SNUFF can cause cancer

Chapter 28

SNUFF

When going around in the market you have seen so many people taking out a small box from their pocket and take some of the powder in between their thumb and index finger. They put this to their nose and sniff hard. Due to the ban put on smoking, the number of snuff users is on the increase.

Snuff is powdered tobacco, which is inhaled or ‘snuffed’ through the nose. It is also called ‘smokeless tobacco’. It is as dangerous as smoking only difference is that others are not affected by it. Snuff is also called dipping tobacco since it is also consumed by rubbing on the gum. Scented or flavoured snuff is also available.

Snuff consumption goes as back as 1493 were some natives of modern Haiti were seen using it. In 1561 some snuff boxes were sent to a VIP as a medicine for her son’s persistent migraines. Her belief in its curative characteristics helped to make snuff popular among the rich class. Soon it spread to other countries of the world. When people came to know that it can cause cancer they started banning it. But we were never able to get rid of it from our society.

Meditation helps stop DRINKING habit

Chapter 27

DRINKING

The habit of drinking has become a headache to our society. We pity every lady whose husband has this habit. We start imaging him coming home fully drunk at night and fighting with his wife. The wife spends every evening in fear of her husband waiting for him to come home. This is becoming the main cause for so many broken families and even suicide and murder.

Alcohol is formed when grains, fruits or vegetables are fermented. Fermentation is a process where yeast or bacteria is used to change the sugar in food into alcohol. When alcohol is taken, it is absorbed into the blood stream. It effects the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord), which control almost all the body functions. Alcohol is a depressant and hence it slows down the central nervous system. It blocks some of the messages trying to go to the brain. This changes the person’s action, movement, eye sight and hearing. Alcohol can make the drinker do stupid or embarrassing things that make people laugh. Drinking gives the person a bad breathe and no one likes a hangover.

What is there in this alcohol that makes men fall for it? Many people start drinking to show off in front of their friends or to be accepted by friends and society. Some are bullied and forced into drinking. Some people start drinking to forget their problems. Once they start drinking they get addicted to it and are not able to give up in spite of the bad effects. Soon they start drinking daily and it becomes a bad habit.

Alcohol is also trapping women nowadays. In fact it is now taking an important place in all big meetings and parties. All efforts to reduce the consumption are failing. When a pregnant woman drinks alcohol it reaches the baby through the placenta. But the baby is not able to process it easily so it is exposed to the alcohol for a longer time than you are. The alcohol can effect the development of your baby’s brain so avoid drinking when pregnant. Drinking during first three months of pregnancy can lead to miscarriage. A woman who is breast feeding a baby should not drink for the alcohol can reach the baby through milk. It will make the baby too sleepy to feed. It may even have digestion problems.

There is absolutely no nutrition in alcohol. Hence it is called as a source of ‘empty calories’. Alcohol is very high in calories. Hence a person who wants to reduce weight should keep away from alcohol.

Taking a little alcohol helps one to relax after a long day of hard work. But it is a form of addiction and hence it is dangerous. Drinking when you are in depression makes you even more depressed.

Drinking causes lack of judgement, loss of coordination, slurring of speech, blurring of vision and a loss of balance. If you drive when drunk you can have a sever accident. You may loss consciousness, go into coma and even die.

Taking alcohol regularly can cause loss of brain cells, damaged liver, stomach ulcer, cancer, high BP, epilepsy, damaged nerve and heart attack.

Many people try to give up the habit of drinking when they come to know that it is spoiling their health and family relations. But it is very difficult to give up drinking. First of all you have to avoid your usual drinking friends and the usual places of drinking. Tell your parents or doctor about it so that they can guide you properly. Avoid attending parties. If you cannot avoid then arrive late and leave early. If tension or depression is trying to make you drink then think of ways to get rid of this tension or depression. If you have the habit of drinking after dinner, then go for a walk or listen to your favourite music. 

Meditation helps to calm the mind and remove the thoughts of drinking.You do not have to put any efforts towards stopping the habit. Just start doing meditation and see how even the smell of the drink will be nauseating to you.

Are you a victim of PASSIVE SMOKING?

Chapter 26

SMOKING

Smoking is worse than any other habit because the person, who smokes, harms not only himself but also all those who inhale the smoke he emits. Those who inhale the smoke are called passive smokers. Every one knows that smoking is harmful. In fact it is clearly written on the cigarette packet ‘smoking is injurious to health’. The smokers ignore this warning and continue smoking.

