Fitness - Your Smart Cells Clock

You could have learnt at your grandmother's knee that a healthy body is one that gathers food, digests what it requires and throws out the waste. It is a simple philosophy drawn from common sense. If you look around you, you will see that Nature has organised our planet to perfection. We have days and nights for all earthly creatures to work and sleep, animals who prey on other animals, animals that eat plants, the four seasons. Our entire world functions in cycles, Since we are Nature's children, our bodies too ought to be working in similar rhythms. For years, scientists and psychologists researched and analysed - trying to figure out if we functioned in a set pattern. After all, women have menstrual cycles. So, was it possible that the human body operated in some' kind of health rhythm blueprinted by Nature?

And sure enough, they stumbled on to a great discovery.

Our smart cells had a biological clock which they followed with precision! They had optimum time-spans for the bodys three functions - taking in and digesting food; absorbing and using the fuel; ridding our body off its wastes. What stunned these researchers was that the tireless smart cells could manage all three functions at the same time, but cannily also concentrated on one function more intensely during a certain period. And the marvellous smart cells living cycle ,slowly came to light just as a photograph emerges from a negative, in this way:

Noon to 8 p,m. : eating and digesting

8 p.m. to 4 a.m. : absorbing and using

4 a.m. to noon: eliminating wastes.

It was one more feather in the health expert's cap. Until then they could tell us what we should eat - Now they knew when we should eat to optimise our body's efficiency.

Common sense showed the way - that we could eat only when awake. But the living-cycle theory explained why if we stayed off food, our hunger would rise and then diminish even if we didn't eat.

That is because the body system would switch to the next function.

Common sense dictated that it was during sleep that our body-having nothing else to e expend its energy upon- used the time to rejuvenate and rebuild itself. The living cycle explained why a good night's sleep is far more refreshing than an afternoon nap. That is because the smart cells operate best in absorbing and using food at night.

And it was the living cycle that finally explained how the smart cells set aside a certain time for ridding the body of wastes.(Which is we have a furry tongue in the morning and also need to empty our stomachs soon after waking

After a late night of partying and feasting, have you woken up with a dull feeling? That is because you've eaten at a time when the body wants - to busy itself in absorbing and using the food. Instead, you've sent it off its normal track and forced it to 'eat' and digest - throwing its natural living cycle out of gear. Since its eliminating time has been postponed, you may find yourself constipated!

It figures from the timings of the natural living cycle that breakfast is not necessary to start the day. It is a time when the smart cells are busy vacuuming and cleaning up your insides. However, if you do feel hungry due to an old habit, eating fresh fruits or drinking fresh fruit juice would satisfy your hunger. Since the body can digest them easily, you don't tie up its energy in digestion.

According to health experts, the digestion of food demands more energy than running or cycling! Which is why, after a heavy meal, you feel sleepy. Your smart cells engage them - selves in the digesting process, using all their energy, leaving you with very little for doing anything except sleep. They also require loads of energy to clean up your system.

Obviously, you don't want your day's energy to be diverted purely for digesting food and eliminating wastes, important through they are for your health. Hence, constantly feed your smart cells with high-energy, fatless and sugar- free food like vegetables, fruits and sprouts to enable you to have tons of energy left over for your work and leisure.

Fitness - Is Non-Vegetarian Food Unhealthy

If you are a pure non-vegetarian, you will probably raise a hue and cry at the thought of turning vegetarian! But the truth is that meat of any kind is tough on your smart cells. If Nature intended you to be a non-vegetarian, she would have equipped you with claws, and sharp pointed teeth to tear into any flesh; given you acidic saliva to digest the animal protein; a round stomach with the capacity to produce plenty of hydrochloric acid, fewer intestines to shorten the process of digesting the meat so that you could expel it before it putrefies inside; a liver that could dispel more uric acid than it does.

