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Hemorrhoids and diet

July 27, 2022
Hemorrhoids

The embarrassment, isolation and shame cannot begin to explain the agony people suffering from hemorrhoids (HEM-uh-roids) also known as piles endure. Extreme pain, itchiness, discomfort and bleeding from the back passage leaves a lot to be desired when dealing with this condition. Daily routines can be greatly affected depending on the severity and sadly many only seek for intervention when it is a bit late because of the shame that it carries with it.

What Are Hemorrhoids? Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention | Everyday Health

What are hemorrhoids?

Hemorrhoids are swollen veins in your anus and lower rectum, similar to varicose veins. Hemorrhoids can develop inside the rectum (internal hemorrhoids) or under the skin around the anus (external hemorrhoids). The signs and symptoms of hemorrhoids usually depend on the type of hemorrhoid, that is to say internal or external. External hemorrhoids are usually characterised by itching or irritation in your anal region, pain or discomfort, swelling around your anus and bleeding. Internal hemorrhoids are usually characterised by painless bleeding during bowel movements and or a prolapsed or protruding hemorrhoid resulting in pain and irritation.

Who is at risk?

Hemorrhoids occur when the veins around your anus stretch under pressure and end up bulging or swelling.

Hemorrhoids are more likely to occur if you:

  • Are pregnant
  • Sit on the toilet for too long
  • Are obese.
  • Have a low fiber diet
  • Do things that make you strain more, such as heavy lifting
  • Have a family history of hemorrhoids
  • Have long-term or chronic constipation or diarrhea
  • Are between 45 and 65 years old

Hemorrhoids: Causes and Risk Factors

Can diet help?

Lifestyle changes have proven to be an effective remedy for hemorrhoids both preventative and lessening of the symptoms. Some people have also managed to escape the knife (surgery) with diet alone. A balanced, high-fiber diet, together with plenty of fluids, softens the stool and increases its bulk, which will help you avoid the straining that can cause hemorrhoids or worsen its symptoms. Together with your doctor and dietician, you will be able to draw out a plan on the management of this condition. I have put down below some of the lifestyle changes you can employ but please remember this is for only information purposes, do not replace this for a diagnosis but reach out to a physician for a proper diagnosis.

Lifestyle changes

You can help prevent hemorrhoids or minimize flare-ups by making simple lifestyle changes:

  1. Drink water


    Drinking plenty of water a day can help reduce the risk of constipation and keep bowel movements soft and easy to pass.

  2. Eat a balanced, high-fiber diet


    Work with your dietician to come up with a balanced diet that is fiber rich, both soluble and insoluble fiber. If you are prone to diarrhea, he or she will be in position to walk the journey with you to reduce the symptoms and avoid it.

  3. Get some exercise


    It goes without asking how exercise is a key part in one’s health. It aids in digestion and tones the supporting muscles of the anal and rectal area as well as the abdomen. Do non strenuous exercise though and be sure to check in with your healthcare provider.

  4. Do Kegel exercises


    For pregnant mothers, kegel exercises are important as they help strengthen the pelvic floor plus anal and rectal muscles after childbirth. This will aid in digestion and prevent constipation. To do a Kegel exercise, tighten your vaginal muscles (as you would if you needed to stop urinating midstream), hold it for a few seconds, release and repeat several times. It’s a discreet exercise you can do almost anywhere.

  5. Maintain a healthy weight


    Extra weight can put more pressure on your abdomen, which increases your chances of getting hemorrhoids. Maintain a healthy weight at all times.

If you do not have hemorrhoids yet, try not to put yourself in a position that would put you at risk. If you have them already, despite the embarrassment it carries, reach out to someone and find yourself some help. Remember it is possible to escape the knife only if you can catch it early.

Best of luck.

See you next Wednesday

 

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Nutrition

Why no salt and sugar for babies until they turn one

June 15, 2022

When babies are ushered into this world, they are very dependent on us for literally everything including what goes into their bellies as food. Children are supposed to be exclusively breastfeed for the first six months of their lives and there after introduce solid foods alongside breastmilk, what we call complementary feeding.

