HEALTH TIPS FORMULAE

HEALTH TIPS FORMULAE

BY PROF WAQAR HUSSAIN

             World Health Organization (WHO) 1948 statement defines: “Health being a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. So, health includes physical fitness, mental alertness and socially cordial behavior. Health is the bud from where sprouts all the flowers of happiness, hilariousness and hedonism. Below are presented about a dozen of health tips formulae along with some explanation.                                                

 1) PPPPP: Proper diet, Precaution, Practice, Prayer and Play.

A prudent person said, “Every time you eat or drink, you are either feeding disease or fighting disease.” So proper diet including all the ingredients of nutrition like carbohydrate, proteins, fats and oil, minerals, vitamins, fiber ( cellulose) and water must be taken in an appropriate amount. Prevention is better than cure so precaution of all sorts is sure to retain health, one should undergo all the prophylactic vaccination and other seasonal precautionary medicines. Practice (exercise) is vital as it not only burn calories but also produces certain vital hormones. For instance, exercise triggers production of endorphin (peptide hormone) which is analgesic (pain killer) as well as produces feeling of well-being.

A famous Urdu writer Colonel Shafiq Ur Rehman had advised 20 push-ups for depression; a few miles of walking and running on collapse of love, etc. He presented this exercise therapy with strong conviction. Now, with advancement of science, we have come to know the science of this remedy. Prayer is the anti-dote for all kinds of poisons, meditation brings solace to mind, heart and soul and ultimately to body. Then, Play here means more for mental relaxation than physical exertion. Playing indoor or outdoor games give exercise plus take one’s mind out of the routine involvedness and complexity to a newer simplified state of mind, it just do trick like intoxication. Thus, it is the only permissible intoxicant. This transformation of mind is good for body and brain.

2) WWWWW: Walk regularly, Weight loss, Worry less, Wrath never and Wake up early. Walk is a light form of exercise, suitable to all genders and ages. It doesn’t require any partner and equipment except a will to walk. Worry is great killer. There is a famous idiom about cat, “Cat has nine lives” which means that it is very difficult to kill a cat as it is very tough. But another idiom of cat exposed the Achilles’ heel of cat, “Care killed a cat.” Meaning care is the curse of such intensity that it can kill cat which has nine lives. John Steinbeck has rightly said,” A sad soul can kill you faster than a germ.” Wrath triggers release of hormones and put strenuous strain on all parts of body; Hormones elevate sugar level and increase circulation of blood thus increases chances of diabetes and hypertension as habitual infuriation and state of fear result in continuous irritation and activation of adrenal gland, thus releases hormones persistently that result in continuous increase of glucose and accelerated flow of blood. Wake up early and enjoy the infancy of dawning day, pleasant air saturated with oxygen, dew glazing on every leaf, curly dance of fields, rustling of trees, whispering of breeze, roar of streams, chirping of birds, reddish-white crown in the east and bluish calmness of sky upward- all gathers to please a person to ecstasy. Wake up early as it bring into lines with other creatures of God and natures ordain. Franklin has advised in a verse:

Early to bed and early to rise,

Makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.

3) CHAY CHAY CHAY CHAY CHAY: (8^th Urdu alphabets).This formula is preventive as well as deterrent for diabetes and hypertension. Chawal (rice); Cheeni (sugar); Chiknai (fat and oil); Chupaya(red meat) and Chircharahat (Irritation and tension). So try to keep away from these five chays.

4)           TT4TT: There is a formula in medicine that two and two are not four; it is Twenty Two. (i.e. 2+2 is not equal to 4 rather 2+2=22). It means, if a person is ill to the tune of 2 and he worries to the tune of 2, his disease will not escalate to 4 but to 22. It means over- anxiety (hypochondriac nature) augments illness 11 times. So, one should struggle by will power, hope and belief on Allah to reduce it to 2; its original level. There is a famous saying, “He who can believe himself well, will be well”. My father Nazar Hussain, an English poet and thinker, used to say,” Think you are healthy; healthy you become; Think you are wise, wise you become; Think you are strong; strong you become; think you are beautiful; beautiful you become, think you are Lord; Lord you become (metaphorically), etc.

