FIBER: Importance & Benefits

For one to stay healthy, proper diet and regular exercise is very important. According to the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA), as we grow older, it becomes necessary to consume a diet which is rich in fiber and low in carbohydrates, and this consists of about 20 to 35 grams of fiber per day.

What Is Fiber?

Fiber is also known as roughage. It is the indigestible part of plant foods that pushes through our digestive system, absorbing water along the way and easing bowel movements.
The word fiber (North American) can also be spelled fibre (British). It comes from the Latin word fibra, meaning fiber, thread, string, filament, entrails. Dietary fiber refers to nutrients in the diet that are not digested by gastrointestinal enzymes.

Fiber is found in all plant foods, like vegetables and fruits as well as in legumes and whole grains. This complex food element is not absorbed or digested completely like most other food, and passes through the digestive tract mostly as a whole. This way of digesting helps in the movement of stool and harmful carcinogens from the body.

Types of Fiber

A fiber-rich diet must include both types of fiber – soluble and insoluble.

Soluble Fiber – Soluble fiber dissolves in water. It changes as it goes through the digestive tract, where it is fermented by bacteria. As it absorbs water it becomes gelatinous. The food rich in soluble fiber are oats, oat bran, legumes, and fruits. These dissolve with water in the body and form a gel like substance that helps in lowering the cholesterol and glucose level.

Insoluble Fiber - Insoluble fiber does not dissolve in water. As it goes through the digestive tract it does not change its form. Food like whole wheat bran, wheat, rye, sprouts, and nuts are rich in insoluble fiber. Intake of these aid in moving waste from the body through the digestive tract as these fibers absorb water and form a bulk which moves quickly.

Benefits

A high fiber diet has no calories and helps in weight loss (as it gives a feeling of fullness and helps in eating less), fights constipation, and regulates digestive disorders. Low fiber diet increases the risk of colon cancer and heart ailments.

Benefits of soluble fiber:

It reduces cholesterol, especially levels of LDL (bad cholesterol)
It regulates sugar intake, this is especially useful for people with diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Food sources of soluble fiber include: kidney beans, pinto beans, brussels sprouts, broccoli, spinach, zucchini, apples, oranges, grapefruit, grapes, prunes, oatmeal, and whole-wheat bread.

Benefits of insoluble fiber:

Promotes regular bowel movements and prevents constipation
Speeds up the elimination of toxic waste through the colon
By keeping an optimal pH in the intestines, insoluble fiber helps prevent microbes from producing substances which can lead to colorectal cancer
Food sources of insoluble fiber include: vegetables - especially dark green leafy ones, root vegetable skins, fruit skins, whole wheat products, wheat bran, corn bran, nuts, and seeds.

It is important to note that a balanced diet should consist of all food forms. One must not eliminate other food to consume high fiber diet. Just make sure that your diet has good fiber as it will reduce the risk of ailments like cancer, diabetes, and gastrointestinal problems, and also help in losing weight.
 

Salads: The Best Choice for Good Health

Making one simple change to your diet – adding a salad almost every day – can pay off with plenty of health benefits. A salad is only as good as the quality of its ingredients, and to make a truly great salad you’ve got to use ingredients that are fresh, ripe and in season. If you think the world of salad is limited to watery lettuce and a few chopped tomatoes and cucumbers, think again. There are an endless amount of wonderful combinations and you can make a salad as simple or as complex as you like.

Here are four main health reasons to reach for a salad today:
1. Eat Salads for the Fiber
2. Eat Salads for the Health Benefits of Fruits and Vegetables
3. Eat Salads to Cut Calories and Increase Satisfaction
4. Eat Salads to Get Smart Fats