What about the passive smokers? These poor people, who are forced to inhale the smoke that rises in the air, are equally affected by the smoke. The smoke remains in the air for a long time even after the smoker has left the place. The main victims of passive smoke are the women and children at home since luckily smoking in public has been banned.

So many health problems are linked to passive smoking. It causes bronchitis, pneumonia, lung and throat cancer, asthma, ear infection, respiratory infection and irritation, and damage to lungs. Babies born to women who are exposed to smoking husbands have less weight and their chances of dying are higher. Babies may even die in the womb. Unfortunately even women have now started smoking for it has now become a prestige symbol. This is even more dangerous than passive smoking. In addition to the above health problems, the smoker can even become impotent.

During smoking, tobacco is burned and the smoke is tasted or inhaled. An active substance called nicotine present in the tobacco gets released and is absorbed through the lungs. This is the quickest and most effective way to introduce the drug into the blood stream. The effect of the drug is felt within seconds of inhaling it. It triggers chemical reactions in the nerve endings in the brain creating a sensation of pleasure and calmness. But nicotine is addictive. Soon the smoker gets addicted and is not able to give up the drug. After some time the smokers needs to smoke more cigarettes to attain the similar pleasure due to the dependency and tolerance developed in the body. Many people get psychologically addicted and miss the feeling of cigarette between their fingers. The carbon monoxide smoke reduces the ability of the blood to carry oxygen inhaled by the lungs. Also there are so many other toxic compounds in tobacco which harm our health. The effect of smoking cocaine or heroine is even more severe.

 History of smoking goes back to 5000 BC. In the ancient civilization of Babylon, India and China people burnt incense as a part of religious ritual. Later it was used for pleasure and as a social tool. The smoke was also used to get in touch with the spiritual world. Smoking spread and became so popular that people started calling it ‘brown gold’. Soon people found that smoking is harmful to health and started trying to ban it.

In 1800 the smoking of opium became common in China. Trying to stop it; lead to opium wars. Since then so many people have tried to ban smoking but without much success.

Other than tobacco, cannabis from flowers or leaves of cannabis sativa is also used for smoking. Heroine and cocaine are form of hard nicotine.

Most smokers start smoking during teenage or early adulthood. This makes them more rebellious and ready to take risks. Teenagers are more influenced by their friends than their parents and hence they never listen to the advices given by their parents. Smoking makes the boys feel more manly and powerful. Hence they are attracted to it.

When the smokers realize the bad affects of smoking and try to give up the habit they find it very difficult due to the strong addictive property of nicotine. Nicotine creates terrible withdrawal symptoms of head ache, irritability, cravings, nausea, sleeplessness and tension. Encouragement from parents is very important.

Nicotine replacement therapy uses nicotine gums, patch, nasal spray and inhalers. This intake is slowly reduced till the addiction is removed. The patient should not smoke during this therapy otherwise there will be an overdose of nicotine in the body.

Zyban or Welburtin is a nicotine free antidepressant which reduces the affect of withdrawal symptoms. It regulates the chemicals in the brain that signal nicotine craving. It can cause agitation, sleeplessness, headache and dry mouth.

Chantix is a new medicine which targets the nicotine receptor in the brain making smoking less pleasurable and decreasing the withdrawal symptoms.

BETEL LEAF 'PAAN' can cause CANCER

Chapter 25

BETEL LEAF

An old lady sitting in the portico of her house chewing ‘paan’ or betel leaf is a common sight in the villages. These old ladies have a constant supply of betel leaves kept in the folds of their sari. Once in a while they keep spitting the red fluid. If you take a closer look at their teeth, you feel disgusted at the ugly sight. The regular chewing of this betel leaf has destroyed the beautiful teeth which looked like pearls when the lady was young. Spitting out the red liquid creates a terrible stain on the ground making the place dirty. This red colour is created when the ingredients folded in the leaf are chewed.

And yet this betel leaf is called ‘Green gold of India’ for it is capable of earning a lot of money from the foreign countries. This leaf can be exported in a large scale due to its immense nutritious value and has anti-carcinogens which are useful in manufacture of blood cancer drugs. But this leaf has been ignored and hence it has another name ‘Neglected green gold of India’.

In India the chewing of paan (betel leaf with areca nut) was common even in an age as far back as 2600 BC.

Paan is prepared by removing the veins of the betel leaf and applying a paste of khatta and lime. Pieces of areca nut, cardamom, saffron, coconut pieces/powder, cloves, tobacco, dry fruits, etc according to the taste and folded into a triangle or cylinder. Voracious paan eaters do not swallow it. They just chew it and enjoy the flavours. Then they spit it out.

