health and well-being

Health and well-being

Longer Life & Healthly Ageing

It is very important to eat healthier to keep your cholesterol down and maintain your weight. But how? One option is to reduce your meat intake and substitute vegetarian alternatives. A vegetarian diet usually contains less total fat, saturated fat and cholesterol and includes more dietary fibre than a meat-based diet. For these reasons, vegetarians typically have lower rates of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, as well as lower blood pressure.

Choosing healthy foods is as important at snack time as it is at mealtime. Healthy snacks can add fibre and nutrients to your diet without unwanted calories. They can give you an energy boost during the day and prevent you from overeating at meals. As you age, eating well - that is, eating low-fat, nutrient-packed foods - becomes even more important. That's because good nutrition can help prevent health problems that are more likely to crop up later in life, like osteoporosis, diabetes, and heart disease. While your need for calories might start to decrease as your metabolism slows down, your vitamin and mineral requirements stay the same or, in some cases, even increase.

It is very sad to see how The Wests spend nearly half of their food dollars on away-from-home foods, according to the National Restaurant Association. On any given day, 44 percent of all adults eat in a restaurant. However, everyone has to be reminded that eating healthy foods and exercising regularly are the most important keys to stay healthy.

As in the back of your mind most people sometimes wonder, "Could taking a food supplement make me healthier?" Surveys show that more than half of the West adults take food, or dietary, supplements to boost their diet. Sometimes people take them because they lack — or think they lack — certain vitamins and minerals. Other people want to improve some part of their health, like their immune system. Vitamins, minerals, and herbs are the more popular food supplements. They come as powder or liquid that you can take as a pill or mix into food or drinks.

For years, doctors and food experts have been saying that in general, you don't need supplements if you eat a healthy, balanced diet. How do you know if your diet is healthy? Check the Food Guide Pyramid. It tells you which foods to eat each day and in what amounts to stay healthy. A healthy diet is low in fat and sugar and rich in plant foods, like vegetables, fruits, and whole grains.

Changing Lives, Changing Bodies

Sometimes, changes take place in our lives and bodies that can make it harder to eat right. For instance, a sad event, such as losing a loved one, could cause us to lose interest in food or eating right. Health and dental problems or some drugs can ruin our appetites or cause other eating problems. Some people, as they age, begin to avoid certain foods, like milk. That's because the sugar in milk gets harder to digest. This could cause them to not get enough calcium, which the body needs for strong bones.

If you aren't sure if you have a healthy diet, talk to your doctor or a food expert. He or she can help you figure out what's missing in your diet. Maybe you should be taking calcium tablets or a multivitamin. Find out which supplements to avoid if you have an illness or take medicine. Some supplements can make certain health problems worse or interfere with your medicine.

Buyer Beware

If you want to try a supplement because you read or heard it could improve your health in some way, do some research first. Look on the Internet or in the library for medical studies to support the claims. If the supplement is for a certain problem, like arthritis, check with a health group that knows about the illness, like the Arthritis Foundation. Ask a doctor or pharmacist if the supplement is safe and how it's used. The people who make them are responsible for making sure their product is safe and effective. That's why you want to check the information they give out before you use the product.

Here are some additional tips:

Beware of false claims

Supplements that claim to help you stay young, grow back hair, lose weight, or cure cancer could be false. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Watch for double standards

Even though herbs are often sold for having the same effect as certain drugs, they aren't controlled the same way. Find out about the herbs you want to use. Are there side effects? Could taking large doses be dangerous? How long have the herbs been used for treating your condition(s)? Have medical studies been published on their effectiveness?

High doses of some supplements might be harmful

There are guidelines for the amounts of vitamins and minerals you should take to stay healthy, but not for herbs. Some herbs could be harmful in large amounts. So could very large doses of vitamins and minerals.

Natural does not mean safe

Just because a supplement is natural or comes from a plant doesn't mean it's safe. Many times, herbal products don't include warnings about harmful side effects.

Remember, if you want to try a food supplement, be your own best health advocate. Assess your diet first; do some research; and talk to your doctor. Then you can make the best choice for your health.

It is however very important to work with your doctor to stay healthy is as important as getting the right treatment when you're sick. Preventive care, or care to prevent illness and disease, includes health tests/screenings, vaccines, and health counselling. Regular preventive care can help you stay healthy and livelonger.

Would you like to live 100 and over?

Your odds improve as we move through the 21st century. The average life expectancy in most Western countries is now 77.2 years — an increase of more than 30 years during the last century. By 2030, the number of 100-year-olds living in the Japan, UK, Germany, Holland, Spain, Belgium, France, U.S. etc. could climb to more than 1million.

Alcohol

Alcohol is something to be enjoyed and, most of the time, drinking doesn’t cause any problems. But drinking too much can be harmful.

The risks of drinking alcohol

Drinking alcohol raises blood pressure. In general, the more you drink the more your blood pressure will go up. This can increase the risk of coronary heart disease and some kinds of stroke. Regularly drinking more than the recommended daily allowance also increases your risk of liver damage, cirrhosis of the liver, and cancers of the mouth and throat. The risk of mouth and throat cancer is higher if you drink heavily and also smoke.

One too many

Most short-term problems from drinking come from one-off episodes of heavy drinking and drunkenness.

Large amounts of alcohol drunk in one session can put a strain on your liver and other parts of your body. Drinking alcohol can make you dehydrated; this is one reason people feel hung-over after drinking too much. After heavy drinking you should avoid alcohol for the next 48 hours to give your body time to recover.

Finding it too hard to stop

Sometimes people feel their drinking is getting out of control. If you are concerned about your drinking you should ask for help from your doctor or a specialist agency. The agencies listed below can help whether you are concerned about your own or someone else’s drinking.

