The Journal of the American Medical Association reports an intake of a minimum of five helpings of fruits and vegetables daily reduces the risk of having a stroke by 31 percent.
Results revealed that the risk of ischemic stroke (mechanical obstruction to blood supply) was 31 percent lower in women who consumed an average of 5-6 helpings of fruits and vegetables daily. For men the intake of fruits and vegetables was 5 helpings daily.
Of the men and women studied, those with the lowest risk factors had a tendency to eat broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, and green leafy vegetables rich in Vitamin C.
Researchers from the University of Cambridge found that those who frequently consumed salads and raw vegetables throughout the year had an 80 percent lower risk of contracting type 2 diabetes than those who ate salads and vegetables less often.
Alcohol and Pregnancy
Dr. Lee Ann Kashkutas of the Alcohol Research Group in Berkeley, California pointed out to Reuters Health in her study that women drinkers are not likely to stop drinking when they become pregnant.
In a survey of 321 women it was found that these women were consuming drinks much larger than expected. One-fifth of the women surveyed knew that the cause of fetal alcohol syndrome was alcohol related.
The report is published in the August issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.
Prostrate Cancer and Lycopene
Researchers from the Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit, Michigan conducted a study of 33 men. They found that lycopene helps to protect against prostrate cancer by shrinking tumors and preventing the spread of cancerous prostrate glands.
Half the men were given lycopene capsules (lycopene is found in tomatoes) whilst the other half were given placebos.
The pre-cancerous cells were normalizing; at the same time the cancerous tissue was not spreading to the edges of the prostrate glands amongst the men who took the lycopene capsules.
The Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that women who ate a diet containing tomatoes had less free radical damage to their white blood cells of their immune systems as compared to those who had little or no tomatoes in their diet.
Salt, Meat and Stomach
Cancer
The American Journal of Epidemiology reports that out of a survey of 220 stomach cancer patients against 700 healthy people, it was found that there was a consumption of fresh red meat more than 9 times per week, plus processed meats were consumed 6 times per week.
These men had 3 times the risk of contracting gastric cancer, unlike those who hardly ate meat. In addition, the consumption of salty snacks bi-monthly was associated with a risk factor of 80 percent.
Health Tourism
The British Health Minister commented to the Times newspaper that there would be a review on current guidelines to stop foreigners entering Britain to obtain "free treatment" on the health service.
Over 60 agreements with other countries will be looked at so that people from overseas who are resident in the U.K. can only get free treatment if Britons do as well.
In conjunction with the Times, the Health Minister Gisela Stuart hopes to launch campaign-gathering evidence from the medical community.
New Medical Center
The largest center for the treatment of tumors in the Middle East and Africa will be established on October 6th of this year in Cairo, Egypt. With the support of Cairo University and Qasr El Eini Hospital the 400-bedded center will be the 6th largest in the world.
In an interview with Egypt's Insight Magazine, Dr. Kamal El Ghamrawi, Chairman of El Qasr El Eini Center for the Treatment of Tumors and Nuclear Medicine, pointed out that the rate of cancer in Egypt is rising among the elderly, adolescents, and children.
Dr. El Ghamrawi extends an appeal to benefactors to participate in the financing El Qasr El Eini Center for Tumors and Nuclear Medicine.
Tumor afflicted patients who cannot afford to pay the high costs of treatment will be treated by an updated therapeutic technology. Equipped with a Eurotronat, there will not be any side effects from this kind of radiation, which is given at an unprecedented high radiation dose, destroying cancerous cells.
Health Hazards
Sven Stars, Stella Local and Omar Khayyam are but a few of the alcoholic beverages produced in Egypt.
Fruity, easy on the palate, good to eat with pasta, or good as a pre-dinner drink, they will help you to relax, unwind, enjoy and switch-off, checking out of the world in which you have some degree of control into another in which you have none.
Alcohol helps increase the toxicity in your bone cells and reduce your body's ability to absorb calcium. It also reduces bone density.
Social drinkers run a greater risk (two and a half times as much) of contracting osteoporosis than non-drinkers. Alcoholism generally develops slowly over the years of increasing consumption.
With any delay in getting the next drink the alcoholic suffers withdrawal symptoms like feverishness, sleeplessness and tremors accompanied by hallucination - Delirium Tremens (D.T.s).
DT should be treated by a doctor, especially where there has been heavy continuous drinking, as there may be some internal damage.
Alcohol misuse can cause aggressive, irrational behavior, arguments, violence, depression, nervousness, unknown fears, epilepsy, dementia, blackouts, memory loss, and damage to the nervous system.
Alcohol has several effects on the body. To the face: facial deterioration, puffy eyes, and ageing, especially in women. To the throat: chronic coughing, throat cancer, cancer of the larynx, and cancer of the esophagus. To the heart: weakness of the heart muscles, heart failure, anemia, and impaired blood clotting.
Alcohol causes liver cancer. In the stomach, vitamin deficiency, hemorrhaging, severe inflammation, vomiting, diarrhea, malnutrition and duodenal ulcer can occur.
Inflammation of the pancreas, urinary infections, and impaired kidney function can be detected. To the hands and feet: trembling, tingling fingers, numbness and peripheral neuritis.
Man can experience impotency or their sexual performance may be impaired. Women can experience loss of pregnancies; deformed or retarded or low birth weight babies, with weak immune systems. Alcohol impairs the skin's sensation and numbness occurs.
