SOFT DRINKS AND YOUR HEALTH

Too Sweet for Our Own Good

We encourage hydration and drinking plenty of fluids. Our teenage son loves drinking soft drinks, but he has gained a lot of weight. How do we balance the counsel we receive on drinking adequate amounts of liquids, especially as we see our son now struggling with his weight?

W

hen we encourage the intake of fluids, we’re referring primarily to drinking water. As you point out, many people, both young and old, are drinking increasing amounts of soft drinks (also known as sodas or sugar-sweetened beverage [SSBs]).  These drinks are laden with refined sugars and are fueling epidemics of obesity and diabetes throughout the world. Significant consequences result, especially in low and middle-income countries.

Blood clots in youths; a public health concern.

The future of any country is invested in youths who are knowledgeable, skilled, energetic and healthy. When youths live rightly, they can surely acquire these things and put their nations on map. The unfortunate bit is that, many of them do not know what to do or neglect what they have studied and thus lose their lives. 

Ms.Joan Kabayambi, from Makerere School of public Health identified a killer, which is claiming so many lives among the youthful age which brings a loss to their families, communities and the country at large. In the words she put it that “Blood clots are claiming lives of the youths.”

Worldwide there is a rise in the number of deaths resulting from blood clots. And in Uganda the levels are alarmingly claiming lives of youths.  This should be taken as a public health concern which must handled immediately; treatment and hospitalization may be necessary. In cases of severe, life threatening pulmonary embolism, definitive treatment may consist of dissolving the clot with thrombolytic therapy.

How much water is enough for you?

‘’Water is life’’ is a common saying that we are all familiar with. We need plenty of water for our brain to work well, as a vehicle to transport the nutrients from the intestines where they are digested to the muscles and other organs where they are metabolized and assimilated and back to the bladder, rectum and skin where wastes are expelled from the body.

Water helps lubricate our body joints. Imagine a mechanical part of any machine without a lubricant: do you think movement would take place? Okay, if it would, how easy would that be?

Our eyes are well lubricated by water, not oil, so the eyes can move about with ease enabling us to see in different angles without necessarily moving the head. If the cornea, the membrane covering the front part of our eyes was left to dry out, within a few days we would be blind. No wander we all blink numerous times in a minute subconsciously to lubricate the eye as well as hydrating it.

The human body is a water machine, designed primarily to run on water and minerals. Every life giving and healing process that happens inside our bodies happens with water. Our body instinctively knows how and strives to sustain youthful longevity, and in its every effort water is the key.

Common accidents on ears, eyes, and nose and their remedies

The Ear

Have you ever got an accident that an insect entered into your ear or someone else’s ear? This is a common form of accident because the ear is always open. And since the ear is a very important sensory center, you feel very irritated due to the continuous movements of the insect. Again because these are normally small insects in the narrow ear canal (Auditory Canal) we cannot simply pull them out with our fingers.

How to handle the insect problem:

Place 4 drops of olive oil into the ear; it will bind the legs of the insect and the wings so it will stop moving which is very irritating. Lie in a way that the ear where you have put the oil faces up so that the oil does not pour out. Since oil is denser, it will go to the underside and after about 10 minutes turn your head so that the oil comes out with the insect.

Caution: Use olive oil or any eatable oil if you can not get olive oil. Do not use petroleum products like paraffin.