Dr. Aniruddha D. Joshi, our beloved, Aniruddha Bapu, held a lecture on the topic of “Self Health” on December 13th, 2014 at Andheri Sports Complex, Mumbai. The lecture was surely an eye opener for a majority of the huge number of individuals who attended that day. Each minute of the time spent listening to Bapu’s lecture that day, was time well spent. We are aware of the fact that many persons attended the lecture themselves but many also missed out on attending that day due to various reasons. We have made an effort to summarize the contents of Bapu’s lecture and have presented it here for the ready reference of all. We shall delve into details about each topic separately in the near future.

Bapu began his lecture by telling us at the outset that he was aiming to highlight “What mistakes are being committed by us” which are affecting our health in an adverse manner and “How we can improve?”

He assured each one of us that “Everything CAN BE REPAIRED”.

He asked us to reflect on the fact that the number of diseases and the number of person unwell in our society has risen very sharply. Many more people are suffering from different kinds of diseases as compared to the past.

The RURAL-URBAN difference in disease occurrence has disappeared. Some of the diseases which were more common in the cities only have now started affecting even the villages in a very bad manner. Industrialisation of the villages has increased the pollution in the villages and so all persons living in the villages are now facing the same health problems as the city persons.

“HEALTH IS NOT VALUED TILL SICKNESS COMES.” Dr. Thomas Fuller

We get worried about health only when we ourselves suffer from diseases. When we see some family member affected by a disease, we feel bad for him but never consider the fact hat we too can suffer from the same disease and so must change our lifestyle to avoid getting the same disease too. We do not learn from others experience and improve our health.

List of Common Diseases affecting us:

1. Raised Blood Pressure [Hypertension]
2. Diabetes
3. Heart Attacks [Coronary Heart Disease]
4. Stroke [Paralysis]
5. Cervical Spondylosis
6. Lumbar Spondylosis
7. Raised Blood Cholesterol [Hyperlipidemia]
8. Cancers
9. Hyperacidity and ulcers
10. Piles and Fissure
11. B. [Koch’s]
12. Malaria, Dengue
13. Asthma
14. Alzheimer’s Disease
15. Psychological Illnesses

The topics covered during the seminar are mentioned below. Please click on the headings to expand the specific topic.

[toggles title="1. EPIGENETICS"]

We have always learnt that our genes determine many factors in our life such as whether we will develop Diabetes, Hypertension, whether we shall be able to fight some infections etc. This is true but nowadays the science of Epigenetics has been introduced to us.

Epigenetics refers to changes in the ares around our genes that can force our genes “ON” and “OFF”.

This means that the actions of the genes are decided by the factors inside and around our body. hence if we are able to modify these factors we may be able to restrict the actions of the genes and prevent many diseases from occurring even though we have the genes for the same.

The latest studies state that only when there is proper environment, the various genes in our body get expressed. Hence we may have a particular gene related to a disease but by modifying our lifestyle we may be able to stop the expression of that gene and hence prevent the disease from occurring in our body.

We can modify the actions of our genes by altering their surroundings.

 

Hence we can see that by modifying our lifestyle, we can actually prevent the genes for a particular disease from getting activated. Epigenetics can be altered.

[/toggles] [toggles title="2. METABOLIC SYNDROME"]

The presence of one or more of the following :

1. Increased Blood Sugar [Diabetes]
2. Increased Blood cholesterol levels [Hyperlipidemia]
3. Increase storage of Fats
4. High LDL [low density lipoproteins] levels is called Metabolic syndrome and a person suffering from Metabolic Syndrome has an increased chance having either a Heart attack, paralysis stroke or other life threatening diseases.

The presence of one or more than one of these symptoms causes an increased chance of the patient having either Heart attack, stroke or other life threatening diseases. [/toggles] [toggles title="3. OBESITY AND HYPERLIPIDEMIA"]

We generally see the terms such as Heart Attack, Diabetes, Stroke, liver cirrhosis on the Death Certificates but never do we see the term OBESITY on any death Certificate, even though it is the real cause of all these conditions which eventually cause death. These are the diseases which travel with obesity.