Instead, we have hands with moveable fingers that can delicately pluck and peel fruits; blunt teeth and molars that crush and grind; alkaline saliva to digest plant protein; a stomach that produces small quantities of hydrochloric acid; more intestines that hold on to the food and give time for your smart cells to extract the required nutrients, a liver that can expel small amounts of uric acid.

Look around at your circle of friends. If you find one of them is suffering from gout, you can be sure he is a heavy red-meat eater. You can almost bet that he eats salami or sausages for breakfast, a steak for lunch and meat for dinner. Then, one day, after a leisurely weekend of imbibing an overdose of scotch-on-the-rocks and liberal helpings of cold cuts as hors d' oeuvres, and a plate piled with Mutton Moghlai, he would have slept feeling well-dined and content. Only to be jolted awake with his big toe pounding with pain. The gout had struck!

What happened? His prolonged meat-eating habit had put an overload on his liver. The excess uric acid had no place to go in his system, so it turned into crystals and settled in the joint of his big toe - and, pow! (What does his doctor recommend? To stay off meat and eat only vegetables, at least until the inflammation recedes.)

The onset of gout is only one side of the unhealthy coin. Meat is so high in indigestible fat content that it clogs up your arteries and can lead to a heart problem. It gives you no energy because though it contains carbohydrates, its also has undigestible animal protein and a high content of fat. That's the reason you feel heavy after a meaty meal. In fact, your smart cells sweat working overtime to digest the meat and use up all the carbohydrates and energy in knocking the meat into digestible shape!

Meat also has neither fibre nor healthy plant protein. The animal protein is tough on your smart cells and turns toxic - turning your insides into mess. You get indigestion, bad breath and a heartburn. The toxies load your immune system and also make you vulnerable to disease.

Lastly, look at your mental make-up. When you see a plump goat, do you get that predatory gleam in your eye that makes you stalk and kill it? Or if you've been to a sea-food restaurant which has a large aquarium filled with lobsters and are asked to pick one for dinner haven't you turned away with a shudder? Okay, you might argue, I don't see the live specimen when eating it.

Of course, you don't. You are just habituated to eating meat. But, remember, ultimately meat is dangerous to your health. However, if you just cannot do without it, we suggest avoid red meats - beef, mutton, pork ­completely and go in for lean meats like chicken and fish. This way, at least you won't be overstraining your smart cells while satisfying your taste buds. Even a chicken cooked in an oil-less masata, however, has enough fat to knock your smart cells out and make you put on weight. So, cook your chicken curry the previous day and refrigerate it overnight. The next afternoon skim the thick layer of fat that has coagulated on the surface and then heat it before serving. This way, at least, you are reducing your fat intake, Along with your non-vegetarian dish, pile your plate with plenty of vegetables so that you don't gorge on the meat alone. And eggs? They are not really worth including in your meals, for the yolk is high in fat and cholesterol. Which means that eating only the white albumen is best. In any case, they contain enough sulphur to strain your liver and kidneys. So, if you must. have an egg only once in ten days so as not to 'eggsasperate' your taste buds!

The culture of eating cooked food is deeply embedded in us. But we cannot ignore the value of raw foods. Make sure that your thali has plenty of salad and sprouts. For, the time taken by the body to digest and absorb various foods is:

13 hours - raw vegetables, fruits, sprouts.

24 hours - cooked vegetables and pulses.

72 hours - non-vegetarian and fried food.

Next to the - raw state, steaming is best. So is boiling, provided you do it in minimum water. Deep frying damages the nutritional value and the oil makes you fat, and raises your blood cholestrol level. Finally, the word 'vegetable' springs from the Latin vegetus meaning fresh and full of life. It is what our scriptures called pranic shakti, meaning life-force, depicting strength and energy.

Do ring in these little changes in your lifestyle. The two Es - exercising and eating right - will promote more than health. When you feel good about yourself, you will enjoy healthy relationships, a richer life. Fine-tune your mental dynamics. Don't ask yourself "Will this taste good?" Rather, ask, 'Will this taste good to my body's smart cells?" In that question lies your best answer.

