What vegetables and fruits maintain or reduce the blood pressure?

Fibres and antioxidants of vegetables and fruits are capable of reducing the blood pressure. Comparatively the fibres and antioxidants of fruits are more effective than those of vegetables.

Celery is known to reduce the blood pressure, but it has also sodium which can increase the pressure. Take one to two stalks and this is enough.

Garlic is also important to reduce the blood pressure and the mechanism is dilation of the arteries. Onion and garlic have adenosine which is a smooth muscle relaxant. Raw or cooked, both are effective to control the blood pressure.

All leafy vegetables are good to reduce the blood pressure. All fruits are also good. 5 to 6 servings of fruits and vegetables are good in a day.

You must have a good lifestyle. Avoid alcohol and tobacco. Keep your weight normal. Have enough physical activity.

Above all, you must avoid all forms of stress. You must know how to manage your stress well. Avoiding mental stress reduces the blood pressure and keeps it normal.

What is the role played by fruits and vegetables to control cholesterol?

Fruits and vegetables have no cholesterol. They have many antioxidants which could lower the bad LDL-cholesterol.

Avocados, olive oil and almonds reduce the bad LDL-cholesterol. These are fatty foods but the monounsaturated fatty acids present in them are good.

Vitamin C protects HDL, which cleans the arteries and with vitamin E it acts as antioxidant so that the oxidation of LDL-cholesterol will not take place and without oxidised LDL-cholesterol the arteries are clean. Two oranges will give you the enough vitamin C every day.

The apples are healthy, even a child knows it today, and it has a soluble fibre, pectin, which is responsible for the decrease of cholesterol. There are also other substances present which helps pectin. This effect is much higher in women than in men; women loose cholesterol almost 3 times more than men. Two apples can do well for a day.

Grapefruit is also a good food, it has a unique property of decreasing LDL-cholesterol but it can also reverse plaque which is already clogging your arteries. The soluble fibre found in grapefruit is galacturonic acid, but the juice does not have this fibre and so no effect on cholesterol.

But, if you take medicines you must be careful; grapefruit and juice can interfere with drug metabolism.

Carrots are good to decrease LDL-cholesterol and increase the good HDL-cholesterol. Pectin is one of the many soluble fibres present in carrots. Two average size carrots are enough per day to get the good effect. At the same time whether it is cooked or fried the effect of the fibre is there. Beta-carotene from carrots also increases the HDL cholesterol.

Onion is the best food to increase the HDL-cholesterol, but it must be raw. Cooked onions help in other ways to protect the heart. Half a raw onion per day is good.

Three raw or cooked garlic cloves a day can lower cholesterol. The substances in garlic reduce the production of cholesterol in the liver.

Can you explain me the relationship between food and immunity against infections?

The immune system is body’s defence against bacteria, viruses and other foreign organisms. It is a very complex system which has to function properly to protect us from the harmful bacteria and other organisms in our environment that may infect body.

What is the relationship between immune system and food?

Your genetic make up influences your immune system and so do the environmental factors. From the scientific studies it is increasingly clear that you can manipulate your immune system by what you eat. Foods, containing vitamins, minerals and other unique compounds, can stimulate immune functioning, increase your resistance to various bacterial and viral infections, as well as cancerous growths which flourish or die according to the strength and operation of immune mechanisms.

How food can influence your immune system?

What you eat can strongly influence the performance of white blood cells, the frontline soldiers against infection and cancer. The B-cells produce critical antibodies which rush to destroy bacteria, virus and tumor cells. Many research documents of various foods and food components help to control the amount of white blood cells and their strength.

The quality of food must be good to prevent infections. Raw or lightly cooked eggs, shellfish or soft cheese may contain bacteria. Therefore, we must be always careful with all the food because the danger of infection may be everywhere.

Is vegetarian immune system better than others?

Fruits and vegetables have always a good influence on immune system because there are numerous substances, including vitamin C and beta-carotene and vegetarians have more strong immune defences. Vegetarians have more beta-carotene in blood than meat eaters and it has a documented influence on immune system.