Obesity does not only refer to those who look flabby. some persons may look absolutely healthy and well built but may have significantly high blood cholesterol levels and this causes significant risk of many fatal diseases.

Obesity is quantified according to the scale called “Body Mass Index”

Body Mass Index (BMI) is a measure of body fat based on height and weight that applies to adult men and women.

BMI = weight in kg / (height in mtr)2

BMI Categories: Underweight = <18.5 Normal weight = 18.5-24.9 Overweight = 25-29.9 Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater [/toggles] [toggles title="4. IDEAL WEIGHT AND HEIGHT CHART"]

	Men	Women
Height in Feet & Metres	Weight in kgs	Weight in kgs
5'-0" (1.523 m)	51-54.5	51-54.5
5'-1" (1.548 m)	52-55	52-55-52-55
5'-2" (1.574 m)	56-60	53-57
5'-3" (1.599 m)	58-62	54.4-58
5'-4" (1.624 m)	59-63.5	56-60
5'-5" (1.650 m)	61-65	57.5-61
5'-6" (1.675 m)	62-67	59-63.5
5'-7" (1.700 m)	64.0-68.5	61-65
5'-8" (1.726 m)	66-71	62-67
5'-9" (1.751 m)	67.5-72.5	64.0-68.5
5'-10" (1.777 m)	69.5-74.5	66-70.5
5'-11" (1.802 m)	71-76	67-71.5
6'-0" (1.827 m)	73.0-78.5	68.5-74
6'-1" (1.853 m)	73.5-80.5	73.5-80.5
6'-2" (1.878 m)	77.5-83.5	77.5-83.5
6'-3" (1.904 m)	80-86	80-86

[/toggles] [toggles title="5. DIABETES & HYPERTENSION"]

Diabetes has become one of the most common lifestyle diseases in india. In fact India has the maximum number of Diabetics in the world and hence is called the DIABETES CAPITAL OF THE WORLD.

India has more than 6 - 10 crore people having Diabetes and a similar number of people have Pre-Diabetes.

By the year 2030 it is expected that 20-30 crore Indians shall be suffering from Diabetes.

It is estimated that there are 10 lakh deaths in India as a result of Diabetes and related illnesses.

Earlier the concept was that Pre-Diabetes stage was not regarded as dangerous but current data proves that Pre-Diabets and Diabetes have the same effect on the health of the individual, the only factor which is important in predicting the risk of outcome of Diabetes is “How well are the Blood Sugars controlled.”

Raised Blood Pressure: Hypertension Out of the total 700 crore population of the world, almost 100 crore people are suffering from raised Blood Pressure, Hypertension.

What to Do?

Many of us who are having problems such as Obesity are always wondering why is it that we are obese? We commonly say that we are doing proper Dieting and taking effort like going for walks and exercising but after sometime we revert to our old Obese self inspite of our best efforts.

We have to understand why this happens.

[/toggles] [toggles title="6. CALORIE IS NOT A CALORIE"]

Everyone keeps talking about calorie eaten and calories spent and we believe that a person who is obese is eating more calories than he is spending but this is untrue.

Calories from different foods differ.

Calories derived from Glucose can be utilised by the body whereas those derived from Fructose cannot be used by the body and are stored as fat. This difference is discussed further.

[/toggles] [toggles title="7. SUGARS (SUCROSE: GLUCOSE & FRUCTOSE)"]

The Table sugar that we consume is called Sucrose which is made up two smaller sugars called Glucose and Fructose in equal quantity.

Glucose

It is also called Blood sugar as it circulates in the body through blood and is the primary source of energy for all the cells and tissues of the body.

This is the essential sugar for the functioning of the body.

on consuming Sucrose it gets split in our stomach into Glucose and Fructose.

