Not so long ago the world was not industrialised. In the last three hundred years our planet has leapt from being a mammoth village to a civilised world. We found more and more ways to make our work easy, automating tasks, making machines that made our job easier. In doing so we increased productivity; we increased our income and we decreased our labour. Strangely this did not have as good an impact on our health. In fact we found that our health, especially, cardiac health deteriorated. Now, industrialisation was not all bad. We conquered the bane of many infectious diseases and invented vaccines, discovered antibiotics and new surgical techniques. It also increased our life expectancy from 45 in the 1900s to about 75 and above today. Although the deaths occurring due to contagious diseases fell, we found a growth in the number of heart related diseases and strokes. Lifestyle ailments is probably the price we paid for industrialisation.
Why did this happen? Where did we go wrong?
The industrial revolution changed the way we went about our lives. In the past, people used to grow their own food in their fields, rear their own livestock and cook their own meals. Their lifestyle included hard physical labour but enjoyed fresh air, sunlight and fresh water, since pollution from industries hadn’t yet spoilt the environment. People then, used to work from dawn to dusk and slept soon after sunset. They led a simple life although not so comfortable as today’s.
Now, we work in offices, we often consume fast food and live in a controlled environment with air conditioners, consume bottled water, carbonated drinks, hardly move about in the sun and work without any time constraint. Sleep has become a luxury. Sadly man has gone totally out of sync with nature. We have forgotten that the sun, air and water is not only for plants but nurtures people as well.
This has taken a toll on our bodies which were adapted to an outdoor life. Due to lack of exercise our metabolism decreased while our food choices became varied and richer. Consumption of red meat, oil and carbohydrates increased. Use of recreational substances like alcohol, tobacco and opium became fashionable.
Today lifestyle has not only changed our health but is also responsible for changing the way people think. Urbanisation has created a great disparity between the rich and the poor due to variability of income. This has created angst and hatred in the minds of people of certain countries and communities. Fed by religious zealots, clashing of ideologies has given rise to extremism.
Coming back to the effects of urban lifestyle on our body, we find a number of diseases prevalent for example; Hypertension, depression, obesity, certain cancers, asthma, type 2 diabetes mellitus, sleep disorders, developmental disorders, Alzheimer’s disease, anorexia, addictions and social dysfunction. All of these are attributable to our deteriorating lifestyle. Here it is also important to point out that our increasing life expectancy has also led to more number of degenerative diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s since these illnesses require a number of years to cause their effects.
Indians began to ape Western countries in their diet and lifestyle in the late 50s. This led to a rise in lifestyle related disorders in India as well. We suffered more than the Westerners due to our ethnicity. Asians, especially South East Asians have genetically been programmed to store fat. The frequent famines and droughts in our evolutionary history caused our bodies to evolve to endure difficult times by storing food much like a camel stores water in its hump. Western diet coupled with our genetic predisposition makes us store fat efficiently on our abdomen, scapula and arms. This has given rise to large number of our population falling prey to lifestyle diseases. India now leads the world in diabetes and has a high number of people with cardiac disorders. This is more prominent in the constantly growing urban belt. So as we become more affluent we are more prone to lifestyle disorders.
How does an unhealthy lifestyle cause disorders?
For this we need to understand a basic evolutionary principle, that of our nervous system. We have an automatic nervous system which does most of its tasks by itself… throughout the day. So we unconsciously breathe, digest food and have reflex actions. When we are confronted with a situation where there is danger to life or in olden times when we used to hunt animals for food, our nervous system helps us.
One part of the automatic or autonomous nervous system called the sympathetic nervous system increases our heart rate, increases blood supply to our muscles and increases blood pressure. This results in the classical flight or fight response. We can fight our enemies or swiftly run away from them. This response is responsible for the work we do, handling stress and for our survival. The main hormones responsible for this are adrenaline and nor adrenaline. Remember hearing about the ‘adrenaline surge’? This SYMPATHETIC nervous system feeds on anxiety, stress, acute exertion or danger.
So what happens when the danger passes or we have come out of a stressful situation? The effects of sympathetic system are no longer needed. Our blood pressure and heart rate returns to normal. The blood supply to our muscles decreases. We become more relaxed and can now rest. This is brought about by the other part of the automatic system called as the parasympathetic nervous system. The main hormone responsible for this is acetylcholine. The PARASYMPATHETIC system feeds on sleep, meditation, yoga, calming exercise and moderate physical exercise. Without the stimulation of the parasympathetic system we would be unable to sleep or rest.