Paan is often served after lunch in festivals since it is believed to help digestion and remove bad breathe. It is also served to guests to show respect.

The betel leaf is very nutritious and contains a lot of vitamins and minerals. Eating six leaves with slaked lime is equal to drinking 300 ml of cow’s milk for the vitamins and minerals it contains. The leaves also contain enzymes and amino acids. 

The betel leaf is known to be very useful in the treatment of bad breathe, boils, constipation, head ache, cuts and injuries, hysteria, itching and swelling of gums.  The root is knows for its female contraceptive effects. The essential oil contained in the leaf has anti bacterial, anti fungal qualities. Hence it can kill or inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria which cause typhoid, cholera and tuberculosis.

Chewing of betel leaf makes one happy, increases alertness, sweating, hot sensation and energetic. But regular chewing makes the person addicted to it. If the person tries to stop, withdrawal symptoms arise.

Betel leaf is good for treatment of nerve problems, headache, respiratory disorders, constipation, sore throat, inflammation, wounds and boils. Betel leaf oil is applied on breasts to increase milk.   

In spite of all the nutritious benefits of consuming betel leaf, excessive consumption can harm the teeth. This harm is because of the extra ingredients used in preparing paan to make it tastier. Paan prepared using tobacco causes dental caries, alveolaris, oral sepsis, palpitation, neurosis and even oral cancer. The leaf itself contains carcinogen which can cause cancer.

FRIED STUFF is SLOW POISON

Chapter 24

FRIED STUFF

A packet of fried food has become as common as a bottle of soft drinks during a journey.  Both can be called as slow poison. The consumption of fried stuff leads to so many health problems. In fact the impurities (fats, calories and bad cholesterol) collected in our body due to the consumption of fried stuff can be removed mainly through illness. With modernization, we have replaced health food with junk food which may be tasty but unhealthy.

The main targets for junk food are the children. The parents have been increasingly giving junk food to their children since it is easily available in small packets for cheap prices in shops all over. The junk food packets are made very colourful and attractive to trap the children. Children come home from school and sit in front of the television with a packet of chips in their hand. This sight has become very common today. But beware!! 100 gm of potato chips has 150 calories. Your child is sure to fall a victim of obesity.

Children need nutritious food since they are passing through growing state in their life. What they eat is going to affect them in the future as they grow. They should be given fresh fruits and fruit juices regularly.

Food is immersed in hot oil to get fried food. The water content of the food is converted into steam. If the food is not kept in the oil for long the oil will not penetrate the food. The frying temperature is mostly between 175 to 190 degrees C (345-375 degree F).

When you fry a substance you are removing all the nutrition present in it. Fried food may be tastier but it is still junk food. There are some people who say that they nothing happens to them if they eat fried food because their body is used to it. This only means that the rubbish is getting collected in their body and soon they are going to be attacked by a dangerous disease. This rubbish leads to heart disease, diabetes, clogged arteries, high blood pressure, obesity and many other diseases.

Let us see why fried food is dangerous for our body. When you fry something in oil, you are filling it with insoluble grease-saturated fat and trans fat found in oil, ghee and butter, which cannot be broken down during digestion. This grease is stored in the cells all over your body especially in your gut, on thighs or around your heart.

People tend to reuse the oil again and again. If oil is heated again and again, trans fats are produced which are harmful for our body. The oil becomes light poison. Hence use only how much you need when frying food so that you can get rid of the left over oil.

Also never mix two types of oils. If you mix oils, the balance of unsaturated fatty acids is disturbed and hence the mix becomes harmful to health.

Saturated fat and trans fat raise the bad cholesterol (LDL) in your body. This helps the deposition of plaque in the arteries leading to coronary heart disease.

Some people argue that little fat is good for the health. Little fat in the form of lipid is good for the health. Lipids are soluble organic molecules that are like carbohydrates and proteins and are necessary for the normal functioning of the body. Lipids can be broke down to provide energy for the body. But the fat we get from fried stuff is of the dangerous type which is harmful to our body.

It is interesting to note that men and women store fat differently due to the difference in sex hormones produced: testosterone and oestrogen. Adult men store fat in chest, abdomen and buttocks producing an apple shape while the women store fat in breasts, hips, waists and buttocks creating a pear shape.

This body is our vehicle. We must put good fuel into it if we want it to last long. So go for a fresh fruit or packet of nuts instead of packet of fried food. Raw food builds up your immune system and prevents diseases from attacking your body.