LINK to NOTE ON SUGAR

Fructose

Fructose is Extremely Bad for us. It acts like a poison.

It is called fruit sugar and is found in many fruits and vegetables. in its natural form in fruits etc this fructose is accompanied by fibres and hence a ver minute amount is absorbed by the body where as when it is consumed as part of the sucrose sugar we eat, it gets absorbed readily.

Our body CANNOT generate energy from this fructose and majority amount of fructose that we consume gets converted into fats which increase obesity and blood cholesterol levels and other products which cause such effects as raised Blood pressure, raised blood fats, Diabetes, raised Uric acid levels and raised Insulin levels.

Fructose gets stored as large amount of Glycogen in liver and makes our liver sick.

If you consume 200 cal. of Sucrose (Table Sugar), i.e. 100 cal. of Glucose + 100 cal. of Fructose

Only 16 cal. of Glucose will go to the Liver. All 100 cal. of Fructose will go to Liver. + 16 cal. of Glucose So Total 116 cal. of Sucrose will go to the Liver, Making Liver Sick i.e. creating Insulin Resistance. A lot of Fructose has been added to our diet as a result of usage of HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP [HFCS] in our foods. HFCS has been used as a sugar substitute as they are cheaper but they end up giving us a very dose of fructose. [/toggles] [toggles title="8. INSULIN, LEPTIN AND GHRELIN"]

When we eat sugar, our body produces Insulin so that the glucose in the body can be absorbed by the cells of our body to produce energy.

Normally after Insulin is secreted, and a good amount of energy is available to the body, the insulin levels start to reduce and the fat cells of our body produce LEPTIN. This hormone tells our body that the stomach is full and we should stop eating.

On eating more and more sugar our body keeps on producing more and more insulin but a point is reached where the insulin becomes inactive. this causes the body to produce still larger quantities of Insulin.

This increased amount of Insulin causes a suppression of Leptin and so our brain does not get the signal to stop eating and we end up eating more and more. Hence LEPTIN becomes inactive.

Ghrelin: this is a hormone secreted by the stomach and its action is to stimulate our hunger centre. Normally Leptin suppresses the action of Ghrelin and so lets our brain know that we have eaten enough.

When we eat too much sugar and the excess insulin causes inactivation of the Leptin, Gherkin keeps on getting secreted and so our appetite goes on increasing.

[/toggles] [toggles title="9. WHAT TO DO?"]

Eat less sugar, eat less fatty foods to avoid the inactivation of Leptin and so preventing OVEREATING.

Avoid sucrose (table sugar) and replace it with Dextrose.

DESSERTS = STRESSED

Therefore, avoid sugary deserts.

[/toggles]  10. HIDDEN SUGARS [toggles title="11. ROLE OF FIBRES"] Eat fruits as even though fruits have high amount of fructose, they also have large quantity of fibre in them. This fibre stick to the fructose in the fruits and prevents the absorption of fructose into the stomach. Eat vegetables rich in fibre, potato skins also have a large amount of fibre in them so we should eat vegetables with their skins rather than without. [/toggles]

    12. OILS & FATS

    13. OBESOGENS

[toggles title="14. EPIDEMIC OF ABSENCE"]

Epidemic of absence actually means an epidemic of absence of Good bacteria in our intestine. Good bacteria refers to the bacteria which are helpful to us. They play an important role in digestion of food and also help build our immunity. Absence of good bacteria in large intestine is the root cause for a majority of diseases in the world.

On an average, the large intestine of humans contains almost (100 trillion) bacteria i.e.

100,000,000,000,000 bacterias.

In short, Human Intestines contains 10 times more number of bacteria than total number of cells in our body. And the total weight of these intestinal bacteria is approximately 2kg. There are 3 types of bacteria present in the large intestine of humans,

1. GOOD BACTERIAS ( Bacteroidis)
2. BAD BACTERIAS ( Fermicutes)
3. INNOCENT BACTERIAS

Approximately the Human body has 30000 genes, whereas the total number of genes of the gut bacteria are more than 3000000.

