APPLYING PREVENTIVE HEALTHCARE

Dr Shikha Sharma, MD, Nutri-Health Systems, took some time out to answer queries of friends of MoneyQuin. A doctor of preventive healthcare, she has some smart, easy-to-follow suggestions:

 
Q: Can honey be taken (one spoon everyday) if a person has diabetes?
Tayyiba Iram, Lahore, Pakistan

A: Cautious consumption of pure, natural, unprocessed honey when taken in the diet is not harmful but still the intake depends on blood sugar levels and type of diabetes

Q: What are the vegetables and fruits that help us have a good skin?
Suresh Kseven, Bangalore, India

A: Carrot, yellow and orange bell peppers, oranges, amla, tangerine provides beta carotene, free radical fighter - vitamin C which are beneficial to skin, provides elasticity and delay the onset of wrinkles.

Tomatoes, red peppers, papaya, guava, water melon have antioxidants which help in protection from damaging rays of sun. Broccoli, sprouts, cabbage, spinach are also good for skin.

Q: Should one take multi vitamins?
Mani Anand, California, USA

A: Food is the best source of most of the nutrients. We can get most of the vitamins and minerals by choosing right foods as eating wide variety but multivitamins is a good idea for trace elements and the need  depends on age and special conditions like pregnancy.

Q: How to avoid a plateau during your weight loss or weight gaining process?
Adeel Ahmed, Sindh, Pakistan

A: To avoid plateau one can include variety of cereals, can maintain food diary to avoid stagnation in weight, include variety of combinations which were not been a part of diet. Also some kind of physical activity can break the plateau.

Q: How to put on weight without increasing cholesterol? How to avoid a plateau during your weight loss or weight gaining process?
Dipika Grover, Bangalore, India

A: One can put on weight by including low fat dairy products (skim milk in shakes/ buttermilk, yogurt) and variety of cereals like chana, bajra, ragi, soya, also including moderate amount of oil intake like olive oil, sesame oil, flaxseed oil in the diet without increasing the cholesterol .

Q: Our body needs 142 nutrients every day and all these nutrients are scattered in different food items. How to get all these 142 ingredients plus their proper amounts in our food every day?
Mohana Moharil, Pune, India

A: Balanced diet includes every food group including cereal, protein, fat, sugar, vegetables and fruits. In order to have all the nutrients together diet should include variety of whole grains, pulses, green leafy vegetables and fruits servings depending on recommended allowances according to age group.

Q: Both boys and girls have problems after puberty like pimples, boils, excess oil secretion in skin. Suggest food items that should be avoided and which can help in reducing the problems.
Santhosh Rajan, Trichy, TN

A: To cure these problems one can cut down too much of sugar and dairy products, instead have low fat dairy products. Include walnuts, almonds, lemon juice, amla/ aloevera juice, fruits like water melon , oranges. Whole grain cereals like oats, barley and ragi, yogurt, water (not liquids such as soda or even soups)


Q: I have been eating a lot of frozen food in the US (high sodium), how can I reduce the harmful effects of it?
Vikas Choudhary, Boston, USA

A: The harmful effects of preserved foods can be avoided by taking natural diuretics or having detoxifying diet like green tea, apple, vegetable juices like amla, cucumber. Also a person can have salt free dinners like milk and fruits or vegetable and salads without salt once a week. Vitamin content of frozen food is less especially vitamin C, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin A. So to avoid harmful effects one should include food rich in these nutrients like carrot, oranges, amla, seeds like pumpkin, sesame, flaxseed.

Q: Are there any food items that can help one fight migraine?
Keyur Seta, Mumbai, India

A: Some foods which trigger migraine are cheese, alcohol( red wine), caffeine, chocolate, soya beans, yeast, MSG, foods with nitrates and aspartame

Foods help fighting migraine are ginger, celery, 6-8 glasses of water every day, sesame seeds, fish, calcium rice vegetables like spinach, broccoli etc.

Q: Some people have only salads and fruits for dinner to lose weight. Is it right? What does “light dinner” mean?
Viral Desai, Mumbai, India

A: Having fruits and vegetables for dinner helps in weight loss but not on a regular basis as it will lead to low energy levels in the absence of carbohydrates and proteins. Light dinner means food which are low in calories eg dalia, poha, upma etc.