When we introduce solid foods to our children, there is no doubt that we want to make their food as ‘tasty’ and enjoyable as we would want to taste it so we figure we can always add some sugar and salt to their food so that it is not as bland but your child DOES NOT need the sugar and the salt until they are one year. I know you are wondering why, and I will tell you.

Why No Salt and Sugar for babies till 1 year?

Why you should avoid adding salt to your child’s food

Compromised kidney function

Babies have just made an entry into the world and development is still ongoing. They have a delicate system and salt may effect their kidneys. Their kidneys are unable to process a high amount of added salt.  As a matter of fact children below the age of one are supposed to have less than 1g of sodium per day according the Scientific Advisory Committee report on Nutrition (SCAN).

Kidney stones

Excess sodium from salt can cause the body to excrete more calcium in the urine. This calcium can form kidney stones that carries with it severe pain in the body, fever and chills, nausea and vomiting, burning sensation while urinating, and blood in the urine. I am not sure you want that for your baby.

Brittle bones

An increase in sodium levels in the body, in turn, causes excretion of too much calcium. We all know how important calcium is for a growing child, they need for the development of strong bones and teeth. Calcium depletion can lead to a condition called osteoporosis which makes the bones thin and brittle.

Hypertension

Did you know that just like in adults, babies too can develop hypertension also known as high blood pressure and high salt intake can cause it.

Dehydration

Last but not least, unlike adults, babies are not be able to indicate that they are thirsty, d until serious symptoms show up. Babies who have excess salt in their bodies are in danger of dehydration, as salt causes the body to lose water in the form of urine and sweat thus increasing their risk of getting kidney stones, joint and muscle damage, constipation, and liver damage.

Why you should avoid adding sugar to your babies food

Sugar lacks protein, fat, and nutrient density which babies need the most at this point in their life and when the sugar is in excess, can lead to an increased risk of obesity, high blood pressure, and dental caries.

It is also important to mention that babies have an innate preference for sweetness, so it’s important to give them ample time to develop a palate for healthy foods that do not contain added sugar. If this not done, the struggle to consume healthier options of food will be an uphill task.

Have you noticed that when toddlers are given sugar or foods with high sugar content they become hyperactive? The same will happen to your baby and the reason is that since sugar is absorbed into the blood very quickly, high sugar consumption causes the blood sugar levels to shoot up. This leads to higher adrenaline levels and causes hyperactivity in children.

Why should You Avoid Sugar and Salt in Your Infant's Diet

In conclusion

Babies’ sugar and sodium (salt) needs can be met in the breastmilk and the natural foods that they are consuming. The reason your baby could be resisting breastmilk could be that they were introduced to salt and sugar early and they are now missing out on the immense advantages of breastmilk.

Increase the variety of foods prepared for your baby as a way of adding flavor to your child’s diet and carefully read the nutrition labelling of manufactured foods for babies that you opt to buy taking into consideration that sodium and sugar content therein. Fruits like bananas are a good source of natural sugars so there is no need for added sugars.

I will end by saying DO NOT give honey to babies either.

See you next Wednesday

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Nutrition

Prenatal nutrition

June 1, 2022
Prenatal nutrition

We have always talked about the importance of prenatal nutrition but we still do not appreciate the magnitude of the effects as we should and it is my goal to help us understand in the easiest way. Listen to this.

If a pregnant woman found herself in a situation where her nutrition conditions are poor for example in times of famine, war or simply food scarcity, a pregnant woman can modify the development of her unborn child such that it will be prepared for survival in an environment in which resources are likely to be short. Whereas this may sound like a good or let us say reasonable thing nature allows so that in whatever situation, life can be brought forth, it has a downside to it.

In 1992, Nick Hales and David Barker proposed a hypothesis that an undernourished fetus becomes thrifty which explains the situation I described above. Fetal undernutrition leads to impaired development of the pancreas, liver, and other tissues (e.g., muscle), leading to low insulin secretion and insulin resistance, which maintains high levels of sugar in the fetal bloodstream to preserve brain development, but may trade-off muscle development. Once adopted, this thrifty behaviour becomes permanent and, combined with adiposity in later life, leads to type 2 diabetes.