Now let’s move on to see the effects of the Bad bacteria on our body;

1. 1.Bad bacteria cause a greater absorption of fats from our diet into our blood stream hence causing obesity and increased lipids in the blood.
2. 2.Bad bacteria generate Hormones and Enzymes in excess amounts thus causing an imbalance of such chemicals in the body.
3. Bad bacteria compromise our immunity and make us prone to developing many major diseases.

Now we will look at effects of presence of Good bacteria in our body:

1. Good bacteria produce good chemicals (Hormones and Enzymes) which keep our body Healthy and keep us fit and fine.
2. Good bacteria augment our immune system and so help our body to fight against any disease.
3. Good bacteria generate chemicals which influence our thought process, our stamina, our personality and our overall life in a positive and good way by causing many changes in the hormone levels of our body.

The composition of Bacterial Flora of the intestines of a healthy individual and an obese individual is different with more number of good bacteria present in the gut of Lean and healthy individuals and and more number of bad bacteria in the intestine of Obese individuals.

The reasons for increase in number of Bad bacteria in our intestines and death of Good bacteria are:

1. Excessive use of pain Killers.
2. Excess use of Antibiotics.
3. Taking Oral contraceptive pills for long duration.
4. Food toxins from Grains and Legumes.
5. Excess intake of Fructose. Fructose is a good source of energy for the bad bacteria and thus causes an imbalance in the gut flora with bad bacteria growing more than the good bacteria.
6. Excess consumption of food containing Omega-6 fatty acids.
7. Stress
8. Lack of sleep or Oversleeping.
9. Repeated intestinal Infections.
10. Drinking of Unboiled milk– Unboiled milk is contaminated with bacteria that are present on the udder of cow/buffalo. Boiling destroys these bad bacteria.
11. Unclean hands– Unclean hands transfer outside bad bacteria to the food we eat.
12. Sweets kept in the open– Rapid growth of bad bacteria occurs in sweets when kept open for long time.
13. Excessive fasting can increase number of bad bacteria.

How can we increase number of Good bacteria in our intestines?

The answer is easy only we have to make certain changes in our diet and take certain precautions.

1. Reduce the intake of food toxins like Fructose and Omega-6 which are known to be harmful for good gut bacteria.
2. Reduce Mental stress.
3. Take proper treatment for intestinal infections.
4. Regular intake of Probiotic food ( food which contains a lot of good bacteria) like,
   • Curd
   • Yogurt
   • Kim-chi(cabbage preparation which gives 1000times more good bacterias).
   • Kefir
   • Brine ( Cucumber kept in salt water)
   • Amla kept in salt water.
   • Over ripe Banana
5. Regular eating of fermented food like,
   • Idli- Idli batter should be freshly made and should not be kept for more than 2-3 days.
   • Dosa- with minimum butter or minimum oil.
   • Khaman and Dhokala.
   • Ambil- Ambil is a treasure of good bacterias.
   • Home made Curd
6. Increase intake of high fibre food. Food fibres are of two types
   • soluble fibre (absorbs water)
   • insoluble fibre (Do not absorb water)

According to American journal of Clinical Nutrition, A diet rich in fibre if taken for longer period can cause change in Intestinal bacteria from Bad to good and also helps in weight loss.

Now let’s see the food stuff which can give us a lot of fibre which is a boon for growth of Good bacteria in our intestines.