PREPARING AND WASHING SALAD LEAVES
Wash your salad leaves before using them. Make sure your sink is clean then fill it with cold water. Gently wash the salad leaves in the water until they are clean, and then transfer them to a salad spinner and spin dry. If you don’t have a salad spinner, put them into a clean tea towel, gather the edges up, then nip outside and spin it around your head. Make sure they’re properly dry – if they aren’t, the salad dressing won’t cling to them. Keep them in a fridge or bowl under a damp cloth until you’re ready to use them. Raw crunchy veggies, like carrots or radishes, are great in salads. But they can be quite hard if they’re in big pieces, so slice them finely or shave them into ribbons with a speed
peeler. Raw beetroots, spring onions, cucumber, courgettes and celery all work well like this. Cooked vegetables are also fantastic in salads. Peas, broad beans, asparagus and corn, cooked very quickly so they are tender, add flavour and colour. Tearing in soft herbs at the last minute adds loads of extra flavour. Basil, coriander, parsley, dill, mint or even thyme or marjoram tips are all great choices. It’s also nice to add a bit of protein to a salad, especially if you’re having it as a main meal. For a bit of crunch, try adding a few nuts or seeds.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE DRESSING
A good salad dressing is the key to making a salad absolutely delicious, meaning you want to eat it rather than feel you have to. Another great thing about dressings is that they help us get the most from the salad: the oil and the acid in the dressing actually help our body absorb far more of the nutrients from the vegetables. Think of your salad dressing as the link that brings all the ingredients in your salad together. There are loads of ready-made bottled dressings available in the shops, but it’s so easy to make your own so try
and get into the habit of doing that rather than buying them. Most salad dressings contain an oil element – such as extra virgin olive oil, groundnut oil or sesame oil – and an acid element, such as balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, or lemon or lime juice. Aim for a ratio of 3 parts oil to 1 part acid then add any other ingredients you fancy.  If you want a slightly creamy dressing, try stirring a spoonful of natural yoghurt into the dressing.

DRESSING YOUR SALAD
Once dressed, salad leaves can wilt after a few minutes, so always add your dressing right before serving. If you want to ensure a really good even coating, using clean hands, quickly toss everything together. Just make sure you don’t add all of the dressing at once; add a little, mix it up then have a taste before deciding whether you need to add more. You can always add more, but you can’t take it away.

AYURVEDA & SALADS
According to ayurvedic principles, a majority of warm, cooked foods are most suitable for human physiologies, with raw food indeed consigned for the warmer seasons and/or those with strong digestive fires. Raw vegetables are cold, rough and require very strong digestive fire, Agni, to digest. They can be a source of toxic impurities, or ama, when eaten in large amounts or at the wrong time of day. This does not mean they should necessarily be entirely eliminated, just that raw vegetable salads play a more minor role in ayurvedic meals than other dishes – certainly more so than in the West, where a raw salad can comprise the full meal. Salads containing raw vegetables appear in smaller amounts in ayurvedic meals, served more as a condiment or small side dish. Another ayurvedic option is to prepare salads based on cooked ingredients, such as grilled vegetables, cooked and cooled beans, pasta, and grain.
In general, serve salads during hot weather, when their cooler temperatures can help balance Pitta. Chilled ingredients extinguish the digestive fire, Agni; room temperature is a wiser choice. Serve salads at the noontime meal, when the digestive fire is most powerful, with spices and seasonings that help digestion. Black pepper, ginger, and cumin are Agni-kindling spices, and lemon/lime juice both kindles Agni and help cut ama.