If these two systems do not balance each other, the sympathetic effects of high blood pressure and heart ailments rise. This leads to imbalances of metabolism and paves the way for many other lifestyle related disorders such as diabetes, cancers, obesity et al. Hence a person living a stressful lifestyle with less sleep, irregular and incomplete diet and most importantly without adequate exercise would be prone to lifestyle disorders.Lifestyle disorders, though the most common disorders amongst us, can be easily prevented. The only pre requisite being the will to change your life for the better.
Do you have the WILL?
In the previous part we discussed the mechanism behind lifestyle disorders. There is an imbalance between the Parasympathetic and the Sympathetic nervous systems which causes disease.
In this part we will learn how to go about how to prevent lifestyle diseases.
As I had mentioned before, one needs the WILL to change. When we all know our lifestyle is faulty shouldn’t we change it. It’s easy to give excuses about lack of time, tight schedules etc. But don’t you think that if left till late YOU will be the sufferer. Millions of people end up with hypertension, diabetes, obesity and cancer because they just refuse to change their habits.
So what should be the ideal lifestyle?
Everybody gets 24 hours in a day. It’s how you plan your day and stick to your schedule which gives you a disciplined lifestyle.
1. Make a schedule which incorporates good sleep of about 6 to 7 hours at least; 30 to 40 minutes of exercise time and adequate time to eat food. This is TIME ALLOCATION.
2. Let your career or your profession be a part of your life and not your entire life. It may take a lot of your time no doubt, but it should leave adequate time for yourself and your family in the day. If you can’t then probably it’s time for a new job or a new schedule.
3. Stick to your schedule
4. Change your attitude from being a worrisome person to one who takes things in his stride. Begin by accepting your work and the related stress. Smile when you wake up and think about the positives of the day before. Do not focus on the negatives.
5. Plan surprise outings with your friends or spouse. Don’t wait till weekends or that week once a year when you travel with family.
6. Feel good about yourself and the world in general. Complaining people are seldom happy.
Combating ill health through diet
To achieve optimum health we tend to listen to advice from all and sundry. Unqualified advice may lead to confusion and illness. So what should people really have in their diet?
It would be wise to include the following in your meals:
1. Nuts: Pistas, almonds or walnuts. Not more than 6 to 8 daily of each. Preferably early morning before breakfast. Go easy on the cashew nuts and groundnuts though.
2. Fruits: At least 2 medium sized seasonal fruits like apple or orange daily. Preferably to be had between meals.
3. Vegetables: They should be cooked minimally. At least one green veg and one sprout. Also have salad.
4. Fish oil: either 200 gm fish weekly or cos liver oil capsules twice daily.
5. Olive oil: use extra virgin olive oil 2 tsp per person per day. Preferably as a dressing over salads. Don’t use for cooking.
Some tips for having meals:
1. Keep 2 – 3 hours between your dinner and bedtime.
2. Restrict use of salt to less than 1 tsp per person per day.
3. Drink at least 8 to 10 glasses of water throughout the day. Never have large quantities of water at a time. Generally sedentary workers should not have more than 2.5 litres of water daily. Don’t have water immediately after meals. Wait for at least 30 minutes after meals.
4. Eat a good amount of natural probiotics like curd which adds beneficial bacteria that ferment your food well.
Combating disease through exercise
Indians require more exercise than Westerners. This is because during evolution we became more efficient at storing fat. The Indian subcontinent was constantly facing droughts and famines. Hence we developed the ahold to store fat especially on our abdomen, arms, thighs and scapular regions. These are some tips about exercise
Exercise daily for 1 hour…. Break it up as follows:
40 minutes cardio
10 minutes weights
10 minutes office exercise (stretching and walking in the office)
While doing cardio maintain your pulse at about 80% of your maximum heat rate (approx. 120 bpm)
Always warm up before exercise and do stretches after exercise.
Stay any exercise routine gradually.
Daily variations in speed and intensity of exercise are recommended and are most useful.
Drink water or light diet 30 min prior to exercise. Have a warm shower after exercise. Never cold water bath.
Stick to your routine despite all odds.
Get a massage once a month.
Don’t exercise with sprained muscles. Give them adequate rest.
Use fitness trackers like pedometers or fitness bands which motivate you to exercise.
Rest well
Sleep well every night at least for 6 to 7 hours. Avoid use of bright light in the house from evening. This does not allow your skin to produce the natural sleep hormone called melatonin which helps us sleep. Avoid using mobiles and watching TV after a self imposed cut off time say 9 pm.
Spend time with your family and friends and have conversations with your children daily.
Realise that life is about living and not slogging to no end. Fulfil your inner needs of creativity, have a passion, a hobby or learn an art. This will not only keep you free from disease but also make you an evolved, peaceful and a happy person.
Have a nice day and a health life!
Doctor's Brandy 