Diabetes: Outsmart the monster.

"Three bottles of coke, two pie, one doughnut, and peanut, please," Joy said to the vendor. "Are you buying for me, too?" Kike teased. "In your dreams." "Don't tell me you're eating all these alone. You'd come down with diabetes." "Said by doctor who? I'm twenty-two not fifty, and I'm not obese." "Not only old and obese people have diabetes." "All I know is I'm young and not too fat, I can eat whatever I like. And I'm studying, my brain needs glucose. Three bottles of coke in a day isn't a bad idea." "If you say so," Kike said and shrugged.
Yes, both girls were right in one way or the other. Joy was correct by saying her brain needed glucose and Kike was right about warning her that she could come down with diabetes. What then was wrong? Joy's belief!
Diabetes Mellitus (DM), commonly known as diabetes, is a chronic lifelong disease in which there are high blood sugar levels over a prolonged period, resulting from inability of the body to utilize the energy found in food. This life threatening disease is divided into four; Type 1, Type 2, Gestational, and secondary diabetes, which is caused by underlying diseases. Type 1 is caused by inability of the body to produce insulin, an hormone responsible for sugar uptake by the body cells. Gestational diabetes is pregnancy induced diabetes. Type 2 diabetes, which is the focus of this article, results when the body cells are resistant to insulin.
Type 2 DM is the commonest type of diabetes, about 90%. It has a gradual onset and may present with symptoms including frequent urination, increased thirst, unexplained weight loss and increased hunger. Although, it is usually associated with obesity, normal weighted people can also develop it. Other risk factors include sedentary lifestyle, family history, increased consumption of sugar and saturated fat.
Diabetes is a life threatening disease that results into terrible complications when not properly managed, e.g. blindness from retinopathy, leg ulcer, skin problems, to mention but a few, but as dreadful as this disease is, it can be outsmarted. You only need to...
1) Shed that weight: lose excess weight. Check your BMI, anything greater than 30 increase your risk. So do justice to it before it does to you.
2) Eat right: this is major when trying to outsmart diabetes. Go veggie often times and limit red meat. Choose the right appetizer, fruits or salad is great, but saturated fat and highly sugary food increase your risk. Indeed the brain needs glucose, but don't overdo it. Let your food be commensurate to your activity level. Three bottles of coke in a day is definitely a NO, except you dredge well or fell large trees manually. Befriend cereals, whole grain diet can help stabilize your blood sugar, and even reduce risk for breast cancer and stroke. Watch out for hidden sugar, e.g corn sweetener, fructose, glucose gel, dextrose, they all increase risk. Eating at eateries and restaurant should also be minimized. Watch it!
3) Exercise: this is often said but rarely obeyed. Ditch your car, park at the end of the garage, and take a walk. About thirty-five minutes brisk walking per day largely cuts your risk. Even if you didn't lose weight, you'd be healthier. Simple exercises, including morning jogging or walking, would perform miracles.
4) Unwind daily: chronic stress does a huge damage to the body and increase blood sugar. Take time off work to rest. Take slow deep breaths when you feel boxed in, or before starting an activity. Don't overwork yourself. Relax. Associate with loved ones, talk about things bothering you, and laugh heartily.
5) Sleep adequately: at least 6 hours sleep is recommended to refreshen the body and cut your risk of diabetes. Ignore that late night movie and sleep. Too little sleep keeps your nervous system alert and interfere with hormones production.
6) Medical test: early detection of high blood sugar can help in managing it. Take a blood test yearly. Don't self-medicate, obey prescriptions, and report any health issue promptly to the hospital.
Diabetes is real and a monster. Be sure to outsmart it. Prevention is always cheaper and better than cure.

CONDIMENTS: Sweet but hurtful sauce

"Pass me the salt," Mr Daniel told his daughter, his face frowned. Gloria pushed the tin of salt to him. "This soup is just too bland for my liking," he added, obviously upset. "Bland? After six cubes of Knorr and Four tablespoon salt!" his wife retorted, her brows raised. "It's actually not bland, it only lacks spice," Mary interfered, sprinkling table pepper in her soup. "Well, I can't say since I'm taking bread," Gloria added, her bread almost draining mayonnaise." "Gloria, and you, Samuel, don't finish the mayonnaise and ketchup today," Mrs. Daniels snapped.

Issues like this are not far-fetched in our society. Everyone wants tasty and adequately spiced food. More salt, curry, pepper, seasoning, and many more, anything that would make meal taste better. The tongue enjoys a great deal, I must say.
Condiment is something used to enhance food flavor. It's capable of turning bland food good, and good food, great. We all eat it, though in different proportion and combination, but we do love it.

Condiment is great, is sweet, mention any nice adjective, and it's right there. However, this often high-valued substance can cause tremendous harm to health. The list is long, but the common ones used include Salt, Pepper, Vinegar, Mayonnaise, Ketchup, Curry, Nutmeg, Monosodium glutamate (seasoning e.g Knorr, Maggi, Vedan) e.t.c

SALT:- As good as this is, eating it in excess can lead to water retention, hypertension, kidney stones, and many cardiovascular diseases. 3grammes/day is just good enough.

PEPPER: It's good to eat spicy food, for its health benefits, but in small doses, too spicy food can damage stomach tissue. Hot peppers contain compounds such as piperin, acrid resins and volatile oil that irritate our digestive and urinary tracts.

VINEGAR: Very useful in the kitchen, as preservative and additives. It contains acetic acid, which increases stomach acidity, the risk of stomach & intestine inflammation, and renal tubular necrosis, which damages the kidney tubules. Vinegar destroys vitamin C, could damage the stomach lining and blood capillaries.

MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE (MSG): Found in majority of seasonings, is an excitotoxin, i.e overexcites the body cells until they are damaged. It is capable of triggering headaches, chest pain, facial pressure, disorientation, burning sensation, nause, drowsiness and breathing difficulties. It is advisable to reduce its intake. One cube, or two cubes at most, of seasoning for a medium-sized kitchen pot soup is just enough.

NUTMEG: The pleasant flavor it adds to food and its health benefit are excellent, but too much of it hurts your psychological health. It could result to dizziness, disorientation, dry mucous membrane, nausea and vomiting.

MAYONNAISE: Contains high fat, and soybean oil, which is one of the most harmful oils you can eat, found extensively in processed foods. Be it partially hydrogenated, organic or made from newer soybean varieties modified to not require hydrogenation, these oils are highly processed and pave the way for a wide range of problems from obesity to diabetes; reproductive disorders to heart disease.
Condiments are not to be entirely ruled out however, as they have health benefits, but should not be overlooked for its hamful effects. Excess of everything is bad, they say. Sticking to recommended doses of these substance thus become important. Remember, what you eat is what you are. Health is Wealth. Watch it!

Mother and daughter ate rats' feces, ignored warning.

LASSA FEVER: What's your attitude?
“Mum! See this, rat’s faeces is in here, I shouldn’t eat this.” Michelle ran to her mum in the living room, a cup of garri in her hand. “You’d better pick it out and drink or you’d have to wait on empty stomach for your dad.” “News of rat’s waste causing Lassa fever is everywhere like wildfire and you still want me to take this?” “Didn’t they say it is caused by one Mastomys-something specie? That’s not in my house. The rats here are much nicer than to cause whatever fever, and remember, Jesus lives here too. Just take out the droplets and eat. I’ve eaten so much of it and I’m still alive.” “Mum!” “Spare me the story, little girl, and eat.”
It’s a pity that both Michelle, her mum, and her innocent father became infected with Lassa fever, the rats weren’t so nice after all. Most people often fall victims for disobedience and complacency.
LASSA FEVER according to WHO is an acute viral haemorrhagic illness caused by Lassa virus, a member of the arenavirus family of viruses.
The primary animal host of the Lassa virus is the Natal multimammate mouse ( Mastomys natalensis ), an animal found in most of sub-Saharan Africa.
It is transmitted to humans from contacts with food or household items contaminated with rodent excreta.
6-21days after exposure to this virus, an illness involving many organs develop. The possible signs and symptoms include; facial swelling, muscle fatigue, conjunctivitis, mucosal bleeding, nausea, bloody vomiting, stomach ache, constipation, diarrhea (bloody), cough, chest pain, and dyspnoea, to mention but a few.
It is vital to report any sign of illness to the hospital for prompt and accurate diagnosis, and self medication and treatment should be avoided at all cost.
Lassa fever is as real as the air we breathe and majority of us have rats in our home, even if we can't tell the species apart. Also, there is no vaccination against lassa fever as of today. Therefore it becomes imperative for us to take extra precautions.
It may be hard or impossible to totally rid our homes of rats but we can
Keep our food in rodent proof containers
Avoid eating any food contaminated with rat excreta
Ensure physical and environmental hygiene
Report any sign of infection promptly
Ensure safety precautions & barriers e.g gloves, mask e.t.c. are used when dealing with an infected person
As we pray and believe in God's protection, we should also take responsibility to take precautions. Prevention is not just better, it is cheaper and reliable than cure..

Your Health and You!!!

Happy new year! Yes, it's a new year again, 2016. You sure have new aspirations, resolutions and expectations. But don't forget that only in good health can you achieve a thing.
Your health is you, I mean you, you reading this. Each decision you make takes its toll on you. Thus, focus should be directed towards health promotion & maintenance, and prevention of diseases, which are all embedded in "HEALTHY LIFESTYLE"
Healthy lifestyle is a major contributor to preventing health problems such as diabetes, heart problems, obesity, hypertension, and even cancer.
Yes, the following tips may not be strange to you. But it's time to stop 'just knowing' and start 'doing' to keep healthy.
Personal hygiene:- sounds weird right? Daily good bath rids you of dirts & bacteria that could cause infection. Tooth brushing, hand washing, clean clothes, and other hygienic practices are equally important.
Exercise daily:- you necessarily don't have to go to a gym. Minimum of 30 minutes brisk walking or jogging will do a lot of good to your heart and body.
Eat healthily:- of course many offers here and there, especially during this season. But watch it. Reduce cholesterol as in mayonnaise, saturated fat as in solid oil at room temperature, and salt intake. Vegetables and fruits should take the bulk of your meals. Adequate water instead of caffeinated or carbonated drinks is sure the best.
Limit stress:- yes, there's a lot of stressor out there. But you can watch it. Don't overstress yourself. Set boundaries. Avoid things that upsets you. Spend time with friends and family. Void your worries and be HAPPY.
Rest adequately:- you finish the day's activities at 9pm & you still want to watch film into the night. It's actually not pleasure. Sleep and rest is good for your body just as food is. It sharpens memory, reduces stress hormones and refreshens your mind.
Regular medical checkups:- Don't think it's not really important. Health appraisal will only help improve your health. Don't self-medicate, promptly report health problems and 'follow' medical prescription.
2016 has a lot of good in stock for you. So do yourself a favor by imbibing healthy practices that will help keep you fit. Remember, your health is you, and prevention is far better than cure. Have a blessed year. God bless!