YOUTHFUL HEARTS

Avoid high-calorie diet and stay young at heart. This is a new finding according to a recent study conducted in Washington University in St. Louis. The study reveals that limited calorie intake delays the decline of heart function. With the ever increasing fondness for processed foods over whole meal consisting of all the major nutrients, the consumption of high calorie intake has been increasing at a faster rate leading to several heart related problems. The heat loss of the body in natural processes is proportional to the surface area, while heat requirement is proportional to the volume multiplied by the pulse rate. Since volume is a third order function, while surface is a second order function, except in small creatures, the rate of heat loss is less than rate of heat requirement. Unless the extra heat generated out of the junk food is consumed by work or exercise, it burns up body parts. Similarly, if the energy supply is less than the heat loss, the body becomes immobile slowly. Hence, a balanced diet, which meets the requirements of the body at any particular time of the day in the specific body condition, is the first consideration for good health. The second consideration is the seasonal effect that changes the requirements of energy. The third consideration is the nutritional content of the ingredients that goes into preparing any food and its chemical state. Food cooked and kept for long hours changes its chemical content due to interaction with environmental factors. The next consideration is the combination of different food that one takes. All food combinations are not harmonious for the body. Some food may be harmless by itself, but may have an adverse effect in combination with some other food.  Such combinations should be avoided. The last consideration is counterbalancing the total intake with appropriate drinks after food. Water is the best counterbalancing agent. But different juices are prescribed for drink after different foods. The best guide for food is Nature, which provides different ingredients in different seasons in different places. Seasonal vegetables and fruits, whole grains etc. should find a place in a whole meal diet. Less time devoting for preparing food often leads to consuming easily available fast foods thus cutting out essential nutrients required for normal functioning of body organs. This problem can be overcome by relying more on raw fruits and vegetable combinations.  By selecting proper ingredients for the salad, it can be made very tasty. Moreover, everybody wants to go for tasty and attractive delicacies rather than traditional healthy food items thanks to the advertising by the fast food companies. Children are bound to be attracted by the advertisement of fast foods and do not care about their health. But we must remember that only those items that are not necessary for our routine requirement – hence, does not sell – are advertised. The advertiser is more interested in making money and least interested in our wellbeing. Let us not declare ourselves fools who cannot take his decision by himself but has to be guided by someone who wants to sell his ware by treating us as fools, whom he can brainwash by his trickery. With the use of a little imagination, a simple food item can be as tasty and attractive as the high caloried fast foods. It can be healthy unlike the high caloried foods. So it is for the adults to decide what they want- a healthy and younger heart or lured by the sirens of high calorie delicacies that leads to a diseased heart.