DISEASES in INDIA: CHANGE DIETARY PATTERN AND LIFESTYLE NOW

INTRODUCTION
Lifestyle diseases are our own creation. Most men are unable to resist the work holism, sedentary living environment, , blind pleasure psychosis, suffocating dispositions, exchanging conscience and faith with wealth, consumption-based happiness indices, absence of regular sleep, leisure, socializing, taking metric kilos of junk food, and finally the mad march against indomitable time. The only remedy lies in the fact that, man needs to control his senses, freshen up his common sense to make life more convenient in the long run. The main factors contributing to the lifestyle diseases include bad food habits, physical inactivity, wrong body posture, and disturbed biological clock.
A report, jointly prepared by the World Health Organization and the World Economic Forum, 2008, says India will incur an accumulated loss of $236.6 billion by 2015 on account of unhealthy lifestyles and faulty diet. The resultant chronic diseases – heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and respiratory infections – which are ailments of long duration and slow progression, will severely affect people’s earnings. The income loss to Indians because of these diseases, which was $8.7 billion in 2005, is projected to rise to $54 billion in 2015. Pakistan would face an accumulated loss of $30.7 billion with income loss increasing by $5.5 billion to $6.7 billion by 2015. China, however, will be worse off. While its accumulated loss will stand at $557.7 billion, the loss of income of the Chinese will stand at $131.8 billion, almost eight times what it was in 2005.
Lifestyle disease associated with the way a person or group of people lives. Lifestyle diseases are diseases that appear to become ever more widespread as countries become more industrialized. These are different from other diseases because they are potentially preventable, and can be lowered with changes in diet, lifestyle, and environment. These include hypertension, heart disease, stroke, obesity, diabetes, diseases associated with smoking and alcohol and drug abuse, tobacco and nutrition-induced cancers, chronic bronchitis, emphysema and premature mortality. Poor life-style includes, poor diet, lack of exercise, smoking, excess alcohol, poor sleep, stress due to heavy workload. Several factors are resulting in the increasing burden of lifestyle disease which includes longer average life span, rising income, increasing tobacco consumption, decreasing physical activity and increased consumption of unhealthy food. The underlying attributable factors that cause these diseases are a complex web of social, economic and cultural changes which are inevitable in this era of urbanization and globalization. The last four decades have seen radical changes in eating patterns. These changes in eating patterns have resulted in major changes in the nutrient composition of the diet. These changes in eating patterns are more common in urban settings but also occurring in the rural communities as well. The traditional diet was , in general, moderate to high in energy, moderate to low in fat, moderate to low in protein, high in complex carbohydrates and fibre, possibly high in antioxidants, potassium and trace minerals and low in simple carbohydrates and salt. The current urban diet is moderate to high in energy, high in fat and protein, low in complex carbohydrates and fibre, probably low in antioxidants, potassium and trace minerals and high in simple carbohydrates and salt. These changes in nutritional patterns are thought by many to be a major contributor to increased rates of non communicable diseases. An Individual’s dietary habits have profound effect on the quality of their health. Diets which are high in saturated fat, sugar cholesterol and sodium can lead to a number of chronic diseases including CHD, diabetes and cancer.
According to a research paper published in the prestigious Lancet (Allen and Spencer, 2002), there is corroborative evidence that diet and lifestyle is playing a major role in predisposition to various diseases like cancer. In many countries, peoples’ diet changed substantially in the second half of the twentieth century with increase in consumption of meat, dairy products, vegetable oils, fruit juice, and alcoholic beverages, and decrease in consumption of starchy staple foods such as bread, potatoes, rice, and maize flour. Other aspects of lifestyle also changed, notably, large reductions in physical activity and prevalence of obesity. Illnesses such as cancer of certain forms, most types of heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity, and Type 2 diabetes are “contracted” from the way people live and are caused by the life-style adopted by the individual, though there may be some exceptions. A study conducted jointly by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and Max Hospital shows the incidence of hypertension, obesity and heart disease is increasing at an alarming rate, especially in the young, urban population. Nowadays, not only are lifestyle disorders becoming more common, but they are also affecting younger population. Hence, the population at risk shifts from 40+ to maybe 30+ or even younger.
There are several other factors likely to contribute to the emerging burden of chronic diseases in India. Pollution of food sources by pesticides, chemical fertilizers and toxic contaminants is common in rapidly industrializing societies, particularly when regulatory bodies are lax, enforcement agencies are weak, public awareness is poor and consumer organizations ineffective. Globalization of trade encourages cash crops for export and the resultant movement of important micronutrients, which are now not available to the local population, and at the same time promotes increased vulnerability with agricultural production subject to the pressures of global free trade and competition. Opening the economies of the developing world to the free market compounds the situation. This results in the inculcation of imbalanced and calorically excessive Western-type diets existing globally, together with the widening of socio-economic differentials and inequalities in the society. Changes in lifestyles will further fuel this, as exemplified by the increasing level of smoking that is vigorously encouraged by the multinational tobacco industry among the young, to compensate for reduced sales in countries in the West. It is estimated that 50–60% of adult males in developing countries are regular smokers, while the prevalence of smoking and related morbidity and mortality is declining in the industrialized West. 
LIFESTYLE DISORDERS IN INDIA CAUSING DEATH
Chronic diseases are the leading causes of death and disability worldwide. Disease rates from these conditions are accelerating globally, advancing across every region and pervading all socioeconomic classes. Reducing risks, promoting healthy life, indicates that the mortality, morbidity and disability attributed to the major chronic diseases currently account for almost 60% of all deaths and 43% of the global burden of disease (World Health Report 2002). By 2020 their contribution is expected to rise to 73% of all deaths and 60% of the global burden of disease. Moreover, 79% of the deaths attributed to these diseases occur in the developing countries. Four of the most prominent chronic diseases – cardiovascular diseases (CVD), cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and type 2diabetes – are linked by common and preventable biological risk factors, notably high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol and overweight, and by related major behavioural risk factors: unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and tobacco use. Over the past four decades increasing level of blood pressure and higher prevalence rates of hypertension have been experienced. The rates are higher in urbanized groups as compared to traditional living people.
RECOMMENDED LIFESTYLE CHANGES

