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HEALTHWATCH
Uncertain
Gains
The search
for strength through quick-fix food supplements can go astray
 If
you are hooked to daily workouts at the neighbourhood gym watch out for
high-protein food supplements prescribed indiscriminately by unqualified
gym instructors. When the Food and Drugs Administration in the US recently
reviewed artificial protein foods it concluded that "no level of
intake of supplements can be considered safe". Supplements contain
amino acids, steroids and hormones which create an imbalance in the body
fat to muscle ratio, cause high blood pressure and sometimes kidney failure.
In boys below 15, they can stunt physical growth and, paradoxically, expedite
puberty. "There are two ways to build muscle-weight training with
normal, nutritious meals or exercise with artificial food supplements
and steroids," says Dr Sunita Sharma, a weight consultant at Delhi's
Physician's Weight Management Centre. "Long-term use of supplements
can also lead to osteoporosis."
Easily available
at stores and chemists, these supplements cost around Rs 1,750 for a 125
gm pack that would last 25 days. "We do sales of over Rs 60,000 daily
and 80 per cent of our clients are aged between 15 and 20," says
Raman Sood of Grand Slam, a fitness store in south Delhi. Though supplements
are not nearly as harmful as steroids, they boost the growth of muscle
at a faster than normal rate. You gain weight and your energy increases,
permitting longer, tougher workouts. Sharma says a tablespoon of artificial
protein per day will increase muscle mass by 30 per cent in less than
two months.
"These
days everyone's looking for quick-fix methods," says Delhi-based
fitness expert Vikram Bhatia. "Supplements should be used when natural
workout capacity is exhausted-like for professional athletes and body
builders." Another disadvantage: when you stop taking artificial
proteins, muscles turn to fat and the skin sags. Not recommended for gout
and thyroid patients or people with kidney ailments. For others, however,
there's no harm done if supplements are consumed in the right proportions
and regularly monitored by a physician. Still, there's nothing better
than the natural way-a balanced meal of carbohydrates, fat and protein
with regular exercise.
-Leher
Kala
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IN
SMALL DOSES
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 Pure
Age: British researchers say elderly patients live as long
as younger ones when placed on dialysis machines. Dialysis removes
waste from the blood and filters fluids in patients with kidney failure.
In the study, Septuagenarian patients were found to have a 75 per
cent chance of survival after dialysis while the survival rate among
the young was 63 per cent. Wit for wit too, the young were no match
for the old. It seems old truly is gold. |
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Hormone
Horror: What do severe mood swings, mental retardation,
stunted growth and diabetes have in common? All are the result of
abnormal levels of a hormone in the body. Hormone-related disorders
affect more than 108 million people in India. So far imported diagnostic
kits costing Rs 150 were the only way to detect these disorders.
Now scientists at AIIMS, Delhi, have developed a cheaper method
of detecting hormone levels at a third of the cost. With 25 million
Indians reported to be diabetic, at least a market is assured.
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Seeing
Sound: Next time someone asks you to look out, listen
carefully. Attention to sound, according to a study by US neurologists,
helps us see better-implying our senses work closely to present
a composite picture of the complex world around us. In the study,
33 volunteers detected a dim, obscure light more accurately when
it appeared with a sound. Not only will this study help in medical
applications like schizophrenia, but sounds can also be harnessed
to prevent accidents-for example when dangerous machines are in
operation and attention is crucial.
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Orthodoxy in economic thought is as odious as obscurantism in the socio-religious context. INDIA TODAY Associate Editor, V Shankar Aiyar, offers a contrarian take on the stock markets and the cause and the impact of policy and practice. 