Tetsu Yonoha writes:
Mrs.Masuda is a native Japanese house
wife, 48 years old. She has recently returned to Japan after living in
Canada for almost 20 years. She is approximately 15 kilos over weight,
and worried about developing breast cancer. As her diet and life style,
she likes to stay at home; she doesn't exercise much; she is a moderate
drinker; she eats quite a bit of beef and pork; she cooks a lot of her
food using sweet coconut oil or margarine; she dislikes most vegetables;
and she prefers to eat Western-style desserts like rich cakes and ice cream.
I think the points to be made about her problems can be divided into life
style and diet; that is, lack of exercise, too few vegetables, high fat
intake and a bad dietary plan.
First, she does not exercise so much. The significance of exercise is the
promotion of metabolism, the maintenance of the function of muscles and
the consumption of extra energy. If we do not exercise at all, the body's
metabolism gets worse, and we are troubled by constipation and other problems.
In addition, our muscles lose flesh, and -- most important for Mrs. Masuda,
fat accumulates rapidly in the body. It is necessary for her to do exercise
and consume the energy of her diet. This will result in making the metabolism
more active.
Second, she dislike most vegetables. It goes without saying that vegetables
are very important in our diet. Vegetables contain so many nutrients, for
example, vitamins, iron, fiber, etc. Many of these nutrients are not included
so much in other foods.
Third, she cooks a lot of her food using sweet coconut oil or margarine.
Fat, for example coconut oil and margarine, is very high in cholesterol.
Such foods raise the cholesterol level in our blood. That causes high blood
pressure and hyperlipemia, and these are the cause of the disease of blood
vessels, coronary thrombosis, etc.
Fourth, she sometimes skips her breakfast. One of the most important points
about breakfast is raising the body temperature. If we do not take breakfast
and the body temperature does not rise, we idle away our time till lunch,
and we probably do not feel like exercising -- which is a big problem for
Mrs. Masuda.
She is afraid of breast cancer, but if she continues such diet and life
style, she may develop some kind of cancer or other adult disease. As a
counterplan, I advise her to study nutrition, and improve her diet based
on her study. The places we can study nutrition are only a few in Japan,
but there are many books on diet and nutrition. And she had better do exercise,
even if only a little. If she improves her diet, there is no need to exercise
hard. I hope that she improves her diet and life style, and she will keep
her health.
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