein (without increasing carbohydrate intake), we have to consider
foods that have low carbohydrate/protein ratio.
Examples: skimmed milk,
egg, soybean, lettuce, spinach, mint, cauliflower, drumstick, fish (lowest).
A pure vegetarian diet is
inefficient for proteins.
Excess dietary proteins
cannot be stored by the body and hence cause load on liver and kidney.
At old age protein
requirement actually goes up since there is higher muscle loss. So, it is
important to increase protein % even though overall caloric intake may go down.
Additional sources of
protein:
Pulses,
Egg, Cheese, Chicken, Nuts (cashews, almonds, walnuts), Lettuce.
Micro-nutrients: Vitamins and minerals. A diet consisting of
grains, pulses, milk, egg, leafy vegetables, and fruit is likely to meet this
requirement.
Vitamins:
Vitamin A: Combination of
500ml milk + 1 egg + carrot/tomatoes/spinach/coriander-leaves would provide the
required daily dose.
Vitamin D: Sunlight +
Milk / Egg / Fish.
Vitamin E: vegetable oils
/ cereals / fresh coconut.
Vitamin K: Milk / Egg /
Dark green leafy vegetables.
Vitamin B1: groundnuts /
bran / whole grain cereals / pulses
Vitamin B2: Milk / Egg /
Dark green leafy vegetables.
Vitamin B3: groundnuts /
whole grain cereals / pulses
Vitamin B6: whole grain
cereals / vegetables
Folic acid: green leafy
vegetables / egg / pulses
Vitamin B12: fermented products
(idli/dosa etc), egg
Vitamin C: spinach, okra,
amla, guava, orange, lime, tomato
Choline: milk, egg,
lettuce, cauliflower, groundnuts
Iron: egg, green
vegetables, cereals, pulses
Iodine: iodized salt
Calcium: milk
Magnesium: cereals,
pulses, nuts, vegetables.
Sodium: salt (2.5 gm /
day)
Potassium: 3.5 gm/day:
fruit, vegetables, nuts.
Egg contains protein
inhibitor (which is bad) which is destroyed after boiling.
Legumes similarly contain
inhibitors which must be destroyed by proper cooking.
Berries contain powerful
anti-oxidants.
Tea contains tannin which
is a good anti-oxidant, but in large amount it interferes with absorption of
proteins and minerals. Hence many of cups in a day and having it along with
meals are bad ideas.
Green vegetables,
legumes, soybean, etc contain certain undesirable chemicals (e.g. oxalates,
inhibitors) which should be destroyed by cooking these things properly.
Soybean is an attractive
food type but is also rich in undesirable chemicals. So, it must be consumed in
a palatable state: e.g. soy milk, tofu.
Dietary fiber comes in
two types: insoluble (for bulk and ease of motion), soluble (for slowing down
digestion and lowering glucose peaks).
Karela is good for
glucose balance in blood. (Excessive use causes gases).
Cinnamon and fenugreek is
also good. (Excessive use causes acidity).
Eating fruit along with a
meal not only increases the glycemic load, but also impacts digestion of
certain foods due to the acidic content of fruit. Hence fruit must be eaten alone.
Same principle applies to milk - it should be taken separately. Honey is great,
but cooked honey is poison!