Can you tell me about vitamin A?

Vitamin A is a fat soluble vitamin.

The health benefits include:

• It is necessary for healthy hair, skin and mucous membrane, so to say it is needed to promote a healthy body tissue
• Prevents night blindness
• Builds body’s resistance to respiratory infections
• Used successfully in the treatment of acne, boils and open ulcers when applied externally
• Aides in building of teeth and bones
• As an antioxidant it neutralizes the free radicals and this helping in antiaging
• Can prevent cancer in organs and glands lined with epithelial tissues such as lungs, bladder, mammary glands and prostate glands

The signs of vitamin A deficiency include:

• Loss of appetite
• Changes in the skin, keratinisation of the skin or coarse skin
• Acne
• Dull lustreless hair
• Problem with teeth
• Increased susceptibility to infection
• Achy, tired, burning, itching eyes
• Inflamed eye lids, eyeball pain
• Poor night vision or night blindness

Vitamin A is readily available in foods. Supplementation is not necessary.

The toxic effects of excess intake vitamin A include:

• Lead to toxicity-induced liver damage
• Fatigue
• Skin peeling
• Joint pain
• Nerve damage
• Can cause birth defects – should not be supplemented to pregnant. Women who want to become pregnant must also avoid vitamin A supplement.

I have analysed thousands of blood samples and in 99.9% the levels are in the reference range.

The relationship between iron and free radicals in our body

Our body needs iron to produce red blood cells and they are in charge of transporting oxygen to all cells in our body to produce energy. Less iron means less haemoglobin with many adverse effects, particularly not enough energy to carry out your day today work.

If you take iron supplements, all the iron absorbed cannot be converted into haemoglobin and the excess iron deposits in kidneys, liver and in heart muscles rust there. 37 degrees C and enough water are the best medium for the iron to rust. They produce lot of dangerous hydroxyl free radicals from Fenton’s chemical reaction and too many free radicals are dangerous to our body.

The iron tablets could be taken 14 days to 3 months under the strict supervision of you doctor.

Consult a dietician and improve the iron status only through your food, it is easy, if you know how to do it. Here, do not forget the role of vitamin C and aluminium.

Processed Food

Today if an animal is butchered there is no waste from that and it is the wonder of the food processing. You never know what is coming to your plate…

What is food processing?

Food processing is the method or technique of converting raw ingredients of food into food ready for consumption for human beings. Today this happens for animals also. Processed food with less additives and fresh raw ingredients are not bad but it is always important to know what is happening exactly because it is a multi billion business in the world and there are many people who want to make quick money at the cost of the consumers.

Everything seems wonderful, what is our problem with food processing?

I too thought like that 30 years before, the kitchen has one big refrigerator and big deep freezer full with all kinds of food. But when I come into contact with the patients who have problems with these foods I started to look very cautiously about these foods. There are advantages as well as disadvantages and you are in the positive side when you consume processed food now and then.

If not, what will happen?

My experience is if you are young your body adjusts all the food including junk food, processed food but the problem starts when you become above 35 years and when your body cannot make any compromise.

Are you against processed food?

No I am not against processed food, it has lot of advantages for many group of people who have really no time. But whenever we get time we must cook fresh food. We must educate our children how important freshly cooked food from the house is for their later life. It is easy throughout the world to prepare or buy quickly a salad with fresh vegetables. Fruits are also available everywhere. Eating only processed food is very unhealthy.

Why are you so careful?

I am careful because for me not only the taste is decisive but also there are so many other important factors. Imagine you never correct your foot to your shoe. There are more than 3000 chemicals used to support the processing, colour, taste etc. and the chemicals also help the food to adjust the different process. The machines are few but the foods are many and very different.

What do you want to say more about chemical additives?

What I want to say is simple, I want to know what I eat and it is not very easy to find out from the industrially processed food. Many of the fresh food ingredients are at first not available in enough quantities but you get them throughout the year. How is it possible? The chemicals make this. Strawberries and mangos are good example for this and the list is very long, that means we can produce almost everything with the chemicals and these may affect individuals in different ways according to their health. That is why, if we do not want to avoid, use the processed food rarely.

