Healthwatch |
- Compiled and coordinated by
Edward Arambewala |
The vegetarian athlete
Dr. D. P. Atukorale
“Users of low-protein and non-flesh dietaries have far greater
endurance than those who are accustomed to the ordinary American diet,”
Prof. Irving Fisher, Yale University 1906.
For centuries people believed that meat was important for athletes
and the 19th century German Chemist Liebig proposed that the energy for
all muscular movement came from protein.
But by 1850, scientists knew that the important fuels for physical
activity were actually carbohydrate and fat not protein at all. Despite
these findings, the protein and meat continued to be favoured by
athletes well into the twentieth century.
As recently as 1970, the meals of choice for Sri Lankan athletes
included meat and eggs.
Even in the schools I was educated in 1950s our teachers used to
advise the athletes to consume eggs and meat.
A healthy basket of vegetables |
Long before meat based diets fell out of favour for athletes, there
were successful vegetarian athletes.
Prof. Irving Fisher of Yale University was intrigued with physical
endurance of “meat-abstainer” athletes. Prof. Fisher studied three
groups (a) meat eating athletes. (b) vegetarian athletes and (c) a group
of sedentary vegetarian nurses and physicians in Michigan. His results
showed a remarkable superiority of vegetarians in all the tests of
endurance. The vegetarian athletes and sedentary vegetarian nurses and
physicians were superior in all endurance tests to meat eating athletes
(Yale Med. J. 13, 205-21, 1907).
Early vegetarian
Early vegetarian athletes were excelling outside the laboratory as
well. (a) The London Vegetarian Society athletic and cycling club led by
James Parsley won the competitions over meat eaters in the 1890.
Parsly himself won the most prestigious hill climbing race in England
(J.C. Whorton, “Crusaders For Fitness”, (Princeton, N. J. Princeton
University Press, 1982).
Around the same time, West Ham Vegetarian Society formed a tug-of-war
team that set records in that sport. Vegetarian American cyclist Will
Brown thrashed all records for 321 km race in the 1890.
In the 1893 walking race from Berlin to Vienna, the first two
competitors to finish were vegetarians. A turn-of-the-century 100 km
race in Germany attracted international attention because 11 of 14
competitors who finished the race were vegetarians.
In 1912, a vegetarian was the first man to complete a marathon in
less than two hours and thirty minutes.
Today some of the best athletes continue to defeat the idea that meat
is essential for strength.
Six time Triathion winner Dave Scott who reportedly trains eight
hours a day eats a diet that contains mainly brown rice, tofu, low fat
dairy foods and a large amount of fruits and vegetables providing more
than 6,000 calories a day. (N. Pritikir, Veg. Times, Feb. 1974, 60-63).
Vegetarian Super-athletes
Other vegetarian super-athletes are (1) Suriya Bonaly, French Olympic
skater (2) Andres Cahling, champion body builder (3) Chris Campbell
Olympic medallist in wrestling (4) Desmond Howard, Heisman Trophy winner
and professional football player (5) Billie Jean King, tennis champion,
(6) Bill Manetti, power lifting champion, (7) Martina Navoratilova,
tennis champion, (8) Parvo Nurmi, long distance runner with 20 world
records and (9) Bill Pearl, four time Mr. Universe.
As you see the number of super-athletes who eat a meatless diet is
proof that vegetarians can support athletic performance.
A number of research studies (N. Hanne et al, J. Sports Med: 26,
180-185, 1986, J. E. Cotes et al, J. Physiol, 209, 30-33, 1970) showed
essentially no difference in strength, aerobic capacity, blood iron
levels, lung capacity and exercise performance and muscle development
between vegetarian athletes and non-vegetarian athletes.
These studies showed that there is certainly no disadvantage from a
vegetarian diet for athletes. There may be clear advantages to going
meatless for competitions as will be shown later.
Vegetarian Diet better than Western Diet
The specific nutrient needs of the athletes depend on how rigorously
he or she trains. Generally speaking vegetarian diet carries closer to
the recommendations for an athletes than a standard Western diet.
Both American and the Canadian Dietetics. Associations recommend that
the ideal diet for adult athletes includes no more than 30 percent of
calories from fat and between 60-70 percent of calories from
carbohydrates (M.S. Pionden and D. Bernadot, J. Am. Diet. Assoc. 93, 691
96, 1993). Therefore vegetarian athletes have to make liberal use of
plant foods.
Muscle is mostly water, but it does contain about 25 per cent
protein. The amount of protein consumed varies widely among athletes.
Two surveys found that football players and tri-athletes consume more
protein than the typical non athletes - about two and half times the RDA
for proteins (J.R. Brotherhood, Sports Med. J. 350-81, 1984).