Eat enough spinach, carrots and other fruits and vegetables rich in beta-carotene. Pulses, beans, nuts and seeds are also very important.

What is the role of our normal yoghurt here?

Eat some yoghurt every day and you do something good for your body and it is a known fighter against disease. Approximately eating 200 gram yoghurt daily can prevent cold and diarrhea in adults and elders. Yoghurt in animals and human beings stimulates the activity of natural killer cells which destroy tumor cells. The heated and frozen yoghurts, in which the bacterial culture is often killed, could strengthen our immune system.

What is shiitake mushroom?

Shiitake is a big, brown and fleshy mushroom of Asian origin. It contains an antiviral substance called lentinan which exhibits strong immunostimulating activity. It is used in Chinese traditional medicine and it can modify cells to resist the spreading of lung cancer cells. Thus shiitake mushroom may help immune system to fight as well as to prevent cancer.

Is garlic a weapon against microbes?

Garlic is a fighter of bacteria, virus and cancer cells and it stimulates the potencies of T-lymphocytes and macrophages, the main cells in immune functions. Garlic extract helps macrophages to generate more free radicals to kill microbes and tumor cells. It is a cheaper weapon to strengthen our immune system.

Zinc, is it really an immune element?

Your immune system cannot function properly if you fail to eat food rich in zinc. It helps to strengthen the immune sytem, including the production of antibodies, T-cells and other white blood cell activities.

What about drinking, I mean water or soft drinks?

Drinking plenty of fluid can help to prevent infection; it keeps your mouth moist and healthy and flushes out kidneys and bladder which prevents the build-up of waste in our body where the bacteria can grow. Three to four liter of fluid does good to our body but at least 70% must be drinking water.

Fat and immune system, what is the correct way?

Reducing fat in the diet is important not only for weight control but also seems to influence the function of our immune system. Diets that are high in fat seem to depress the immune response and thus increase the risk of infections. Reducing fat content in the diet can decrease the risk of infections. Moreover, it is not the amount of fat but also the origin of fat is important. Food rich in monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fatty acids are fatty fish, nuts soya or linseed oil.

Immune system and alcohol, where are we now?

Drinking little alcohol, especially wine, can boost your resistance to some infections and the reason may be, it can destroy or disable disease-producing organisms. Wine can kill any number of bacteria, including Salmonella, E. coli and Staphylococcus which are the common cause of food poisoning. Wine may be better because of grape skin and fermentation but other alcoholic beverages in small amount can destroy unwanted bacteria. Consuming contaminated food and alcohol at the same time may lessen the chance of becoming sick. For example, eating raw oysters may not be safe even with alcohol and avoidance is the best solution.

What about probiotic supplements?

These may be good. These come under food supplements; so no clinical studies and side effects. Nobody knows how the standardisation is done. We have to wait for further research.

What is the relationship between infections and kisses?

Millions of bacteria are transferred from one mouth to the other and there may be many harmful bacteria causing infections.

Do not kiss a child in the lips because the risk of infection is great.

Is there any scientific proof for the role of garlic in cholesterol reduction?

There many studies which say there is a good effect and others which say no effects.

From my observation 2 or 3 cloves of garlic per day with a proper individual diet, reduces cholesterol. There are many persons who expect that I eat as usual junk, fast and processed foods, take garlic and the cholesterol can come down. It is a mistake; in this case, the level of cholesterol can go up only.

The sulphur content of garlic is responsible for its medicinal value.

Some people prefer to take garlic pills to avoid garlic breath.

There are several other uses of garlic and they include:

• Used to treat acne
• A natural mosquito repellent
• It is a powerful natural antibiotic
• Strong anti-oxidant to protect the body against damaging free radicals.

Avoid raw garlic; eating too much could produce problems – irritation of the digestive tract.

There are few who are allergic to garlic. The symptoms include skin rash, high temperature and headache.

Garlic can interfere with medicines like anti-coagulants and so it must be avoided before surgery. If you are taking more medicines consult with your doctor.