Life is a one time experience. Nature has given us a lots of resources to enjoy this one journey that’s limited by time. Human beings have found out ways of utilizing the natures resources and making things that makes our lives easier, happier and tastier than ever before.
Everyone is acquiring skills & knowledge and this is knowledge age where huge amount of data is available. Research happens in every field and is adding to the data that exists. But still there is a surgeon, an electrician, an engineer and the security professionals specializing in their own areas of expertise.
When you know to lock your home, use a pass code for your computer and a 3 step authentication for your bank account, with CCTV & laser sensors at every step, why do we need police? The question translates to something like this? Hope you got my point!
Yes, as we get smarter, so the problems & the problem makers too. An engineer charges a few thousands to hit a button & start a machine. Charges are not for just hitting. He has to know, the where, when, how and at what force he has to make the shot? There comes expertise and everyone who has a hammer cannot hit every machine he sees and claim to be an engineer.
Human health has evolved. Lifestyle has changed. Demands have increased. Rat race is so ferocious that humans are winning the race. We need to be more focused, more performing, more expressive & impressive to remain in and win the race.
In this process of running behind achievements, looking for recognition, growth & money, we compromise our health & other daily routines and even relationships. Most problems of life starts from self health.
If ones body, mind & soul is going to be in sync, the person will be able to take time & focus on everyones needs around him, he being a social animal. When his physical, mental or emotional health is not in balance, he himself will have issues, forget about he devoting time for others.
Now in this fast paced life, we don’t have time to sit and eat. No time for exercises & as we keep running, healthy food choices fresh from the field are getting rare as we depend on processed foods that are available readymade, so we eat on the move & focus more of our time on earning techniques.
One is successful in life by earning money & a respectable position in the society does not necessarily mean that he knows everything under the sun. A researcher on astronomy need not know paper processing & the beauty expert may not know food processing & vice versa. So we know what we do and need, for a earning.
We are what we eat. If we eat good, we will have good health & vice versa. We human beings evolved & so our food too. Milk is now processed for ghee. Nuts are now processed for nut butters. Seeds are now available as oils. What was available in some seasons like mangoes & melons in summer are now available throughout year in tins and cans with preservatives. With technological advancements, we work after sun sets and sleep during broad day light as the needs and wants have also evolved.
But the body & mind has to cope up. When they try to cope up against nature, there will certainly be some shakeup in health as we work sometimes with nature and sometimes against it coping up with our financial and recognition needs. The nocturnal cycle changes, the biological clock resets and the organs and systems may experience a jet lag as we time travel between various zones for our work.
So everything has changed for our body and mind over decades and centuries. This change needs changed nutrition and adequate care that may otherwise lead to health issues. So a specialist is needed to understand the physical, mental & biological changes that we are undergoing and provide solutions to us on what our foods should be as the demands are now changed.
Still the foods cannot be common or same for some group of people because every individual is different and has different physical, mental, emotional & social needs. Some smoke. Some drink alcohol. Some cant live without tobacco. Some need coffee in litres. Some don’t drink adequate water & some don’t like green leafy vegetables. Some live on fried items & snacks without food for days and some take more briyanis than the no of days they have lived in their life till now. When all these have changed, we need a expert to observe and help us with our food, so we remain healthy.
So we need a dietician to help us plan our health.
Now the challenge is not just food. There is a solution for every problem. Its more applicable with food. Certain micronutrients are classified as essential, meaning, they cannot be synthesized by our body and should be taken by food or should be supplemented adequately with fortified foods or drinks.
When there is a sea of products & when every products claim uniqueness in one or other way, the challenge is which one to select and for what reason its should be selected and is that product safe or suitable for me? will be the set of questions following a decision on taking a supplement.
For every stage in life there is a supplement. From new born to the ones counting their days. From Skin to nail to hair to liver to heart there are supplements. Supplements synthetically processed, those without processing as raw s possible & those that claim to be organic supplements assuring no harmful effects of pesticides or other poisonous materials.
To select the right supplement pls take the help of your dietician or the nutritionist or your other healthcare professional. They specialize in such foods and supplements and can give you solutions, customized for you and not in common. Everyones needs are different and there are minute details in products that we as common man with relatively less knowledge on such specialized areas find it difficult to understand and decide.
For example, we take the case of Fish oil.
Now if I am an adult with a normal health profile, but with family history of hypertension & some cardiovascular diseases, how to select a fish oil supplement? I know that fish oils are good for cardiac health and with a history of such things in family, I need it. But is every fish oil the same? Can I consume any fish oil? Any qty? What is the decision making process to decide the right fish oil for me?
The decision process for you might not be the same as that of your fiend, who smokes, who takes a lots of fish in his diet, who doesn’t have a family history of cardiac diseases, or someone else who is already on a medication for hypertension and cardiac diseases. The dietician can help you find the right product in such customized circumstances.
You may find a huge lot of materials on fish oil. All fish oils are not the same. All oils extracted from all fishes are not the same. They differ in quality & quantity based on the source. All constituents of fish oil is not required to be consumed. All fishes don’t have the same constituents in the same quantity. Fishes like salmon, anchovy etc are considered some good sources of the fish oil with right constituents.
The important constituents in fish oil are EPA & DHA. These are called Omega 3 fatty acids. There is another O3FA, that is ALA – Alpha Lipoic acid. ALA can help health by converting itself as other O3FAs. ALA is available from plant sources. But its not available in good quantity to produce desired health benefits. So the right fish oil supplementation is required to help body get the right mix of Omega 3 Fatty acids like EPA & DHA. These two are the important constituents with health benefits for human beings.
Taking fish from oceans and fresh water can help. But they should be consumed in huge quantities to get health benefits. Also fish when consumed regularly over years can help in health and not after having a condition, where immediate benefits are expected out of its consumption, where the supplements can help.
The danger of other unwanted materials getting consumed also is possible with the products extracted from ocean sources as with any other sea foods like lead or arsenic poisoning etc. Now these issues are sorted out with the improvements in technology and science for purifying the same.
The EPA & DHA constituents can be beneficial in maintaining cardiac, nervous & muscular system health etc., especially in people with social habits like smoking which can increase the toll on blood vessels and heart.
Who should take how much?
How to decide how much to take, when on other medications? &
When to take?
Are questions the nutritionist or dietician can help.
But always remember,
Balanced diet, Balanced lifestyle, Enough & Adequate sleep, daily exercise, Yoga involving body-mind-soul- for a stress free day, good friends and moments of happiness cant be replaced with any supplement.
Good foods taste bad sometimes like bitter gourd. Bad foods taste yummy like potato chips and samosas.
We need to know our limits and limitations before venturing in to a “Eat & drink like never before or never after – as its just one life” hypothesis that can permanently damage our health and jeopardize our future.
Practice does not make man perfect.
Right practices makes man perfect.
Practice right & Live happily, without loosing health controls.
Only one life & so lets live it healthy & happy!. Best wishes.
