Dr. Ahmed Siddiqui for Hyderabad Youth Mirror #
Health is the most precious gift from our creator. Its importance is often realized when disease strikes. In whatever level a disease may be, be it minor or major, it always hurts. Major diseases tend to strike at a later part of our life due to years of poor habits of eating, lack of proper exercise and poor stress management.
Nowadays youth believe that they can do anything they like and nothing will happen. This is just carelessness and pseudo belief. Improper care during adolescence leads to hypertension, diabetes, premature heart attacks, cancer, and gastric problems etc., if not at an early stage then at a later stage of life. The less serious problems become more common even early in life.
A few such problems are loss of hair, dandruff, pimples, constipation, poor skin condition, optical problems, headaches, abdominal pains and so on. There is a saying popular among Muslims: “sehat ko ghaneemat jano bemari se pehle”. The so called modern youth follows a diet which only satisfies the taste buds without little benefit to the body and sometimes actually harmful to the body.
Youth is also nicely termed in Urdu as “jawani diwani” which means that during this period youngster may go crazy if he follows whims and fancies. The present trend of the so-called Arabian restaurants is amusing; serving chunks of meat with lots of carbohydrates without any vegetables. It is just one example of ill balanced diet. Salads and fruits are often ignored these days.
All the more amusing is some youngsters’ new western habits of drinking aerated drinks like Coke and Sprite instead of simple and fresh water, which is a perfect drink ever created. It not only cleans up your system but also improves digestion.
Strange habits acquired in the last few decades are considered very normal including eating chocolates every now and then without a reason. This has added to dental problems among youth. Unfortunately, some of the young boys have got addicted to pan masala, smoking, and power drinks. It is no exaggeration that these are disease producing items that can potentially destroy the overall health of individuals at a time when they should be disease free.
Young men who join multinational companies are exposed to plenty of cash at hand and hence tempted to apply habits, which are very bad for their health. Pub parties and eating in restaurants is a common thing now. It is right time for the youth to realize that an investment in health now will improve their looks, energy levels, and keep them disease free for a long time to come.
Allah gave your body to you in a perfect condition and taking good care of it is mandatory, as it is amanah. The following tips if followed can assure the modern youth a healthy mind and a sound body able to last a lifetime.
- Eat a balanced diet including lots of fruits, vegetables and high fiber carbs like roti made of wheat not maida (ex. rumali roti).
- Cut down on fatty and sugary items.
- Increase consumption of clean water, milk, fresh squeezed fruit juices, and coconut water instead of sodas, power drinks and branded coffees.
- Replace sugar with honey and nuts used as a snack.
- Eating at home is the best and safest way. If you have to eat out, make it not more than once a fortnight if not monthly.
- Stay away from pan masala, power drinks, power foods, smoking and the forbidden drink-Alcohol.
- Brush at least twice a day.
- Exercise is very important not to build those bulky muscles but for fitness. Girls are no exception as they need strong bones as well.
(The author is an eminent Cardiologist from Hyderabad, Telangana.)