Here’s a tongue-in-cheek account on how our diets and alcohol affect our longevity, and how the rich and the famous lived and died, by Dr. Kulmeet. He dispels many fads, exclusively for Different Truths.
Atkins, the famous man, who beat the General Motors diet hollow, to rake in millions, died weighing 280 pounds and his progeny is still laughing their way to various banks, banking on his highly bankable, palatable diet. He advocated meat as proteins only diet. Then there is magazine (probably the most respected in the world), which advices us to ‘eat these lose weight’ – Gary Taube’s (a new millionaire, now) writes why we get fat—and what to do about it and glibly summarises, and here I quote, “The very foods that we’ve been sold as diet staples — fat free yogurt, plain baked potatoes (hold the butter) and plain pasta (hold the olive oil, cheese, and sauce) — actually reset our physiology to make us pack on the kilos. And the foods that we’ve told to shun – red meats, burgers, cheese, even the cream – can help us finally lose weight and keep our hearts healthy.”
What a lovable man!
Then, there is a woman with an inch measuring tape around her waist, on the cover of the January 2011 issue of probably the most read family magazine in the world, telling you to diet the scientific way in which, Jerome Burne tells us ‘calories in, equal calories out’ is all bunkum. He says a hormone called Leptin, akin to cocaine in its methodology of action, can keep you healthy and heart disease free. He also advocates eating every other day diets as a panacea, as the one day diet of 1500 calories makes you miserable and hungry and eating to your hearts content the next day balances everything.
You read loads of such stuff.
We visit two of our closest friends laid down with a heart attack and pulmonary embolism. Active, exercising men, working in the 10 para commando unit of the Indian army and taking part in the Mumbai marathon, year after year.
Then there is an iconic figure who died at the age of 91 years, sitting on the pot, over and heavyweight (in all senses of the word), intemperate, sherry drinking and cigar smoking, definitely holding the most strenuous job at a particular time in world’s history. I am talking about Sir Winston Churchill, my dear friends.
Alcohol started its career very meritoriously, Bo Erikson, in his book, The Scandinavian Saga rated the Swedish civilisation higher, as it had the capability to make refined alcohol in the B.C. era. Diageo today spreads cheerful civilisation worth 1.5 lakh crores (selling stuff like Johnny Walker and Smirnoff) and hopes to broaden its cheering base by acquiring a part of the Indian U B group. God’s validated the authenticity of this stuff and called it somras and till today an article a day appears in sundry newspapers about its beneficial effects on the heart with a few demeaning and almost real life like articles written by underpaid journalists regarding its deleterious effects on the liver and its consumption being the cause of phenomenally large number of ruined families. Alcohol industry lobbyists haven’t caught up with them as yet.
How about depending on our genes, pleasant, helpful existence, being in touch with your friends and family, walking (the speed, the time, doesn’t matter, you have to do it for thirty minutes, even if you do it in divided time schedules), controlling blood pressure, quitting smoking and periodic visits to a competent doctor for a regular check-up to assess the known causes of death (for he too must make a living) to live longer.
No. 2Strive for a higher purpose in life, like teaching our servant’s kids the alphabets or entering into conversations with our friends about the complexities of the hook shot which Raina doesn’t know how to play and Tendulkar excels in.
Laughing more, sometimes at yourself, too.
See yourself living healthily for a hundred years.
Please do watch out for a drunken truck driver, though, when driving on a highway.
Prayers are a wonderful asset for those looking for a wonderful, long life.
Prayers manifested in your conduct, as you proceed to perform your daily chores.
These simple and realistic facts are unfortunately not radical enough to make me a millionaire.
Picture design Anumita Roy, Different Truths
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