• Foodstuff with Soluble fibres,
  1. Apples ( seeds should be avoided as it contains traces of Cyanide)
  2. Oat meal
  3. Oat cereals
  4. Oranges
  5. Pears
  6. Strawberries
  7. Blueberries
  8. Nuts
  9. Beans
  10. Dried peas.
  11. Cucumber
  12. Carrots

• Foodstuff with Insoluble fibre,
  1. Whole wheat
  2. Barley (Satu flour)
  3. Zucchini
  4. Celery
  5. Broccoli
  6. Cabbage
  7. Onions
  8. Tomatoes
  9. Brinjals
  10. Dark leafy vegetables
  11. Skin of fruits and root vegetables
  12. Amaranth ( Rajgira)
  13. Carrot and Cucumber

Research suggests that Gut bacteria have capacity to modify our mind. How it is possible? Let’s see,

Our intestines are connected to the base of our brain by 100 million nerve cell fibres, in short we have nervous system connections that connect our intestines to our brain. Intestinal bacteria produce various chemicals which has effect on these nerve cells and in short on our brain.

Good bacteria produce good chemicals such as enzymes and hormones whereas Bad bacteria produce bad chemicals and thus they influence our thoughts i.e. Either Good or Bad.

Certain Types of bad bacteria produce chemicals which increase Anxiety in.

But How much time does the process of changing the Gut Flora from Bad to good take in our intestine?

The answer is from Minimum of 3 days to Maximum of 7 days. Yes it is strange but true.

Within week our intestinal bacteria can change from bad to good. Many of the diseases mentioned earlier in this article can be avoided or their severity can be reduced if our intestines have more number of good bacteria. Since the good Gut bacteria is our biggest weapon as well as protective shield of our body, the Doctors now a days are calling it as “THE FORGOTTEN ORGAN” And our Bapu (Dr. Aniruddha D. Joshi) has given it a name as

“LAXMIPRASAD”

The Prasad for every human being from our Mother Chandika i.e. “AAROGYALAXMI”. [/toggles] [toggles title="15. CHRONIC DEHYDRATION"]

According to American health Association daily water requirement for every person above the age of 18 years is approximately 3.7 litres. i.e. 3litres and 700ml.

The average Human body comprises 70% of water and Human Brain is made up of 74% of water. When a person drinks less than 50% of his daily requirement of water, over a long period of time it leads to multiple health problems. This scenario is known as chronic dehydration. Following are the health problems associated with chronic dehydration.

1. Fatigue of Body and brain:
2. Constipation: Sufficient quantity of water is required for the formation of sufficient amount of stool. That is the reason why chronic dehydration causes constipation.
3. Dryness of Skin
4. Loss of hair (Alopecia)
5. Rise in bad Cholesterol: Drinking less than 2.5 litres of water per day results in increased levels of bad Cholesterol (LDL) in blood.
6. Excess weight gain and Obesity
7. Premature Ageing: Less water intake enhances ageing process in our body i.e In other words we start becoming older at early age.
8. Less water intake causes increase in number of bad bacteria in our intestines.
9. Blood pressure: lower intake of water causes bad changes in our blood pressure level. Poor intake of water also causes a need to increase the dose of Blood Pressure medication in persons suffering from high BP.
10. Urine Infections: concentrated urine means higher concentration of all toxins and these toxins and bacteria leads to increased chances of developing urine infections.
11. Respiratory troubles: Moisture in respiratory tract protects respiratory tract from various problems. Insufficient water intake decreases moisture content of respiratory tract thus causing troubles.
12. Stomach Ulcers: lack of sufficient amount of water decreases formation of protective barrier called as Mucus, which protects stomach from injury by Acid which it produces to digest food. Decrease in formation of this barrier causes damage to stomach by its own acids resulting in stomach ulcers with risk of stomach cancer.
13. Arthritis( Pain in joints and in body): Dehydration causes formation of toxins in our body. These toxins are responsible for development of pain in various parts of our body and also leading to drying up of the cartilage in the joints thus causing arthritis.

Since chronic dehydration has so many bad effects on our health it is very important from our point of view to drink sufficient amount of water (Approx. 3.7litres)daily to keep us healthy, and Fit. [/toggles]

[toggles title="16. LIST OF DISEASES DUE TO VITAMIN-D DEFICIENCY"]

Vitamin-D is a Very important vitamin that is necessary for the maintenance of overall health of human. The activities many enzymes in our body are directly or indirectly dependent on vitamin-D.