The power of will can be understood by another example. A few days ago, a famous doctor was invited to Muzakrat (comedy talk show). The anchor asked him, “Tell the most scintillating experience of your life”. He said, “During my career, I had noticed three types of patients. First were those who were sure that they will recover and they got recovered quickly; second were those who were hopeful of recovery, they get well in a few days; third were those of gloomy, pessimistic nature and had no hope of recovery and they never recovered even from recoverable petty diseases”. ‘Will power’ plays a key role in recovery. Victor Hugo says: “People don’t lack strength; they lack will”

5)           CCCCC: Control Constipation & Cure Cent of Curses- There is a famous saying: “Constipation is the mother of 100 diseases”. Our digestive tract starts from mouth and passes through esophagus (9 inches long) to a pouch of stomach, from there starts 21 feet long small intestine and at the end, there is 7 feet long large intestine. This is about 30 feet long curly, bumpy, narrow passage of alimentary canal. It often blocks at its last portion due to excessive dehydration to solidify excreta, etc and sometime before, and result in constipation. Drinking plenty of water, taking fruit and vegetables, eating isbgool(seeds of fleawort) or take a little of castor oil on doctor’s prescription, these can avert constipation.

      6) JJJJJ: Jerk Junk food & Jiggle Jingle, Juvenile. 

        Our children have lost the vibrant energy of childhood mainly due to intake of junk food. They look lazy, sluggish and tired.  Children often go for tasty junk food whenever given choice. Instead they must use homemade food.

I remember one of my nieces who are a doctor by profession. She has two babies whenever we used to go for trip to hill station; she always used to give her daughters junk food. That is how, children become habitual and ultimately slaves of junk food. Parents should train children to have natural, homemade, less processed food as far as possible. Once we went to Mansehra. There we stayed at my wife’s friend house. We were astonished to know that they were using only natural foods. Chemical free sugar, fertilizer and pesticide free vegetable and fruits, pure unmedicated milk and still more, every item of their home was made of wood, metal or other natural materials. All cloths were of cotton, wool or silk. Her husband Hadayat Ullah showed me seeds which were natural. He said that they had made an NGO with aim to promote use of natural food and natural thing. They had two sons and a daughter- all were hale and hearty and had animal spirits.

      7) Eat less CRAP;

Carbonated drinks

Refined sugar

Artificial sweeteners and colors

Processed food

       8) Eat more FOOD

Fruit and vegetable

Organic lean proteins

Omega 3 Fatty acids

Drink Water.

       9) HEALTH: High Energy and Activity of Limbs, Thoughts and Heart. It is in accordance with WHO definition of health i.e. health of limbs (body’s strength); health of thought (pious thinking) and health of heart (emotional maturity). It is psychologist’s slogan “think healthy to live healthy”. Keep in mind, sickness comes on horseback and departs on foot.(famous saying).And your first wealth is health, Emerson

10) HHHHH: Happiness, Hope, Hymn, Honey- Harvest Health.

        Happiness: A wise man said,” A lot of problems in the world would disappear if we talk to each other instead of about each other”. Man is pitched against a man, all the time he is struggling to get the better of others. He wants more beauty, more knowledge, more wealth, more power, more prestige, more importance, and many ‘mores’. His want of ‘mores’ often takes him to the holocaust of worries, woes and wretchedness. There is a famous saying, “Happiness is found when you stop comparing with others. Still further, one can attain perfect peace of mind if we start using the pronoun of ‘we’ instead of “I”. A sagacious person said, “When ‘I’ is replaced by ‘We’ even ‘illness’ becomes wellness’. Wasif Ali Wasif, a famous writer, says.” Our prayers in general are collective, e.g., Oh! Our God; Mercy upon us; Show us the right path, save us from the sin, accept our prayers, etc. It is perhaps the will of God: the betterment of all, beatitude for all, blessing for all, etc. He further says the Holly person (PBUH) nearest to God is also the Rehmat-ul-Aalmeen (blessing for the entire universe) so there is direct proportional relationship between proximity to God and benefiter for the creation of God.” So, good quality relation to the Creator goes side by side with good relation to his creation. What a linkage Wasif Ali Wasif brought to lime light!

         Whereas, ‘I’ takes one to the epicenter of sins. History reveals that the greatest of sins are the outcome of ‘I’ (main). You will find very strong ‘I’ in the Lucifer, Nimrood, Pharoah, etc. Whereas, one will find the domination of word ‘We’ in the coterie of good, noble, pious, virtuous and honorable people. Even if one look in the present day scenario, the developed nations have collective conscious, feelings and actions while developing nations are predominately more entangled in ‘I’ paradigm. So, the secret of virtues, happiness and kindness emanate from ‘we’. One should struggle to go for collective conscious, feelings and actions instead of ‘I’.