To put it in simple terms when this child comes into the world and is now able to afford better nutrition conditions, and get nutrients in the right amounts, they are at risk of several chronic conditions later in life, including coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and hypertension resulting from adaptations made by the fetus in an environment limited in its supply of nutrients.

In the American journal of clinical nutrition, it is noted that in developing countries, the health and nutrition of females throughout their entire life is affected by complex and highly interrelated biological, social, cultural, and health service-related factors. Good maternal nutrition is important for the health and reproductive performance of women and the health, survival, and development of their children.

Over 200 million women become pregnant each year with many of these at risk of suffering from both ongoing nutritional deficiencies and the long-term cumulative consequences of undernutrition during childhood. Pregnancy-related health and nutritional problems affect a woman’s quality of life, that of her newborn infant well beyond delivery, and that of her family and community.

The effect of women’s prenatal health and nutritional status on child growth, health, survival, and development occurs both through reproductive performance and survival and through fetal growth and development.

Prenatal nutrition

Strategies to improve prenatal nutrition

Promotion of optimal nutrition

This needs to be emphasized right from childhood especially among girls because it can result in a buildup of the nutritional reserves needed during periods of increased nutritional demand, including the adolescent growth spurt, pregnancy, and lactation. This can be done by all players in the field like myself (nutritionists) to make nutrition information as common and accessible as silver in the times of Solomon’s reign of Israel. Community- and facility-based health and nutritional care can be combined just like we have been doing for malaria eradication programs.

Invest in female education

I know this has been a song that has been singing for so long but before you come at me about the increasing imbalance that is being caused by over pushing for investment in female education hear me out. There is strong evidence that associates higher levels of maternal education with improved child survival and nutritional status. Educating women means they will make better-informed decisions in terms of their nutrition and health for both themselves and their families. For those in school, how can we include nutrition education in the curriculum right from primary school? We continue to witness teenage pregnancies and we cannot afford to wait until they are in tertiary school for them to know about nutrition in its totality.

Increase access to quality nutrition services

Much as nutrition is a vital component of antennal visits, the reality is that it is not held in high regard and is often missed or talked about in passing yet it determines a lot in the development of a growing child. This can begin with expectant mothers demanding these services because they need them. This way stakeholders will strengthen the healthcare delivery infrastructure; improve the quality of services for women including nutritional services and increase the number of healthcare providers for women. This will make monitoring the nutrition status of pregnant women easy and we can avert many of these negative consequences when it is still early.

  1. In a bid not to write a thesis, I will stop here and hope this can be a trigger for us to think about the nutrition health of our women whose health and nutrition status directly affects the health of a child and consequently a whole generation.

Prenatal nutrition

Do not hesitate to share with me your thoughts in the comments.

See you next Wednesday

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Nutrition

What your child’s head circumference is telling you

May 11, 2022
Head circumference

Measure of the head circumference is not as popular as the measurement of weight and height in very many communities. We have got to appreciate the importance of the measurement of our children’s head’s circumference during growth assessment just like we do for weight and height. Head circumference is a measurement of a child’s head around its largest area. It measures the distance from above the eyebrows and ears and around the back of the head.

seca+head+circumference+measuring+tape - Online Discount -

What is the importance of measuring head circumference?

Measuring and monitoring the head circumference is as important as the weight and height measurements routinely done. Measuring head circumference is a quick, non-invasive method of determining if an infant’s head size is too large (macrocephaly) or too small (microcephaly). Early identification of head circumference concerns can be a critical first step in identifying disorders.

I need to point out clearly that there is more to measuring head circumference than we see. Although head circumference measures skull size, it typically also reflects overall brain volume. The growth of the skull is determined by brain growth.

Did you know the greatest brain growth happens between birth and five years of age? What this means is that measuring the head circumference is a quick and simple way as earlier mentioned of determining if the child’s brain is growing and developing normally. Rapid brain growth in children is expected from birth to 2 years and thereafter up to 5 years, a slow growth.