Deficiency of vitamin-D, thus can produce multiple health problems in human body.

Here is the list of Diseases caused due to Deficiency of Vitamin-D,

1. Weak bones: reduced calcium in the bones
2. Falls in the elderly
3. Increased risk of Fractures
4. Depression
5. Irritable and Inflammatory bowel disorders.
6. Increase in narrowing of blood vessels like Arteries (Atherosclerosis).
7. Increase in Bad cholesterol levels in Blood.
8. Increase in severity and early onset of Diabetes.
9. Weight gain (obesity)
10. Increase incidence of different types of Cancers.

Now researchers are suggesting that Not only Vitamin-D but also Sunlight is equally important in decreasing level of incidence of paralysis and Heart attacks.

[/toggles] [toggles title="17. VITAMIN-C"]

Alongside Vitamin-D, Vitamin-C is also essential for the proper functioning of body.

The different types of role Vitamin-C plays in our body can be listed as follows,

• Healthy Gums: Vitamin C is essential for healthy gums
• Immune Stimulation: Vitamin C plays important role in stimulation of immune system of our body and keeps us fit to fight any outside disease that tries to attack us.
• Anti-Allergic: Normal levels of vitamin-c in our body reduces incidence of allergies by 70%.
• Antioxidant: Vitamin-c neutralizes many different types of toxins routinely formed in our body.
• Cementing action: Vitamin-C acts as a cementing material and provides strength to many different types of tissues in our body. Its cementing property is particularly helpful in healing of wounds.
• Teeth and Gums: Vitamin-C is necessary for maintaining normal health and functioning of our Teeth and Gums.
• Iron absorption: Vitamin-C helps in absorption of iron from intestines into blood and helps in maintaining our Haemoglobin levels normal.
• Adequate amount of vitamin-C is necessary for normal and healthy functioning of our eyes.

From above mentioned information we can easily understand the important role vitamin-C plays in our body and the necessity for including it in our diet to keep us healthy, fit and fine.

[/toggles] [toggles title="18. EXERCISE"]

Along with dietary fibre, EXERCISE is a real protective mechanism for us to avoid high blood pressure, Diabetes, obesity and bad cholesterol in blood.

Exercise is really necessary for our well being because when we exercise regularly,

• Bad fat that is accumulated on our body gets converted into muscles.
• The insulin in our body is maintained at normal levels
• It improves work of leptin which is an important chemical which helps in reducing fat.

This is why Bapu (Dr. Aniruddha D. Joshi) has time and again coaxed us to take regular walks in sunlight and do regular Suryanamaskars and other exercises.

Various kinds of Exercises are mentioned below:

1. CARDIO EXERCISES:
   • These are low intensity and long interval exercises. These exercises require low power but are performed over long duration.
   • Help in building stamina.
   • Improves blood circulation in the body and to the heart which protects from formation of blood clots or deposition of bad fat within blood vessels.
   • Burn more calories and fats as compared to isometric exercise.
   • The examples of Cardio exercises are WALKING, RUNNING, SWIMMING, CYCLING, DANCING
2. ISOMETRIC EXERCISES:
   • These are high resistance (intensity) and short interval exercises. i.e. These kind of exercises require use of more power over short duration.
   • Help in building muscle mass of body.
   • Give shape to our body but are inferior in building stamina as compared to cardio exercises.
   • Burn relatively less fat calories than cardio exercises.
   • The examples of Isometric exercises are WEIGHT LIFTING, WEIGHT TRAINING, & OTHER EXTREME ACTIVITIES.
3. ERGONOMIC EXERCISES:
   • Ergonomics is an individual science in itself
   • Ergonomics follows the principle of ‘assigning the right person for the right job rather than giving right job to a person’
   • Exercises are assigned to a person according to the job he does e.g. Sedentary or moderately active or a manual labourer, helping him overcome the bad health effects associated with his job. e.g. Cervical spondylosis ( pain in neck and shoulder) because of prolonged sitting and working in front of computer.
   • Bapu has told that he is going to start giving training in Ergonomic exercises. Initially he will himself train teachers and then they shall impart this training at various centresto all persons
4. STRETCHING:
   • In stretching our muscles contract which helps in improvement of blood circulation within our body and also to heart and results in improvement in our health.
   • More the number of muscles we stretch at a time, better is the blood circulation in the body.
   • Stretching exercises shall also be included under ergonomic exercises.
5. WARM-UPs: These are the types of pre-exercises we usually do to prepare our body before starting more strenuous exercises.