Heavy drinking is associated with 66 percent of attempted suicides, 52 percent of deaths involving fires, and 45 percent of fatal road accidents to young people in Britain.
Half of the patients found in accident and emergency wards have alcohol or drug-related problems.
In the years between 1991 and 97, 50-60 percent of adolescents in high school were taking alcohol as compared to 30 percent who were smoking cigarettes and 15 percent to 25 percent who were taking drugs.
Dietary-wise, one should try to eat more complex carbohydrates (e.g. whole-grain cereals, brown rice, whole-wheat, barley, oats, millet, corn, bulgur, popcorn, whole-grain bread, yams, manioc etc.)
It is advisable to eat less fats, salt, soy sauce, and animal protein (e.g. fish, fowl, eggs and meat) and substitute drinking of alcohol with non-alcoholic beers and fruit juices.
Remember, the blood's threshold for sugar has been increased greatly and the drinking of non-alcoholic beverages, along with the above dietary components, help to fill the sugar gap that has been created by the halt in consumption.
After heart disease and cancer, alcoholism is the third major health hazard.
You could lose the initial sociability and relaxation that you desired as well as your health, your job, your family, and your home. You can also lose up to 15 years off your natural life span.
In the Name of God, the Beneficent
the Most Merciful.
"They ask you about intoxicants and games of chance. Say: In both of them there is a great sin and means of profit for men, and their sin is greater than their profit…" (Qur'an, 2:219).
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said that our stomach is the source of all illnesses.
Vitamin A: Retinol
Vitamin A is important for vision (particularly in dim lighting), for healthy skin, and aids the repair of bodily tissues, and organs; it regulates the amount of moisture necessary in the mucous-linings of the throat, nose, lungs, and mouth, aids in the formation of rich blood; helps the digestive system to assimilate proteins properly and acts as an antioxidant.
It is a fat-soluble vitamin that also assists in strengthening the immune system and sperm production.
Vitamin A does not have to be consumed daily as it can be stored in the body, but it must be taken regularly to prevent a run-down in the body's supply.
An average adult needs an intake of 0.75mg and 1 - 2 mg for nursing mothers. Too much intake can build-up in the body and become toxic.
The time to take supplements is when there is extra demand on the body like during pregnancy, female consumption of contraceptive pills, postmenopausal women, elderly people, and alcoholics.
Deficiency in Vitamin A can cause night blindness, damage to the cornea of the eye, ear and respiratory infections, dry skin, dull hair, hair loss, weight loss, reproductive organ atrophy, loose teeth, gum disease, sinus problems, allergies, loss of the sense of smell, diarrhea, exhaustion, loss of appetite and stunted growth. When crops containing Vitamin A are grown in soil that is fertilized with chemicals, there is significantly less Vitamin A and minerals.
The fresher the produce, the nearer it is to its natural state, then the higher its vitamin content.
Collards eaten raw give 9,300 IU of Vitamin A, but when cooked, collards provide 7,800 IU of Vitamin A. An average adult requires 5,000 I.U of Vitamin A
Vitamin A found in carrots is highly toxic to the liver when it is isolated from the whole of the carrot and eaten.
Carotenoid is a yellow to red to brown pigment found in many living organisms, especially in the chloroplasts of plants.
Beta-Carotenoids are converted into Vitamin A molecules in the small intestines and act as a pro-vitamin (a precursor* of Vitamin A).
They are found in high concentration in the adrenal glands, the reproductive organs, the spleen, pancreas, and the retina of the eye.
Vitamin A is found in yellow-red-brown and green vegetables and fruits.
Some Food Sources Of Vitamin
A
Apples
Apricots (fresh/dried)
Banana Bread
Bananas
Beets
Blackberries
Blue Cheese
Broccoli
Brussels Sprouts
Butter
Cabbage
Cantaloupe
Cashews
Cauliflower
Celery
Cheddar Cheese
Cheese Sauces
Cherries
Chicken
Cod
Corn
Cornflake Cereal
Cornmeal
Cottage Cheese
Cow's Milk
Cream
Cream Cheese
Cucumber
Custard
|
Dandelion Green
Dates
Duck
Egg Yolk
Elderberries
Figs
Fish Liver Oils
Goats Milk
Gooseberries
Grapefruits
Grapes
Green Beans
Halibut
Herring
Ice Cream
Juniper
Kidneys
Lemons
Lentils
Liver
Mushrooms
Nectarines
Oatmeal
Okra
Olives
Onions
Oranges
Peaches (fresh/dried)
Peas
|
Pecan Nuts
Peppers
Pineapple
Pistachios
Plums
Prunes
Pumpkin Seeds
Radishes
Raisins
Raspberries
Salomon sardines
Skimmed Milk
Sour Cream
Soy Flour
Spinach
Strawberries
Sunflower Seeds
Swiss Cheese
Tangerines
Tuna
Turkey
Walnuts
Watercress
Watermelon
Wheat Flour
Whole Wheat Bread
Yogurt
Yucca
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*Sources: Dictionary of Science, Hutchinson. Readers Digest. The Male Herbal, James Green. U.S.D.A. Agricultural Handbook #8. Food and Healing, A. Colbin. Earthway, Mary Summer Rain
