Dr.M's Analysis

Many of us gain weight during Ramadan and that’s a real shame. Here are a number of things to avoid :

Soda : Please, oh please don’t drink regular soda for iftar. This is the worst possible you can do. Don’t declare a war on your pancreas by introducing several tablespoons of sugar into your bloodstream after the hypoglycemic state your body has been under all day. It will wreck havoc on your body’s ability to maintain proper sugar levels. If you must drink soda, make it diet. BTW sodas promote the formation of kidney stones, so if you want to play it safe drink water(prevents formation of gall and kidney stones) and eat radishes(proven to dissolve kidney and gall stones).

Iftar : Be responsible and know that iftar isn’t supposed to be a pig out at some “All you can eat” joint. Make it a modest meal and you may just avoid dozing off during Taraweeh prayers, assuming you can make it to the masjid after the food coma hits.

Alcohol : No really, you cant. This one’s for all you proggie juice hounds out there. Do you guys even fast?

That wasn’t too bad was it? Lets look at what you should be doing :

Cinnamon : Unless you have some ultra-rare allergy, you have absolutely no excuse whatsoever NOT to take Cinnamon pills with your meals. It’s a fantastic spice which significantly augments sugar metabolism, lowers cholesterol and acts like an anti-bacterial agent. Regardless of whether you have a family history of diabetes or not you should two 500 mg pills a day ( one each with lunch and dinner, or iftar) Check out what brother JD had to say about this :

“On a completely different note, I wanted to let you know that my father-in-law and I are both drinking down two mugs of cinnamon (mixed in water) every day. When "Abah" went in for a blood test last week, his blood sugar and cholesterol levels were practically nothing. Since I started taking it consistently, almost all of my skin lesions have completely healed as has the bacterial inflammation on the back of my neck. I haven't been back to the doctor yet to see what my blood sugar levels are like, but I have felt the difference internally. Thank you for this information.”

Turmeric : Did you know that India has the lowest incidence of Alzheimer's in the world? Turmeric is the reason why, it is a powerful anti-cancer agent and prevents the formation of amyloid plaques which leads to the neurodegenerative disease known as Alzheimer's. In short, it protects brain cells. Now if only there was a nifty spice which could prevent Indians from making those atrocious bollywood films(that’s right, you heard me, SRK sucks, Amitabh is good, but Dilip Kumar(Yusuf Khan) is the KING.

Olive oil : This one’s a shocker….olive oil is cardio-protectant. Anti-inflammatory and delicious. A little on the pricey side but worth every penny. Its beneficial health effects are due both to the high content of monosaturated fats and the high content of antioxidative substances. Take a tablespoon of this daily and watch that LDL(bad cholesterol) score drop.

Baby Aspirin : a.k.a low dose aspirin (81mg dose) is must for anyone in their thirties. It thins the blood, prevents clotting and sharply cuts down heart attack incidence. One tablet a day is all you need(best time to take is after emptying the bowels). Unless you have a history of peptic ulcers or are on any other medication which may interfere with aspirin, check with your doctor. If you experience some gastrointestinal distress(a common side effect) cut down to 3 pills a week. NEVER TAKE ASPIRIN and ACETAMINOPHEN(Tylenol) TOGETHER, this causes cell death in the kidneys. Also, you need to be off aspirin for a week before undergoing any surgery. I don’t mean to scare anybody, its just a little disclaimer, part of what we call “cover you’re a$$” medicine"( translation = no lawsuits). One more thing, aspirin also prevents colon cancer.

Exercise : Physical recreation is a must. Fasting in itself is a form of exercise so no workouts during the day. If you have a treadmill, use it for a good 10-15 minutes in power walking mode to help you get some of that iftar down. Just see what its done for would-be assassin Pat Robertson here...!

Saw Palmetto : The prostate of all men enlarges with age, sorry gents its a fact of life. That pesky chemical called DHT(restosteron analogue and the one responsible for male alopecia) increases the size of the prostate ( presses down on urethra obstructing outward passage of urine). So as we age it becomes harder and harder to completely empty our bladder, hence you end going to the bathroom multiple times during the night resulting in poor sleep quality. Being unable to completely empty the bladder often leads to self infections. Prostate enlargement may progress into prostate cancer...but we're not going to let it go that far, we're going to play it safe by taking the herb Saw Palmetto in capsule form twice a day(160 mg x 2). It reduces the bodys DHT levels thereby reducing its effect on the prostate. So if you're over 35 you ought to start taking it, make sure the bottle has "standardized" on it. THIS IS FOR MEN ONLY.

# posted by DrMaxtor @ 10:52 PM