Your Fitness Lifestyle in a Nutshell

The idea is that you should have in your corner, a certain minimum level of fitness for the daily requirements of life. And, if you have taken heed and acted on it, you are already - or well on the way to getting - fit.

This is your fitness lifestyle at a glance.

Aerobics

Abdominals

Sensible eating and drinking

Weight-training

To elaborate briefly:

Aerobics: To obtain maximum cardiovascular benefits, lose tat and maintain your weight within acceptable healthy levels, aerobics, should, " be done five times a week. Each activity needs to be done at a certain pace within the required time-span. When you begin scoring 60 aerobic runs per week, you will be in the aerobically fit zone. Which means, your heart will be stronger and more efficient, you will lose excess fat and have a better body.

Abdominals: Excess fat, poor posture or slack muscles in the stomach exercises should be done at least three times a week to insure you against them.

Sensible eating and drinking: Fatless, sugar-free, low-salt food ensures that you maintain your weight-loss. It also protects your arteries from getting clogged by cholesterol which can lead to heart diseases, It is also an insurance against diabetes. Healthy eating habits should be a natural part of your normal lifestyle. Dieting should be avoided.

You should eat the food that gives you energy.

To shatter the myth that 'health food' is tasteless, we have devoted an entire section to demonstrate that it can be delicious and satisfy your taste-buds. Try out these recipes and create your own too.

Alcohol consumption should be zero or kept to an absolute minimum.

Weight-training: is partly health-oriented, partly for 'looking good' purposes. It strengthens your muscles and makes you strong enough to meet your daily needs. It increases the density of your bones which reduces the risk of you getting a fracture say, from a fall. It makes your joints more flexible so that you are less prone to catches or other injuries.

It also shapes certain stubborn spots like the thighs, arms, 'love-handles' at the waist, etc. by firming the muscles in those regions.

This is the fitness lifestyle in a nutshell. Aerobic and sensible eating are the foundation; abdominals the guarantee and weight-training the insurance with a premium.

The pay-ofts are tremendous.

You shed years from your life as you move around more briskly and with a lighter step.

You rarely feel fatigued at the end of the day. Your mental and physical reactions to stress are minimised. You learn to relax, and sleep better. Your temper is on a longer leash and you may regard humorously certain situations which had earlier made you snap. Your relationships improve because of your calmer moods. Even your consultations with your doctor turn into a cosier conspiracy where you and she/he are engaged in the common pursuit of tackling your medical problems that have sprung up. And all through this runs the thread of satisfaction - of achieving a sense of well-being, of being in control.

The fitness lifestyle does not make any great demands on you. All it asks is:

make time to look after your health.

keep your weight to reasonably healthy levels.

give up smoking - if you are a smoker.

Everything else is purely motivational, to inspire the spark in you. To inform, in the hope that knowledge aids you in making a start. So that you step out stronger, surer, healthier. And to make that beginnings, there is no time like now.

What Should Be Your Ideal Weight

Frankly, that would be difficult to pinpoint with hundred per cent accuracy as it depends on your build and bone density. However, it is nice to have 'the ideal weight' as a goal to strive for. Which is why we have given a weight-chart for Indian men and women. Use it only as a reference point and not as an absolute bible. The main thing is that you should feel energetic and joyously alive all the time.

How fit are you?

Your state of health and fitness, however, does not begin and end with our weight. How much you weigh is one more milestone on the road to health. This section of the chapter has been carefully designed to awaken you to your optimum potential- physically, mentally and spiritually.

Initially, medicine came into being when people fell ill. Something was required to make them feel better and, if possible, cure them. Slowly, the face of medicine took on a different hue. Knowing that cures were available, people began to be rather complacent. The small voice of reason that said, "prevention is better than cure" was somewhat lost in the act of swallowing pills and undergoing surgery.