Could you give me few examples?

Almost all the fruit flavours in curds or in ice creams and soft drinks are not free from chemicals. I could give you an interesting tip that most of the pizzas have only synthetic cheese. These three thousand chemicals are in a position to mimic many natural food ingredients.

Could you tell me more about these chemicals or food additives?

Shopping fresh food items in the open market is the best possibility. In big super markets run by international companies, we must be careful. The factory made food contains several additives which may be harmful to our health. The most questionable additives are sodium nitrite, saccharin, caffeine, artificial colouring, etc. These we find mostly in low nutritional food.

What do you say about sugar and salt?

Sugar and salt are the most familiar additives and we must use them in right proportion. After eating enough rice in our meals it is not advisable to eat sweets or bananas which I have seen in many families in India. It may be good to show their financial position but they do only harm to their health. Nothing is prohibited but one must know when and how much to take. We master the software programs in this world but not in a position to understand these simple things. Here the women and dieticians may take the things in their hands and educate the society.

What are additives?

Additives are normally natural, nature identical or artificial substances which are of little or no nutritional value, but are used in the processing or storage of foods as well as animal feeds. Additives are used for different purposes including keeping the food wholesome until it is eaten, make the food look or taste better, make that the food is easy to store or use and keep the price of the food competitive. In an emerging country like India, it is the other way. Though it is costlier than other countries people are ready to pay since these are considered as fashion food. Regarding the food additives I write a separate article.

Are all from the 3000 chemicals safe?

Most of them are used to synthesise various ingredients to food. Many are good, about some there are no data available and there are also chemicals which may not be healthy to all. It also depends upon one’s health. Use processed food only rarely and that is the best way to be healthy. It may be cheap because of mass production but do not forget that you work hard to earn your money. It is better to spend your money to buy only healthy food. Fresh food prepared in your home is the best.

What is your personal opinion about this?

I too eat now and then some processed food but less. It is because in the processing of food, it must be so prepared that it is easily processable with machines. This is like cutting your foot to fit your shoes. The manipulated food is treated with different chemicals and finally it is optically good and so tasty that water is coming from your mouth. So I know the value of fresh foods in my home.

Do snacks and sweets contain any chemicals to stimulate mouth-watering?

Yes, it is applicable to chips, crackers and chocolates. Whether animals or human beings we react in the same way when we see a very tasty food, water comes from our mouth. We eat and when we have eaten enough, the saliva stops and we also stop to eat but there are very intelligent food chemists in the industry who thought that what will happen if the saliva comes further although that person has eaten enough. Then with chemicals they make these snacks in such a way that the saliva is produced after you are full. The result is you open the snacks pack and eat till you finish everything.

Suppose, I give you ten small chocolates and if you start eating you will see that you enjoy the first one very well. Keeping in the mouth for a long time, and enjoy it till the small piece melts. The second one also you will eat like the first one and from the third you chew half and then bite and eat. The 5th and 6th you bite and swallow it immediately. This is the effect with which you consume more and also worried about your health and weight. You must have the right information always about several things to react correctly.

What about the salted chips?

Chips and many other snacks are usually salty and after 100 or 200 g of chips you are so thirsty and drink one or two bottles of soft drinks. You consume the sugar from the soft drinks which also makes the industry very happy because they have made money out of everything. We must know all these, think about that and learn how to trick the industry. We need not sacrifice anything if we like it but everybody must find their own rules for themselves. The lobby of the food industry is so strong in several countries that there is no effective control even after many scandals.

Altogether so many chemicals, what about the adverse health effects?

The big problem to the body is the removal of these foreign chemicals including the heavy metals. Liver, the chemical factory in our body, is the place where the chemicals are treated for the excretion and liver has to do a lot of work always and this is an extra work. Heavy metals are deposited in kidney or excreted through our kidneys. Minimising these risks is good for our health. This is an extra work for our detoxification and free radical scavenging systems.

How could you summarise everything together?