In short regular exercise keeps us healthy, fit and fresh. Regular exercise causes generation of such chemicals in the brain which cause positive thoughts in our mind.

Calories burnt in 1 hour and types of exercise.

[/toggles] [toggles title="19. STRESS"]

In today’s competitive world almost each person is facing stress on daily basis or at least certain point of life.

Stress can be physical, mental or emotional. Physical stress has definitely its impact on our health but mental and emotional stress has far graver impact on our wellbeing.

What can be the reasons for having mental stress? The answer is mentioned below:

1. No job security.
2. Work pressure for completion of goals and targets.
3. No fixed working hours.
4. Effect of competitive world which put a lot of stress on us to keep up with the pace of rapidly changing outside world.
5. With the advent of “SMART” technology, man has started spending more time with gadgets thereby losing out on human interaction.

And a machine cannot reduce our stress, but spending some time with our loved ones, our friends and family can definitely help us in releasing stress, but unfortunately we are not doing this.

[/toggles] [toggles title="20. EPIDEMIC OF MALE BODY HATRED"]

This is a new epidemic on rise in our society. It is hatred for the body of a Male and better called as Epidemic of male body hatred.From childhood we grow up watching on television and seeing photographs in magazines of a well built Male with a hairy chest. They are shown to us as heroes. And it gets imprinted on our mind that looking like this only makes a man super male. In other words if some one has a well built body then only he is qualified to be a super male.And if someone does not have this kind of a built , hairy chest or six pack Abs then he is not deserved to be called as Man. Or in other words he does not qualify to have a manly personality.But in reality Manliness/ masculinity is not at all related to body built or hairy chest. It is not a criteria to decide one’s manliness. And It is nowhere mentioned in Allopathy, Ayurveda or Homeopathy that Muscular body and hairy chest are the criteria to decide whether a person is male/ or not.Manliness is not dependent on One’s physical appearance, but it depends on One’s commitment towards his family, His ability to fulfil his family’s needs and his hard work to keep his family safe and happy.

For so called super human well built Models and actors this external appearance is mode for earning money. But we don't understand this and on contrary trying to look like them we spend lots of our money and our precious time behind dieticians, searching diet food supplements and in Gymnasiums. We also put our health at risk by doing wrong dieting plans, taking wrong medicines without any medical supervision which affects our stamina and our Sperm count.

Since young boys are not understanding reality behind this. They are suffering inferiority complex and are considering themselves as weak and non-manly if they don't have the kind of body which is being portrayed as only qualification criteria for manliness. Because of which today many boys are lacking in confidence in their daily life. It is affecting their productivity and weakening their minds also. Even now a days seeing such pictures girls are demanding a partner to be well built and rejecting boys without such features which is further shaking the confidence of boys. And this is creating a lot of mental stress in our society. Loss of confidence is a biggest Disease.

To avoid this we should understand the reality behind this. Man should not consider himself weak or non manly by mere comparing himself with such actors or models. In reality the criteria are different and it is necessary that we should become aware of it.

