Drug Medical Information

WEIGHT CONTROL: USE OF HERBS: ALCOHOL WITH BEVERAGES AND OTHER FOODS

Use more spices and herbs, onion or garlic, and vinegar or lemon juice to give your food flavour. This will allow you to cut down on salt. Eating a lot of salt may be one of the factors leading to high blood pressure. Our high salt intake comes from salt added to food during cooking and at table. Salt-rich foods include bacon, ham, kippers and salt beef, also salted nuts and savoury biscuits such as pretzels. Unsalted nuts and biscuits are just as enjoyable. Try gradually reducing the salt used in cooking to half, and persuade the family to use other condiments at the table. Alcohol, soft drinks, other beverages? The average American now consumes over 20 lb (9 kg) of sugar a year in the form of soft drinks, about 100 Calories a day! In the U.K., sugar consumption has apparently been falling slowly since about 1960 but is still very considerable. Soft drinks contribute to the problem of obesity, especially in children and adolescents. Sugar-free alternatives are available. One of the best is water.

Alcohol has no place in Phase I of the prudent diet - weight reduction - but subsequently it does no harm in moderation (an average of up to two drinks per day). Taken to excess it is a cause of many human ills, some of them grave and irreversible. Among these, fatal heart diseases may be included. People with a tendency to obesity, patients with gout, and those who have high blood-fat (triglyceride) levels often need to be especially cautious about alcohol intake.

Cakes and biscuits (cookies) bought from the shop usually contain a hydrogenated fat or butter, and cakes are often filled and topped with cream or a non-dairy substitute containing coconut fat.

Although one study in the U.S.A. suggested that coffee was a risk factor for coronary heart disease, others have not confirmed this. Coffee and tea are entirely acceptable beverages, Calorie-free unless sugar or milk is added. Heavy consumption of coffee may be one of the factors leading to disturbances (mostly benign) of heart rhythm; these may be felt as palpitations.

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