I’m a Malayali and working in Dubai; rice, chapathi and chicken always; can you recommend me more to be healthy?

I know the food habit of many Malayalis working in UAE. Rice, chapathi and chicken are good foods, but they do not give you all the nutrients necessary for our metabolism. Too much of carbohydrates and protein can increase the blood sugar and thus the blood fat, triglycerides. This is a risk factor for heart diseases. They are also the reason for weight gain and type-2 diabetes. Too much of chicken has other saturated fats and this increases the risk. Moreover, the body becomes acidic and loses the valuable calcium from your bones. That is why we need vegetables and fruits every day.

I will try to help you and many others who also eat like you to do the best in your / their situation. They include:

• Reduce the amount of rice, chapathi and chicken so that the weight and blood sugar are under control. Eat daily a handful of nuts.

• Poly saturated fats like omega-3 fats are very important for our health. Try to eat twice in a week fatty fish. If not possible, buy fish oil capsules and take one in the morning, midday and in the evening after your meals.

• Surely you will get frozen vegetables there. These are as good as or better than fresh vegetables. No cleaning or cutting is necessary and you can make your vegetable curry in 10 minutes. If it is not possible there are natural food supplements that you can take.

• If fruits are costly or not available try to get dry fruits and you can take this, 20 to 30 g twice in a day.

• Take one vitamin B complex tablet everyday if you are a pure vegetarian to get the vitamin B12.

• Take one 500 mg vitamin C tablet in a day as magnesium and vitamin C keep the blood vessels clean. Moreover, vitamin C is an important antioxidant.

• Use milk and dairy products, but not in excess. The minimum amount needed is enough.

• Women in child bearing age must take one vitamin B complex tablet every day. If they plan for a baby this must be taken before pregnancy so that the folic acid in the vitamin B complex helps to produce normal cell division in the embryo. It is of no use and late if you take after you know that you are pregnant.

• If you have iron deficiency and low hemoglobin level take one vitamin C tablet after every meal. During this period black or green tea must be avoided after the meals. Cucumber must also be avoided. If you are very particular to drink tea or eat cucumber take them in between meals. Eggs and red meat are very good sources of iron. Do not eat too much cheese or drink too much of milk during your meal. Excess calcium disturbs the absorption of iron from our small intestine. Avoid iron tablets. This will bring more problems only.

• Premenopausal and menopausal women can take calcium and vitamin D tablets in between two meals. Two hours after the intake of the tablets only you can take your meals.

• Do not smoke.

• Avoid alcohol; social drinking is two drinks for a man and one drink for a woman, that also only 3 to 4 times in a week. It is better to avoid if you cannot control the amount. Dry alcoholics should not touch alcohol. Never believe your husband when he says that his doctor told him that brandy is good for his health. No doctor will give this recommendation.

• Have enough physical activities. Walking quickly, jogging, riding bicycle and swimming are good. Select according to your convenience and do it for 30 minutes 5 to 6 days in a week.

Have you more questions? Feel free to ask me and you get always an answer from me. It is in your hands to be healthy. Be healthy and be happy….

We eat lot of rice and chicken. Is it healthy?

This is a question asked many of my friends. It is not that they don’t want to eat vegetables or fruits.

Rice and chicken are very good food. But the dose makes the poison. Rice contains lot of carbohydrates and chicken is also good with its protein and fat. Eating rice and chicken everyday have the following disadvantage. Rice increases the blood sugar and excess blood sugar is converted in the liver to Triglycerides which is a risk factor for heart diseases.

100 g edible chicken contains 19.9 g protein, 9.6 g fat, cholesterol 100 mg and purine 115 mg. Excess protein is converted into sugar and excess sugar in turn to triglycerides.

It is absolute necessary to eat fresh vegetables and fruits. If fresh vegetables are not available try to use frozen vegetables which is available in many countries. Go for packed fruit juices without any additives.

More pulses and beans can also be used to reduce the amount of chicken.

Fruits and vegetables are not only good for vitamins and minerals but also rich in antioxidants and other phytochemicals which are necessary for health.

If there are many Asians try to import directly from your countries. In Germany we get all fresh Indian vegetables. Once in a week they are coming from India.

It is your health and it is worth spending something for that. Unfortunately, many are ready to spend money for alcohol than for vegetables and fruits.

I have diabetes, but I love mango, must I avoid it completely?

My aim is to help the patients to keep up their living standards without sacrificing much. They must cooperate to plan their food in a different way.

You like mango. 100 gram of mango has 12.5 gram of carbohydrate. If you want to eat mango it is no problem at all. It is easy; you have to reduce your intake of rice, bread or chapatti or other carbohydrate sources like root vegetables.

Like this we can learn so many things; you enjoy your meals with adjusting the amount here and there and could be very happy.

If I say avoid mangoes, bananas or grapes, I am not doing any good to you, but be patient and with your food expert you could find many ways to avoid most of the bans. It is good so.

I eat always rice, can rice increase cholesterol?

No, rice will not increase your cholesterol.

Boiled rice is healthy, but, the dose makes the poison and it is applicable to rice also.

But excess sugar from rice in the blood is converted into triglycerides in the liver which is also a risk factor for heart diseases.

It is not the genes which raise the fats but excess carbohydrates or sugars.

Reduce the amount of carbohydrates in your food and eat lot of vegetables and fruits to be always healthy.

Rice

The amount of calories, carbohydrates, protein and fat are not same in brown and white rice and the big differences lie in nutritional content, fatty acids and fibre. If we remove the outer layer of rice it becomes white rice. In the milling process essential minerals and vitamins are lost. Iron, magnesium and the vitamins may be enriched in the white rice. Brown rice is well known for its support to digestion

Is it so bad that we should not eat white rice?

Rice is a very important food in the world. It is the opinion of the several experts not to eat white polished rice. The following Table shows the difference between brown and milled white rice in few components:

Nutrient	Brown rice	White rice	Loss %
Protein (%)	7.2	6.8	5.6
Fat (%)	2.2	0.6	72.7
Carbohydrate (%)	73.4	77.8	plus 6.0
Fibre (%)	2.9	1.4	51.7
Minerals, total (%)	1.2	0.5	58.3
Iron(mg)	2.6	0.6	76.9
Zinc(mg)	1.4	0.5	64.3
VitaminB6 (mg)	0.67	0.15	77.6
Vitamin B1(mg)	0.41	0.06	85.4

Now you can have a clear picture about both kinds of rice, there is much loss of nutrients but you eat not only rice but also several other things to get these nutrients. According to your need and wish you can make a diet plan without any problem. We must read write, talk, but finally we must handle it in a practical and effective manner.

Rice, not milled

I need not say anything about rice in Asia. We all eat happily and also more than enough. The blood fat in is very high in rice eaters because the excess sugar is converted in the liver as fat. This is a risk factor for heart attack or stroke.
The nutrients in 100 g milled rice include:

• Water - 13.1 g
• Protein - 7.2 g
• Fat - 2.2 g
• Carbohydrates – 74.1 g
• Fibre – 2.2 g
• Minerals - 1.2 g – sodium 10 mg, potassium 240 mg, magnesium 120 mg, calcium 16 mg, iron 3200 micro g, copper 290 micro g, zinc 1600 micro g, selenium 10 micro g, iodide 2 micro g.
• Vitamins - vitamins B1, B2, B6, nicotine amide, pantothenic acid, biotin, folic acid, vitamin E
• Phytic acid 890 mg

It is better to eat less rice which is good for your health. For small children well cooked rice, dhal and ghee are still the best food.

Minerals, particularly selenium varies with their concentration in the soil