In endurance sports, amino-acids are catabolized (used up) at a
faster rate. Based on nitrogen balance studies, it seems that 1.5gm of
protein per kilogram of body weight would be adequate for most athletes.
To get these proteins athletes don’t need any protein drinks or
supplements and it is perfectly reasonable to meat these needs on a
vegetarian diet. Discussion of protein needs and how to obtain these in
different types of athletes is beyond the scope of this article.
Athletes who boost their protein intake by eating more soy products have
certain advantages over those who take animal proteins.
Excess protein intake may be a factor in kidney disease. However,
plant proteins such as soy don’t have the same adverse effects as animal
protein on kidneys (P. Kontessis et al, Kd. Int. 38, 136-44, 1990)
Courtesy: The
Vegetarian Way by Virginia and Mark Messina
To be continued
Health benefits of walking
Dr. Viraj Peramuna
The queen of exercises ‘brisk walking’ helps a person to gain a
package of health benefits including:
* Keeping diabetes under control
* Reducing blood pressure
* Keeping heart much stronger
* More fulfilling in sex life and
* Enhanced life expectancy by many years.
These were highlighted in a recent issue of exercises for good
health, magazine sent for doctors use in their health advices for
patients.
* It is the “Queen” of exercises. You can’t go wrong with it.
It is an easy, inexpensive and enjoyable way to reduce fat.
* Ideal aerobic exercise for all ages. It is practically an injury
free exercise. Can be done anywhere and at any time? Doesn’t require any
special equipment and teaching.
* There must be something about walking that gets the brain stirred
up. Great thinkers and diplomats, who loved to walk, include
Hippocrates, Aristotle, Harry Truman and Charles Dickens.
* Walking should be brisk and non-stop. We should be slightly huffed
up, but not out of breath.
Hard but not too hard.
* Ideally, should be done on an empty stomach or three hours after a
major meal 5 to 6 days a week is good enough.
* If You are ready for a bigger challenge, turn your walking into
hiking by heading for the nearest hills, you will lose fat-real fast!
* If you cannot walk fast, walking longer has the same effect. Our
body is used to walking for millions of years. Go ahead and enjoy it!
* ”You will have better endurance, better sleep at night and you will
probably perform better in bed and have better, overall personal
health,” said Newman, a true believer in walking.
Lose 10kg of fat
Let us assume your weight is 80 kg. You brisk walk for an hour a day
for 300 days a year. At the end of the year, 10kg of fat! is gone
forever! A reduce waistline by 3-4 inches is another bonus.
Changes in global disease epidemiology
Manjari Peiries
Prof. Tissa Vitarana, President of the Allergy and Immunology Society
of Sri Lanka speaking at the inauguration of the 4th Biennial Scientific
Sessions of the society held at the Medical Research Institute, Colombo
last week.
“Owing to changes in the global disease epidemiology Society of Sri
Lanka speaking at the inauguration of the 4th Biennial Scientific
Sessions of the Society held at the Medical Research Institute, Colombo
last week.
Since then immunology as a disciplined has undergone an enormous
expansion and diversification.
Professor Tissa Vitarana, Minister of Science and Technology, quoted
an extract from a speech delivered by Sir Peter Medawar in 1974 in
addressing the Royal Society of Medicine.
Professor Vitarana said that owing to changes in global disease
epidemiology, the field of allergy and immunology was becoming even more
exciting and important.
“HIV/AIDS, a viral infection which affects the immune system has
become a major global disease problem. The discipline of clinical
immunology has become increasingly important because of break-throughs
in the diagnosis and treatment of many immunological medicated
diseases.”
The Minister mentioned that according to the Health Ministry data
during the past 20 years, there has been a progressive increase of
hospital admissions for bronchial asthma from 395 patients in 1985 to
910 patients in 2006, per hundred thousand populations.
Thus bronchial asthma becoming the leading cause when admission over
hypertensive diseases being 480, Ischemic Heart disease 400 and diabetes
mellitus 297 per hundred thousand population respectively.
According to him, the number of deaths due to bronchial asthma per
hundred thousand populations has also increased from 1.6 in 1985 to 4.3
in 2006; exceeding that due to diabetes 3.4 and hypertensive diseases
3.6.
To be continued
When should you take vitamins?
People often ask when they should take vitamins. There are no rules
about the best time of day to take supplements, except to take them when
they most agree with you. Because vitamins and mineral supplements can
occasionally cause stomach upset, heartburn and other gastric
disturbances, especially when taken on an empty stomach, it is generally
recommended that they be taken with food.