It is very easy to do that and a friend of mine told me once that it seems the more we process our foods, the less nutrients remain in them. He is correct.

Cholesterol - Case Study

Steffi was 26 years old teacher, doing well in the society with a good and peaceful life. She was active in sports and other activities. In winter she had her holidays in Switzerland or Austria and in summer she went to Spain or Portugal. She was slim and she was proud of her figure.

She went for a routine blood check up and the doctor told her that she had elevated cholesterol. She was astonished as well as shocked to hear this because according to her she had been leading a careful and healthy life. The reason of the high cholesterol level could not be diagnosed by her doctor. She went from one specialist to another and everywhere she had different opinions from the doctors, but without any result. Finally she came to me and we had an analysis of her whole life, regarding her job, where she lived, family medical history and also her food habits. As a single and successful young woman she never cooked, she bought only processed food, now and then fruits and salads and drank much coffee and coca cola. From this analysis we came to know that her body was deficient of vitamins, minerals and above all the so called anti-oxidants.

We need anti-oxidants for detoxification (the removal of toxins or poisons from the body) and to remove dangerous free radicals which can make us sick and old. We should get this only from our fresh food; since she was not at all taking enough fresh food she had deficiency in anti-oxidants. The aim of our body is to live in all disadvantageous circumstances, so the natural substances from our body like cholesterol, uric acid and bilirubin are allotted to do this anti-oxidation work as their extra work. The brain orders the body to produce more of these substances and they are increased in our blood without any known cause. I recommended a suitable diet for this woman for three months, then I estimated her cholesterol value, it was high, but significantly lower than before. I changed her diet little and this was continued for another three months and after that she had her cholesterol level less than 200 mg/dl which is normal. Thus I have identifier the reason for the elevated value of cholesterol which the medicines could not control for several years. This was the knowledge 25 years ago about cholesterol.

The conclusion is that fresh food is important for our healthy life, without which sports and other physical activities will not help us always to become healthy. Eat less processed food, but everyday you must eat fresh vegetables and fruits, the standard amount for an adult is 300 to 400 g fresh vegetables and 400 g of fresh and ripe fruits.

Iron and its deficiency

Iron is an essential element for human beings and is vital for the production of red blood cells. Haemoglobin present in the red blood cells transports oxygen to cells and carbon dioxide back to the lungs. Periods of rapid growth, blood loss due to menstruation or loss in the intestinal tract, less iron in the diet, poor iron absorption and poverty are the main reasons for the iron deficiency.

Healthy persons absorb about 5 to 10% of dietary iron and the iron deficient absorbs about 10 to 20%. Vitamin C enhances the absorption of iron. Oxalates, phytates and tannins from the vegetables decrease the absorption of iron. Therefore, iron is poorly absorbed from wheat germ, lima beans, spinach and beet greens.

Iron absorption from carrots, potatoes, beet roots, pumpkin, tomatoes, cauliflower, cabbage and turnips are good because these vegetables contain substantial amount of malic, citric or ascorbic acids which can help iron absorption. Iron absorption is enhanced by inclusion of red meat, poultry, fish and eggs.

Too much of calcium inhibits the absorption of iron so that calcium supplement should be taken in between two meals. Meals that include principally pizza, hamburger, spaghetti and cheese result in poor iron absorption.

An estimated 40% of world’s population, mainly women are the sufferers of iron deficiency. Environmental illness can cause iron deficiency. In India where hookworm disease is prevalent and vegetarianism is mandated by religion, iron deficiency is very common. Keep always in mind that too much of iron from the tablets deposited in the organs is more dangerous than light deficiency.

What is the reason that one should not take iron tablets for long time? Excess iron which could not be used for the production of red blood cells will be deposited in the heart and other organs. Our body temperature and enough water make it to rust there. In this process uncontrolled amounts of free radicals are formed by the Fenton’s reaction. Free radicals are necessary to fight and kill the bacteria and virus but too much of them destroy body’s healthy cells, thus the organs.

Iron is a poisonous metal and the iron tablets should be kept away from the reach of the children. Excess can harm the health of the children.