Alcoholics Anonymous: 020 7254 6415 or Direct Line: 07956 95 26 45

Sensible drinking

For men

If you regularly drink four or more units a day there is an increasing risk to your health. If you drink between three or four units a day or less there are no significant risks to your health.

For women

If you regularly drink three or more units a day there is an increasing risk to your health. If you drink between two and three units a day or less there are no significant risks to your health.

The following measures of drink all contain one unit:

Half a pint of ordinary strength lager/beer/cider (3.5 per cent alcohol by volume)

a 25ml pub measure of spirits (40 per cent alcohol by volume)

a small glass of wine (9 per cent alcohol by volume)

Many wines are around 11 per cent or 12 per cent alcohol and a small glass will contain about 1.5 units.

Eating Disoders

Eating disorders range in type and severity, but there are things you can do to help.

What is an eating disorder?

Eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa (characterised by avoidance of food) or bulimia nervosa (usually involving fasting, bingeing and vomiting) are often the outward sign of inner distress. They are the way some people—including children—cope with all sorts of problems, including:

lack of self-esteem
pressure at school, including bullying
being abused
long-term term illness or disability
family strife or a death in the family
pressure to diet and be slim

Eating disorders are also linked with depression and drug abuse although, in some young people, the reasons for the development of an eating disorder are far from clear.

What are the signs?

Anyone can develop an eating disorder. It is seen most often in young women between the ages of 15 and 25, although young men are also affected.

Children and young people may show any of the following symptoms:

using laxatives and water-tablets without any apparent need
always weighing themselves or examining themselves in the mirror
thinking they are grossly overweight
being frightened of gaining weight or looking overweight
binge eating followed by forced vomiting or fasting
compulsive exercise such as gymnastics, jogging or cycling
secret eating with the same kind of food, especially cakes
hoarding secret supplies of food

Getting help

If you think your child may have an eating disorder, it’s important to see your GP. If it is left untreated, eating problems can seriously affect your child’s health and, for appropriate individuals, specialist help is available.

The Eating Disorders Association (EDA) provides several helplines:

adult helpline: 0845 634 1414 (8.30 am to 8.30 pm, weekdays)
youthline: 0845 634 7650 (4 pm to 6.30 pm, weekdays)
textphone service: 01603 753322 (8.30 am to 8.30 pm, weekdays)
You can also email EDA for advice at helpmail@edauk.com.

Giving Up Smoking

Stopping smoking is the best thing you can do for your health. Your body will begin to repair the damage done almost immediately. Within 10 years, the risk of a heart attack falls to the same as someone who has never smoked.

Benefits of stopping smoking

Within five years of giving up you will have reduced the risk of a heart attack to about half that of a smoker. Within 10 years of giving up, the risk of a heart attack falls to the same as someone who has never smoked, and the risk of lung cancer falls to about half that of a smoker. The most important part in giving up smoking is your desire to stop.

It is never too late to stop smoking

Is giving up smoking for me?

Smoking kills over 120,000 people a year, and is the single greatest cause of preventable illness and premature death in the UK. You’d probably like to give up smoking, but feel unable to stop because you are addicted to the nicotine in cigarettes. Bill, in his late 50s, had to retire early from ill-health.

NHS Services

The NHS provides free services to help smokers stop including local stop smoking services which offer ongoing free face to face advice and support near your own home. Your GP can offer advice and information on local NHS services and also prescribe aids to help you stop, such as nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), which can greatly increase your chances of stopping smoking successfully.

Giving up smoking in England and Wales

You can phone the free NHS smoking helpline for confidential advice and support on 0800 169 0 169. It is open from 7.00 am to 11.00 pm every day of the year and offers everything from basic literature to in-depth counselling, as well as giving support to families and friends of smokers. You can also get advice from the NHS Giving up smoking website.

NHS Direct

The National Health Service (NHS) runs a website called NHS Direct. It operates a 24-hour nurse advice and health information service providing confidential information for the general public. The telephone number is 0845 4647.

The website contains a health encyclopaedia where you may be able to find out more about an illness or condition.

Choosing the best Treatment

Another website is called 'Best Treatments' aimed at both the public and health professionals contains information about medical research, medical conditions, drugs and treatments.

Best Treatments website (opens new window)

Organisations and charities

Visit the 'Helpful contacts' page within the Directgov. Alternatively, visit the health charities A-Z which is run by the NHS Information Authority.

Health and well-being contacts

Health organisations and charities

Government health contacts

Health charities A-Z on the NHS Information Authority website (opens new window).

This was written by:

Mr Jean-Paul LAWRENCE TAMPU-EYA, PhD (Res.),

BA(Hon's), LL.B.(Hon's), LL.M. (London)

Chairman, CARA SOCIETY,

The Central Africa's Rights and AIDS Society

Charity Registered in England and Wales,

Charity Registration No.: 1101373

Registered Office: Unit 4, 2nd Floor, The Printhouse, 18 Ashwin Street, Dalston, London E8 3DL

Tel.: 07956-95 26 45 / 020 7254 6415 Fax: 020 8800 5653.

Please click the Charity Commission's website bellow if you require any further information about Central Africa's Rights and Aids Awareness Society: http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/registeredcharities/showcharity.asp?remchar=&chyno=1101373 or the COMIS website: http://www.hackney.gov.uk/comis-org.htm?OrgID=7188

Designed and typeset by

Plefilia, Plenty Plevinas & Plemilia Tampwhuo-Eyab & Co.

41, Tower Court, London E5 (UK)

CARA Society, 18-22 Ashwin Street, Dalston, London E8 3DL - Tel: +44(0)20 7254 6415 - Mob.: +44(0)7956 952645 /+44(0)7949 887642 - Fax: +44(0)20 7254 6415 - Registered Charity No.: 1101373