UNHEALTHY LIVING:

I am a diabetic and a patient of IHD. I visit my doctor once or twice in a year to have my blood sugar checked up and along with it host of other tests relating to my ailment. Doctors advice to have weekly check of blood sugar and get the dosage of the medicines adjusted accordingly. But years of being a patient of diabetes and being aware of my body signals, I could judge for myself fairly enough the levels of my blood sugar. I also adjust my medications along with the physical workouts to keep in check my blood sugar. I also know the signs of hypoglycemia effects and take effective measures to normalize it.

I take sweetmeats, chocolates, sherbets, ice creams, fried items, fruits and other things which are taboo. I also smoke and drink in moderation. I have been smoking for the past thirty three years but not exceeding five cigarettes a day. Eating things which elevate my blood sugar and triglyceride levels is also not a daily affair but within limits I have set for myself. I also maintain a constant weight watch and BMI which is well within limits.

When I observe people eating and drinking at stalls and restaurants many of the so called unhealthy foods and beverages, I often wonder why there is no epidemic of heart diseases and large scale deaths? I also observe people smoke and drink and survive till their late eighties leading a very healthy life. Ashok kumar of bollywood who was known for his chain smoking habits died when he was in his nineties but his younger siblings – Anoopkumar and Kishorekumar who abstained from smoking, died much younger. In the yesteryears when tobacco consumption was not considered a killer habit and people used these products to their hearts content, there was not an alarming situation of people dying at very young age. Similarly, people have been known to consume what they liked and many lived a full life displaying their pot bellies. Now-a-days it has become a fashion to be a vegetarian but in the olden days people had taken meat products all their life and died at a ripe old age as most still do. No clogging of arteries and no colon cancer.

What I am getting at is in spite of the counseling done in public interest through various channels of the media on healthy living, most people ( that includes me) just ignore and take anything they like and live a life without a care in the world. I think no statistics are available of people who smoke, drink and consume so called unhealthy/unhygienic foods and beverages in moderate quantities and live to their eighties. Take any doctor’s advice on the TV channels or on the print media, they will all say to avoid samosas, puri pakoras and variety of fast food available. If everybody had taken to their exhortations, the road side samosa wallas and bhajiya wallas would have to close shop. Take for instance the water being consumed by the general public of India. Most of the people consume directly from the tap, well, river, canal or lake water which is visibly polluted. As a matter of fact I had observed a mentally deranged man for months taking dirty drainage water and wandering the streets without any sign of getting unwell. Their immune system levels go on the high. Give a glass of our tap water to somebody who is used to taking pure filtered water daily, very next day he may fall ill displaying symptoms of various diseases.

Self medication is very common among many. Advertised medicines are taken for some minor ailments but many take drugs prescribed earlier for similar symptoms or as told by someone who had suffered with similar symptoms. Ninety-nine out of hundred get well and save a lot of money and time.

My question now is, to what extent we should take all the advice which is available aplenty over the media?

Mr. Ramdoss is contemplating a ban on advertisements of all junk food now and has advocated the film celebrities to abstain from using tobacco and alcohol. If he has his way he may ban the sale of oils, fried foods (Bhajiyas, samosas, farsan) and aerated beverages.  People who smoke, drink and eat in moderation all the items, do not have to fear I think.