Kimiko Enomoto writes:
Mr. Tanaka has some problems that affect his health, so he should
recognize them and do something in order to be trim, energetic and
healthy. First, his biggest problem is, misunderstanding about
nutrition and health. He is confused about RDA (recommended daily
amounts ) of vitamins and minerals, and misunderstand the difference
between fat and carbohydrates. He eats beef and pork to take 'lots of
high protein', which results in taking excess amount of fat and
cholesterol. And he takes udon and rice to intake fibers, in spite of
few fibers included. He intakes 'enough amount of vitamins ' not from
natural foods but from supplements with coffee and colas, which means
that he takes caffeine from coffee and cola, and sugar from cola and
sugarcoat of supplements! He said that he doesn't eat sweets, but he
have to recognize that actually he intakes too mush sugar and fats,
which may causes high level of LDL. Only 30 minutes walk can not
prevent him from becoming fat, while he thinks it possible. Actually
he is 'Health conscious', reads many articles about health topics to
know the latest information, but he is confused by too much
information. Confusion and misunderstanding about health may cause
terrible affect on his health, against his will.
The second problem is his life style. Although he has great concern about
what to do to be healthy, he can't practice. Because he is very busy,
he can not have breakfast almost everyday and have to eat fast food
like hamburgers, cheeseburgers or udon at lunch and dinner. It means
that no breakfast may make him absorb more fat and cholesterol from
fast food than having breakfast. And it also means that he has few
vegetable and fiber which may help reduce the risk of colon and breast
cancer and lower levels of cholesterol in the blood.
The third problem is related to his mental health and his personality. To
begin with, his confusion has come from finding difficulty in
following ALL THE RECENT INFORMATION on good eating and healthy
lifestyle patterns. And he complains of feeling pressure at work and
difficulty to relax even after work. Those episodes may indicate that
he feels stress and his personality is something like perfectionist.
People like him are tend to think 'I should or have to do ALL things
perfectly', and to feel stress easily. Even exercise as relaxation may
be something like task and cause of stress for him, so he can't enjoy
it. Stress prevents people from being comfortable both physically and
mentally.
The fourth problem is clinical one. Both his grand father and his father
have diabetes. His mother is currently ill with a critical heart
condition. And Mr. Tanaka's LDL level is measured at 172, while less
than 130 is a moderate level. These data show him higher risk of
diabetes, heart disease, narrowing of the arteries by cholesterol and
so on.
To reduce the risk of diseases and be healthy, what should he do and
what can we medical staff do for him? He needs three kinds of
counsellors and change his lifestyle as they say. And we can advice
him as one of them, I think. First, he needs the counselling of a
dietitian to get right information about nutrition, especially topics
written below; The importance of vitamins and minerals: they don't
provide the body with the energy but 13kinds of vitamins help the body
turn food into energy and tissues and minerals are necessary for
growth and maintenance of body structures. And we can get most of
those nutrients only by eating fruits, vegetables whole grains, eggs,
liver and milk. Each of the nutrients has RDA, for example, RDA of
vitamin A for Mr. Tanaka is 750mg, that of calcium is 600mg, and
Iron, 10mg. The importance of fibers: soluble fiber can lower
cholesterol levels in the blood. It's the very important information
for him, because he has high level of LDL. And insoluble fiber helps
move food and digestive by-products through the large intestine and
out of the body, which results into reducing the risk of cancer of
intestine. And what Mr. Tanaka really have to know is, fibers are
included oatmeal, the bran in grain, fruits and vegetables. He should
intake 30mg of fibers every day. Carbohydrates are the main source of
energy of the body (4 calories per gram). Fats are a pack of energy (9
calories per gram). So if fats are intaken instead of carbohydrates,
it means intaking too much calories and results in high level of
cholesterol and gaining weight. To have enough amounts of those
nutrients, He have to have balanced diet, which is rich in fruits,
vegetables, and whole grains. This is just an example of menu of it. A
cup of soup with some kinds of vegetables inside, a cup of low-fat
milk, and a slice of whole-grain bread. Second, he should have
counselling of a doctor to have some medical treatments to lower the
LDL level and reduce the risk of diabetes, diseases related to heart,
blood vessels and cancer. Doctor must advice him to take MODERATE
exercise in order to prevent him from becoming fat and from the risk
of diseases written above. And, at last, counselling of
psychotherapists can do good for his stressful state. He should learn
to do everything MODERATELY, NOT PERFECTLY and enjoy doing it, which
helps him to feel easier than before. For example, window shopping in
the town can be walking exercise and a kind of refreshment, without
feeling it as a task. Recognize his own personality and learn how to
control his emotion is needed for speedy recovery from stressful and
uncomfortable mental state. Anyway, he should lean to do good for his
physical and mental health with right information, and with fun.
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