Many people prefer to take their vitamins with breakfast, as part of
a morning routine, but feel free to experiment with taking your
supplements with lunch or dinner. For best absorption and the least
irritation to the stomach, take your supplements with a meal containing
some fat. This is particularly important for the fat-soluble
micronutrients (mixed carotenoids, vitamin D and vitamin E). And be sure
to read the labels - they will give you specific instructions on
interactions and absorption.
Spiritual side of mind
Man has contributed a lot to create material wonders. The human mind
is highly intelligent, yet its very intelligence is tainted by weakness.
Spiritual side of mind is ever degrading. Time has come for man to
seriously and very seriously focus on the very survival of earth.
What we watch on T.V. and read in news papers show the results of
this madness. The unprecedented violence that humans are inflicting on
other life forms, destroying oxygen, reducing forests, ill treatment of
animals, poisoning the rivers and oceans without understanding their
connectedness to the whole, cannot be forgiven. If continued unchecked,
this would only result in their own destruction .The islands are
submerging and many more are under threat. Many spiritual leaders have
predicted the destructive changes in climatic upheavals yet to come.
Fear, greed and desire for power not only behind warfare and violence
between nations have become the cause of conflicts in personal
relationships too. You
Promoting vegetarianism |
misinterpret every situation leading to wrong action to satisfy your
need for more.
You can not be good by trying to be good but finding the goodness
that is within you and allowing that goodness to flower within you .But
that can only happen, if something fundamental, changes in your state of
consciousness.
This is where the greatest philosophy on earth, the Dhamma can help
us by taking us in our own inward journey cleansing what ails our mind
with a technique that is universally acceptable and 100 percent
scientific.
Greatest achievement
The greatest achievement of humanity is not what man can materially
achieve but recognizing his own weakness. Concentrating on breathing in
and out (Anapanasati meditation) can bring about calmness to the mind
and help man to recognize his own insanity which is of course the
arising of sanity.
According to various predictions a fare amount of earth’s population
will soon realize that we are now faced with the stark truth of Evolve
or Die. Here Evolve means is to respect Mother Nature and its beings and
a mind that sheds all evil thoughts for a better world.
The current climatic upheavals going on in many parts of the planet,
some of which are already happening is due to the folly of man misusing
the planet earth. Human minds have conflicting wants, restlessness and
dissatisfaction.
They are the results of unfulfilled wanting. Nature, animals and
people are no more than digits in a balance sheet in many large trading
organizations in the world.
Try to understand ego for what it is the insanity of human mind. It
helps you to remain non-reactive to it. You do not take it personally
and complain or blame. You understand that it is the ego of someone.
Compassion arises when you understand that all are suffering from the
same sickness of the mind. Reactivity is fuel to thrive on ego. You need
to learn not to fuel this situation any more.
As Shakespeare said, a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury
signifying nothing is the explanation of each and every situation in
this egoist game.
People experience discontentment for no specific reason. Many people
spend a large part of their lives in this state. They are immersed in it
that they cannot stand back and see it.
The following example show how you let resentment to be alive in your
mind and life. There is something that needs to happen in my life before
I can be at peace (happy). The ego does not know that your only
opportunity for being at peace is now, and that has to be making peace
with the present moment. The secret of happiness is to be one with life.
Being one with life is being one with NOW - the present moment.
Reality of things
The Buddha advocated us to be aware of each and every moment (be in
sathi) to realize the reality of things.
But ego creates negativity. It thrives on unhappiness that it loves.
In this way you make yourself unhappy and others suffer and do not even
know that you are doing it. You are making hell on earth to create
suffering without recognizing it. This is the essence of unconscious
living. You will defend with clever arguments, self justifications, to
distort the facts.
To end this misery that has afflicted this human condition that has
lasted for thousands of years, you have to start with yourself and take
responsibility for your inner state, at any given moment. Ask yourself,
is there negativity in me at this moment. Then become alert be attentive
to your thoughts and emotions. Watch out the state of being fed up, your
discontentment or nervousness.
All you need is to be aware of thoughts and emotions as they happen.
This is not really a doing but be alert and see things as they are. What
Lord Buddha described as Yatha butha nature is do not let insanity
dominate your mind
Identify negativity as it arises and be with the present moment
bringing sanity under the light of compassion to yourself and the whole
world as The Buddha preached in the Dhammapada: Mano Pubbaga ma dhamma
mano setta mano maya.
In Zen they say “Do not seek the truth Just cease to cherish
opinions”. May this analysis of mind enlighten you to realize the true
state of things based on The Buddha’s and other modern philosophers.
Sunanda
Paranagama Weerasinghe Promoter of vegetarianism and President elect for
Sri Lanka Food
Processors Association |