[/toggles] [toggles title="21. EPIDEMIC OF BEAUTY SICKNESS"]

Epidemic of beauty sickness is another type of a new epidemic causing lot of social and mental stress. If a lady has a zero figure, fair body and facial features like a model participating in beauty contests then only she is considered as beautiful. In short a lady is beautiful only if she looks like a beauty contest participant. Little girls grow up hearing both the implicit and explicit messages suggesting that only and most important virtue for which they should thrive for is beauty. and to achieve this they start undergoing diet plans to achieve zero figure and it makes them anorexic. Lack of proper nutrition affect their health badly. To look attractive and beautiful they put unwanted and excess make up on their face and body. The chemicals present in beauty products harm their skin more.This shifts focus of a lady on her beauty and beauty only. It also directs her emotional, cognitive and financial resources away from many other important things and goals in her life. This is becoming a stumbling block in the progress of ladies in any other fields than beauty.It is actually a time for ladies to spend less time in front of mirror and more time in changing world is what felt By Dr. Englen.Ladies often try and compare themselves with these beauty contest models and starts considering themselves inferior to them and lose their confidence. This should not happen because beauty of a woman/man lies in his/her confidence, love and not on his/her external appearance. Rather than beauty, loyalty and love with each other or with family is more important. External beauty without any love and loyalty is of no use rather a harm for family and society.Always trying to compare and look like these beauty queens is a mere wastage of time and money without any productivity. One should not examine himself by watching and comparing with these models or actors because Someone’s clothes, his/her external looks or accent of speaking does not decide his/her’s class, but His/her’s knowledge, Level of updation and ability of keeping one self with changing world and also last but not the least his/her’s love and commitment decides their class.

[/toggles] [toggles title="22. POSTURE, EARTHING & PALEO DIET"]

Posture: In our daily life whether we are standing, sitting or talking with other people it is very important to have a correct posture.

Posture is independent of the physical built of a person but it is dependent on how one stands, walks or sits.

Even while learning Yoga, Correct posture is the first thing that one is taught.

Posture has its effect on our Spinal cord and also on the release of neuro-chemicals ( Hormones) in our Brain. Good posture has a good effect which results in release of good chemicals and Bad posture has bad effect which results in release of bad chemicals in our Brain. Due to release of these types of chemicals in our brain Positive and negative thinking is most of the times dependent on our posture.

Since posture affect our Physical, Mental and psychological health it is very important to have a good and correct posture during whatever activity we do in our daily life. Our posture also defines our personality

For reference we are providing the picture of correct and incorrect postures so we can make changes to our posture accordingly.Earthing:Earthing, is a process by which the surplus electrical charges accumulated on any device are passed into earth to avoid accidental contact and injury.

All the individual cells in our body have the capacity to develop electrical energy and when it comes in constant contact with electromagnetic waves like WiFi, Mobile phones, Laptops it results in building up of a very high amount of electric charges on our body.

To remove such extra charges from our body, earthing is necessary. i.e. contact of our body with soil should happen.

Since we are living in urban areas with concrete roads and tiled floors it is becoming difficult to establish contact between our body and soil, thus no Earthing is happening.

Earthing has many good effects on our body like,

1. Earthing prevents blood from getting thicker.
2. It maintains balance of our nervous system.
3. It improves our sleep.
4. Reduces effect of stress on our body.
5. Keeps levels of bad chemicals in our body in check.

Establishing contact between our body and soil is a necessity.

How can it be done?

The solution is walking barefoot on soil for at least half an hour for minimum two days in a week.

Paleo Diet: The diet of humans during the Paleolithic Period in the history of civilization is called Paleo-Diet. Our genes have been developed according to this diet only. Humans started farming and other civilized activities fairly recently whereas their genes have been developing for over 21 million years and cannot be altered suddenly.

Paleo diet recipes promote eating raw food and more of meats. These recipes need to be modified and adapted to fit our eating habits.

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In conclusion,

Let us all make use of all this information that Bapu has shared with us and Lead a “HEALTHIER LIFE.”