Somewhere in this race for pacemakers, however, the insistent voice continued to speak out. And world over, a new awareness crept in which redefined life not as mere existence, but living. Where health was seen not as an absence of diseases, but as a positive state of wellness. And where illnesses were viewed as the effects of a certain lifestyle, the result of this new thinking made such people believe that taking responsibility for their health lies more in their hands than with the family physician.

Take the example of a friend of ours - a typical, urban executive who makes a living out of creative confusion. He is always living on the edge ­running late for an appointment, invariably scrambling to find a file, even as the telephone is stuck to the shoulder as a physical extension. By day, he chases future contracts before finishing existing commitments. By night, he chases highballs thinking that they can "unwind" him, since work flies at him like angry hornets disturbed from their hive. Thus, his professional life is akin to a one-handed juggler trying to keep four balls in motion.

In short, our friend is the kind of chap who makes the Tolstoy hero - out to claim all the land he can walk on - look like a stay-at-home. He is worse on his rare days off - haring off to a club, tearing off for a play, entertaining entertainment without end. Sure, the man has a lifestyle. But the basic question remains: where is life? Is it any surprise that his medical bills are as high as his petrol bills?

That brings us back to the fundamental question raised by the new awareness.

Who is responsible for this man's health? He himself, with his chosen lifestyle, or his doctor?

The prevention-is-better-than-cure banner can now be raised on the pillars of health bringing us to the seven key habits that most of us learnt at our mother's knee:

Daily exercise
Balanced meals
Weight control
No smoking
Moderate or no alcohol
Adequate hours of sleep
An even temperament.

Ask yourself. Can you honestly say that you subscribe to every one of these seven homilies? As an extra pay-off, we have found that fitness promotes a serene as well as an optimistic outlook releasing powerful healers like laughter.

Make no mistake. Life is not a lifestyle. Life is for living. Living should be an art combined with the science of healthy knowledge to make life a continually uplifting experience.

Since your health and fitness begin with yourself, we present a personal survey, a questionnaire that helps you find out how fit you are. Since every one of us is different from others, it was not possible to come up with a standard fitness survey. After all, we vary not only in age and gender but also have different kinds of body frames, bone density. Some of you may be exercising, some may have once exercised, some may never have. The variables are too diverse. However, the best thing about fitness is that you don't have to compete with anybody but yourself. In the privacy of your room, you can set your own standards and try and improve upon them. In short, you have to measure up to your own expectations.

This personal survey has been designed to help you gauge your general fitness. To derive the maximum benefit from it, you should answer it now and repeat it after three months and, once again, after another three ­month interval. For, if after reading this book, you do launch into your own exercising programme and eat sensibly, we have no doubt that you will see a steady progress in your fitness and health.

As you will see, one of the questions refers to your resting pulse rate. This is because your pulse rate tells you how fast your heart is beating while at rest. Later on, we shall explain the joys of pulse-rated exercises. To answer this question, you will have to take your own pulse rate. It is easy. Use your index and middle finger - never your thumb which has its own beat to take your pulse. Place the two fingers either on your wrist below the thumb or at your neck below your jaw. You will feel your pulse throbbing. Use a watch with a second hand and count the beats for ten seconds. Multiply that number by six. That is your pulse rate per minute.

Example:

No. of beats/10 seconds = 11

11 x 6 = 66 beats/minute = resting pulse rate.

This survey is divided into three parts.

Personal: Part I is your personal record that will, in time to come, provide you with proof of how your fitness lifestyle has benefited you.

Exercises: Part II is designed to show you how physically fit you are to meet your daily needs. Through this, you will know which areas need improvement. When you do these exercises, be sure that you are not straining yourself. Even if you cannot do some of them, they will give you an insight into your physical fitness. If in doubt, check with your doctor before you embark on these activities.

General: Part III consists of twenty-two self-assessing questions covering a wide field. For fitness and health do make a positive difference to your outlook and how you conduct yourself in dealing with situations. Please note that you can participate 'only in Part III without answering Part I or Part II and still get a fair idea of where you need to improve.