Back to the topic, linkage between happiness and health. John Steinbeck says “A sad soul can kill you faster than a germ”. Look another saying, “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine”. Yet another saying: “The secret to happy life is giving God the first part of your day, the first priority of every decision and the first place in your heart.”

Dr. Rafique Ahmad says similar thing, “Make God, your first priority” and it will surely solve many of your problems. Hope, Goethe says: “In all things it is better to hope than despair”. Hope instigate you inner energies on a positive note and often leads you to success. Hymn (The Praise of God) is the only way to achieve peace and solace of mind, body and soul and bestow you with blessings of all kind. Honey is the gift of God; impregnated with shifa (health). Science has long proved its efficacy, medicinal benefits and divine worth.

11) AAAP:

    Once, I went to the tomb of Hazrat Baba Waris Shah RA in Jandialla Sher Khan, near Sheikhupura and saw a framework, showing recipe of health, quoting statements of Bukrat and the Holy Prophet (PBUH).

Hippocrates, Greek Physician and Father of Medicine) Bukrat says:

     Aqua before meal is like Aurum (gold)     

     Aqua amid meal is like Argentum (silver)                                                                                                                                                                  

     Aqua after meal is like plumbum (lead)

Water should always be taken before meal.

      The Holy Prophet (PBUH) said: “Water before meal is shifa (health), water amid meal is dwa (medicine), water after meal is waba (disease)”.

It is the greatest divine tip to ensure proper health. One thing should be kept in mind, WHO had disclosed, “40% diseases are caused by polluted water” So purity of water is very important so always use boiled water.

12) SSSSS: Shorten Salt, Sugar, Sauces (pepper) but not Salad.

          Here I want to put three questions. Which is the largest consumer country of Salt, Sugar and Chili (pepper)? The answer is “Pakistan” for all three items.

In Pakistan, a person uses 5kg salt per annum that is highest in the world; a person uses 10kg pepper per annum which is again highest in the world; a person uses 25kg sugar per annum which is again highest in the world. (Source: Who is Who and What is What, Dogar Publishers.)

Keep in mind the quote: “Every time you eat or drink, you are either feeding disease or fighting disease.”

A large consumption of salt causes hypertension, of pepper result in stomach acidity, etc and of sugar pave the way for diabetes.

           There are 32 million hypertension patients in Pakistan and 6 million are suffering from diabetes. So, cut Short Salt, Sugar and Sauces and enhance use of Salad. These looming figures of diseases will surely reduce in a short span of time.

What is the level of health condition of Pakistan is quite evident from the human development indicators. In 2012, Pakistan had the population growth rate of 2.03% as compared with India (1.31%), Bangladesh (1.58%), Sri Lanka (0.91%), China (0.48%) and Thailand (0.54%).

In 2012, life expectancy in Pakistan stood at 65.7 as compared with China 73.7, Thailand 74.3, Sri Lanka 75.1, Malaysia 74.5 and India 65.8.

Infant Mortality Rate (2011) per thousand in Pakistan was (59) against China (13), Malaysia (6); Thailand (11), Sri Lanka (11), India (47) and Indonesia (25).

Pakistan current maternal mortality rate is 260 per lakh(100000) as compared to India (200), Bangladesh 240, Sri Lanka (35).

            Whereas, our present health facilities includes 950 hospitals; 160,289 doctors (registered); 12,544 dentists (registered); 82,119 nurses and 13678 lady health visitors. The above numbers provides 1127 persons against one doctor, 14406 persons against one dentist and one bed for 1786 persons.

             During 2013, the food availability stood at 2450 calories per day where recommended requirement is 2500 calories per day.

            Government spent 62.12 billion rupees in 2012- 2013, added 4200 new hospital beds, set up 32 new Basic Health Units (BHUs) and 7 Rural Health Units (RHUs). Government added 4400 new doctors, 430 new dentists, 3300 new nurses, etc. Also started 7 major healths programs but like other developing countries, we are facing problem of unsafe water, budget shortage, and inadequate facilities to provide full health cover to all people.

            These meager resources demand us to be prudent and more precautionary about our health and should adopt traditional health tips to lessen the number of illness. If, people follow above mentioned tips and determine to remain healthy, we need no further doctors, nurses, hospitals, etc, as precautionary measurements will surely reduce ailment alarmingly.

            We will surely get physical health, mental health and spiritual health. Then we will move to acquire social health, economical health and political health- all these will ultimately culminate into the formation of healthy society which is the coveted goal of all nations. There is no need to count stairs, just take a step ahead; all promising nations were not built in a day. You just take a step ……drops will surely make an ocean…… it is a divine rule. You just take a step!