Wednesday
More importantly
is simple : good health ought to be everybody's concern, not solely the medical profession's
business. More importantly, in my own case, I suffered immen- sely, for many years, largely due
to the shortcomings of the modern medical system. In my despair, I earnestly began my study of
natural methods of treatment and cure of disease, as also the ways and means of maintaining
good health. Putting the time-tested nature cure methods into practice proved so beneficial in my
own case, that I took to studying their application for several other diseases as well. What began
as mere jottings was gradually expanded into full-length articles on the subject " Cure Without
Drugs ", several of which were published in "The Economic Times. " The readers' response to
the series was overwhelming and several of them suggested that the articles be complied in
book form, to benefit more people. "Health the Natural Way " was the result. This book as well
as my second book titled " Diet Cure For Common Ailments " published three years laters, was
well received by the press and the public. This fact coupled with the immense popularity of my
articles on health, nutrition and nature cure being published in several leading newspapers and
magazines, have prompted me to write a comprehensive book on nature cure under the present
title for the benefit of the general public.
Where nutrition is concerned
Most members of the "medical" profession do not want to know. They do realise their patients are not losing weight, but they put it down to cheating and secret binges. Some slimming professionals even run group therapy sessions, at which members are applauded when they are able to show they have lost weight and made to feel ashamed of any gain.1 The mental cruelty involved in these practices is positively mediaeval. Moreover, stipulating a 1500 calorie diet without detailing what it is to contain is quite inadequate. It simply serves to focus on the energy value of foods without taking account of their nutritional value.
Apart from a few specialists, doctors tend to be disinclined to update their understanding of these matters and are usually not knowledgeable about them in the first place. Where nutrition is concerned, they seem to have little scientific understanding going beyond the commonly held views.
What is more, it is not a field in which doctors in general are particularly interested. I have noticed that of the twenty or so I have worked with on this book, all of them, without exception, were originally led to research and experiment in the field because they themselves had a serious weight problem to solve.
Tuesday
Sugar-sweetened beverages
Sugar-sweetened beverages, a major source of fructose, raise serum uric acid levels and are associated with an increased risk of gout, hypertension, and diabetes. However, it is unclear whether the associations with hypertension and diabetes are caused by fructose per se, or through some other mechanism. Nevertheless, given their demonstrated adverse health associations and the lack of any health benefit, the evidence favors minimization of sugar-sweetened beverage intake.
Herbal Products
Thistle for the treatment of liver diseases
Silymarin and its major constituent, Silibinin, are extracts from the medicinal plant Silybum marianum (milk thistle) and have traditionally been used for the treatment of liver diseases. Recently, these orally active, flavonoid agents have also been shown to exert significant anti-neoplastic effects in a variety of in vitro and in vivo cancer models, including skin, breast, lung, colon, bladder, prostate and kidney carcinomas. The aim of the present review is to examine the pharmacokinetics, mechanisms, effectiveness and adverse effects of silibinin's anti-cancer actions reported to date in pre-clinical and clinical trials. The review will also discuss the results of current research efforts seeking to determine the extent to which the effectiveness of silibinin as an adjunct cancer treatment is influenced by such factors as histologic subtype, hormonal status, stromal interactions and drug metabolising gene polymorphisms. The results of these studies may help to more precisely target and dose silibinin therapy to optimise clinical outcomes for oncology patients.