The WHO and some health agencies have issued recommendations regarding life style modifications. These recommendations include: Stop smoking, reduce body weight, moderate alcohol intake, reduce salt intake, improve dietary habits and increase physical activity.(Chalmers, 1999; Campbell and Taylor,1999) A healthy lifestyle must be adopted to combat these diseases with a proper balanced diet, physical activity and by giving due respect to biological clock. To decrease the ailments caused by occupational postures, one should avoid long sitting hours and should take frequent breaks for stretching or for other works involving physical movements. In this revolutionized era we cannot stop doing the developmental work, but we can certainly reduce our ailments by incorporating these simple and effective measures to our lives Life style risk factors which can be changed, termed modifiable include: diet, hypertension, cigarette smoking, elevated plasma cholesterol, excessive body weight, diabetes mellitus, physical inactivity and excessive alcohol intake. Specific changes in diet and lifestyle likely to benefits our health. The relationships and supporting evidence are summarized here.  Avoid tobacco use  Maintain a healthy weight  Maintain Daily Physical Activity and Limit Television Watching.  Eat a Healthy Diet:  Replace saturated and trans fats with unsaturated fats, including sources of omega-3 fatty acids   Ensure generous consumption of fruits and vegetables and adequate folic acid intake  Consume cereal products in their whole-grain, high-fiber form.  Limit consumption of sugar and sugar-based beverages  Limit excessive caloric intake from any source.  Limit sodium intake
CONCLUSION
Lifestyle diseases also called diseases of longevity or diseases of civilization interchangeably, are diseases that appear to increase in frequency as countries become more industrialized and people live longer. Modern science through improved sanitation, vaccination, and antibiotics, and medical attention has eliminated the threat of death from most infectious diseases. This means that death from lifestyle diseases like heart disease and cancer are now the primary causes of death. The main factors contributing to lifestyle diseases include bad food habits, physical inactivity, wrong body posture, and disturbed biological clock. According to the report, 60% of all deaths worldwide in 2005 (35 million) resulted from non communicable diseases and accounted for 44% of premature deaths. What’s worse, around 80% of these deaths will occur in low and middle-income countries like India which are also crippled by an ever increasing burden of infectious diseases, poor maternal and perinatal conditions and nutritional deficiencies.
Although with development in technology, work load and lifestyle people have less time to cook and eat, but still there are developed and simplified methods of cooking too. Therefore, there is a need to make people aware about right choice for food and life saving habits. Overall, encouragement of healthy lifestyles in the population should help to reduce the high burden of lifestyle diseases and MS in India. Governmental and non-governmental agencies of the country should work together to achieve this goal. Lifestyle interventions have shown definite benefit in the management and prevention of these diseases in large scale studies.
There is a paucity of epidemiological data on the overall prevalence of many chronic illnesses (including lifestyle diseases) in India because of the following reasons: (i) the country is huge with very diverse population that has different social and cultural characteristics; (ii) even today, there is inadequate access to healthcare institutions for many rural communities; and (iii) reliance on indigenous healthcare systems such as Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha by many individuals of the country.
Life style changes in families have a major impact on the health of the nation. In past few decade we have witnessed a rapid transformation in the lifestyle of Indians, particularly those living in urban India. Economic growth, modernization, urbanization & socialization has changed the life style of Indian families. With a shift in eating habits & the adoption of a sedentary life style that has resulted in rapid escalation of lifestyle diseases with alarming projection by WHO, 2005 that by 2020, seven million Indians may die of lifestyle diseases. Elimination of these risk factors can  prevent diabetes, stroke, heart disease by 80% and cancer by 40%. Its time to act now to adopt a healthy life style in the families by healthy diet, regular exercise, no tobacco and stress control and say no to drugs.