Issue 2018

www.theasianindependent.co.uk
HEALTH
July 2018
13
Water : Drinking how much
is enough on a daily basis?
Much like the human body, water is an essential component of all foods and about 20% of our
daily fluid requirement comes from food. Butter and oils are the only foods with no water.
Delhi : The newest trend sweeping
sunny California is people drinking
untreated 'raw' water from unfiltered
sources packed with natural ions, minerals,
chemicals and organic matter. The
fad will, sooner than later, wreck their
health. Along with ions and minerals,
untreated water comes laced with bacteria,
viruses, parasites, pesticides and
heavy metals that cause nasty diarrhoea,
dysentery, hepatitis A, cholera, typhoid
and toxicities, among other diseases.
Just as contaminated water sickens and
kills, safe water saves lives. Safe and
easily available water for drinking,
domestic use and food production lowers
disease to boost economic growth
and lower poverty, according to the
World Health Organization. Water is
needed to carry nutrients to cells, moisten
tissue, cushion joints, regulate body
temperature and flush out toxins.
Staying hydrated protects against colorectal
and bladder cancers, high blood
pressure, heart disease, urinary tract
infections and kidney stones.
Most people drink water when
they're thirsty, but in warm and humid
weather, thirst is often not the best indicator
of dehydration. So how much
water should we drink every day?
Water accounts for 55%-60% of the
body's weight, depending on gender.
Much like the human body, water is an
essential component of all foods and
about 20% of our daily fluid requirement
comes from food. Butter and oils
are the only foods with no water. The
water content is more than 90% in foods
like milk and yoghurt, and in some
fruits and green vegetables, such as
watermelon, cucumber, cabbage, lettuce
and spinach. Fruits like apples, grapes,
oranges, pears and pineapple are 80% to
90% water, while beans and legumes
have a water content ranging from 60%
to 70%. Even dried fruits, seeds and
nuts are 1% to 9% water. A normal
healthy person needs about eight glasses
(two litres) of water a day, which
should go up in hot, sweaty weather and
during vigorous activities, according to
the Indian Council of Medical
Research's Dietary Guidelines for
Indians. The tea, coffee, milk, yoghurt
and whole foods you have will also help
meet your hydration target, but water
should be the fluid of choice.
For people in the UK, the National
Health Service recommends 1.2 litres
(six to eight glasses) of fluid every day
to prevent dehydration, while the US
National Academies of Sciences,
Engineering, and Medicine recommends
3.7 litres (15.5 glasses) of fluids
for men and 2.7 litres (11.5 glasses) for
women. Don't substitute water with
juices, even if they're fresh and
unsweetened, because they pack a lot of
sugar and calories in each glass. While
fresh fruit juices do have vitamins, minerals
and other nutrients, they also have
very high amounts of fruit sugars, which
the World Health Organisation puts in
the same category as harmful free sugars,
the intake of which should not
exceed 25 gm a day. A glass of fresh
orange juice, for example, has 0.4 gm of
fibre and 24 gm of sugar, compared to
1.5 gm of fibre and 10 gm of sugar in
one whole orange. The sugar in a glass
of fresh, unsweetened orange juice (24
gm) is almost the same as in a glass of
the colas (26 gm). Coconut water contains
potassium, which helps fight dehydration
by increasing the body's capacity
to absorb and retain water and is particularly
useful to hydrate people who
are ill or very active. But since a 250 ml
glass has 50 calories, using it as a substitute
for zero-calorie water leads to
weight gain. Dry and scaly skin, frequent
muscle cramps and constipation
are signs that you're dehydrated, so
watch out for signs now that the hot, wet
weather will make seat a part of life in
most part of the country.
Most teenagers are
unaware of food safety
standards, says study
Washington : According to a
study, a majority of teenagers have
a low level of awareness about safe
food handling. The University of
Waterloo study measured 32 different
food-handling behaviours
among Ontario high school students
in grades 10 to 12. It found that
fewer than 50% of the recommended
practices were followed by students,
including basic hand hygiene
and procedures to prevent crosscontamination.
"High school students represent
the next generation of food handlers,
but they are not well studied,"
said Ken Diplock, who led the
research while at Waterloo. "They
are just starting to prepare food on
their own and for others, and they're
also beginning to work in the food
industry. "It's important to get to
students before they develop bad
habits." The researchers observed
the students in high school food and
nutrition classes three times, once
before the students took an Ontario
standard food-handling training
program, then two weeks and three
months later.
The program helped them
improve their skills significantly,
but many students continued to
engage in risky behaviours known
to lead to food-borne diseases. The
most significant improvement after
the training course occurred on
thermometer use, which is the only
way to determine doneness - how
thoroughly cooked a cut of meat is.
Student use went from 5% at the
first observation to 36 and 33%?in
two weeks and three months respectively.
"Even though training programs
have important benefits,
there are obviously still gaps
between knowledge and how food
handlers behave," said Diplock.
"Food safety education improves
knowledge and behaviour, but
unless the values are reinforced in
other areas such as home life and
society, the behaviours will not
always stick." In this study, the
behaviours remained consistent
between the second and third observations,
likely because the students
were handling food regularly in the
presence of teachers, who reinforced
what they had learned, said
co-author Shannon Majowicz.
"We put a lot of emphasis on
general food safety education as a
way to protect people from getting
sick; it could also make a difference
if we educate students about safe
food handling in high school before
they're young adults living and
cooking on their own and for others,"
Majowicz said.
Britain mulls new measures
to tackle childhood obesity
Britain is planning to take various preventive measures in an attempt to help
reduce childhood obesity. They plan to make changes in TV and online advertising
along with the banning of caffeine laden drinks for younger children.
London : Britain is to mull banning
the sale of high-energy caffeine-laden
drinks to young children after a study
found a quarter of 6 to 9 year olds consumed
them. At the same time, Health
Secretary Jeremy Hunt also plans to
tackle pester-power by preventing stores
from displaying unhealthy foods at
checkouts or including them in buy oneget-one-free
deals, officials said on
Sunday, Xinhua reported. The new
measures are aimed at helping halve
childhood obesity by 2030. The
Department of Health and Social Care is
also going to consult on introducing
clear, consistent calorie labelling on
menus in restaurants, cafes and takeaways,
so parents can make an informed
choice about what their families are eating.
The government has called on
industry to recognise the harm that
adverts for foods high in fat, sugar and
salt can cause. It will consult on introducing
new TV and online advertising
restrictions to prevent children from
being targeted by unhealthy products,
and to incentivise companies to reduce
the sugar and calories in the products
they sell.
New measures could include extending
the current advertising watershed
and considering limiting the number of
unhealthy food adverts shown during
children's programs. The second chapter
of a national obesity plan will promote a
new national ambition for every primary
school to adopt a daily "active mile" initiative.
Hunt said: "The cost of obesity,
both on individual lives and our NHS, is
too great to ignore. Today we are taking
steps to ensure that by 2030, children
from all backgrounds have the help they
need for a healthier, more active
start in life."
Public Health Minister Steve
Brine said: "One in three children
are now overweight or
obese by the time they
leave primary school.
Dangerous overconsumption,
combined with
reduced activity, is
having a catastrophic effect on
our children's health, limiting
their potential and putting
them at risk of a shorter
life." "We all have a responsibility
to act before we lose a generation of
young people to this entirely avoidable
epidemic. We can't afford to waste time,
which is why we're committing to halve
obesity in the next 12 years with bold
new action."