When head circumference measurements are taken, they are compared with normative growth curves. Serial head circumference measurements are extremely important in monitoring infant health as measurements outside of normal values is an important indicator for cognitive and motor delays worth checking out when it is still early.

Where is the risk?

A head size larger than what is typical for the age (according to the normative growth charts) or when it is increasing in size faster than expected, is concerning. It is impossible to see this with your naked eye the reason why measurements are key.

If a big head size is visible to you, chances are it has already done too much damage. This condition (larger head size) is what we call macrocephaly (large head). When the cause of the large head size is the extra fluid surrounding the brain, we call it hydrocephalus. It can also be caused by other conditions like bleeding in the child’s brain, overgrowth of skull bones, brain infection, abnormal head size to mention but a few. It is therefore important to catch whatever is causing it when it is still early.

head circumference

A head size smaller than what is typical for the age or when growth is slower than expected, we refer to it as microcephaly. This places infants and young children at risk for delayed motor and cognitive development. It is key to note that children born with low birth weight or born prematurely will have a smaller than average head size until they catch up. Other conditions that may cause microcephaly include genetic syndromes, environmental teratogens, or structural brain anomalies. Disabilities like cerebral palsy, infections like Zika virus in pregnancy, genetic disorders like Downs Syndrome, and severe malnutrition will cause microcephaly.

Congenital Anomalies of the Nervous System: Microcephaly | NCBDDD | CDC

When a child is not growing as expected, it may be very easy to tell by noticing their weight drop and you can quickly have it checked out. Dealing with brain development (head size growth) because chances are by the time it is noticeable to you, it is probably in a state where major damage has been done yet we can prevent or at least lessen the severity.

Dear parent, the next time you are taking your child for routine assessment, you can ask for your child’s head circumference to be taken. It is better to be sure than sorry.

I wish you the best of luck. Do not forget to share this with someone who needs it.

See you next Wednesday

 

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Nutrition

Emptying your way to good heath

May 4, 2022

By the end of yesterday, a friend sent me a screenshot about a guest blogging call. I was hesitant to check it out on short notice, however; my pen is unable to describe the thrill and fascination with which I responded to knowing who the host was. Hail to you, oh. ..  Lutgard_The nutritionist. You cannot imagine how life-changing visiting your blogs every week has been, not just for me but I guess the other followers that look forward to these Wednesday publications. I am mostly delighted at the clearness and simplicity of your thoughts, I hope that this today will make a substantial contribution to your audience, and if it doesn’t, a hope to learn something new. Thank you for the opportunity.

A lot has been said and continues to be shared about food, good habits, and clean or bad eating. But when do we focus on the emptying? Yes, that will be our take for the day. I just did not succeed with shoving it off when it kept coming back to memory and then I said, here; let’s get this monkey off my back.

Pooping: that’s right.

I thought it was normal to go to the bathroom every two to three days a week. That’s how my whole life had been. I forever felt fogged, and bloated and I thought that is what it was. It took me a greater focus on nutrition and diet change to feel empty and clean. And for the first time, I had an idea about what normal felt like.

It is essential to remove the toxins from your body as you go along. It’s important that we observe bowel movements, pee a lot, and sweat. We can feed our minds and bodies, but it is also important to clean the house, so to speak.

Heard about constipation? Of course, we all have,

Constipation is a clue that something is wrong with the system. So what is it? For most, constipation is the decrease in the frequency of bowel movements. Overall, the average prevalence of constipation in adults has been estimated as 16% worldwide (varies between 0.7% and 79%); whereas the prevalence of 33.5% was attributed to adults aged 60 to 110 years. This heterogeneous condition is correlated with the patient quality of life, (Wald A., et al., 2007).

Why is it harmful?

Constipation may cause stool to stay in the bowel longer, so it may become very dry or very hard. As a result, you may feel sluggish, tired, bloated, cranky, or irritable. At the extremes, or for a person holding on to lots of toxins, constipation can result in gas, puffiness, skin rashes, eruptions, and sometimes unexplained headaches. Many people have problems with constipation and don’t even realize it. But if you want to feel great, make sure your bowels are moving every day, at least once or preferably more.

Causes of constipation

Anything that slows the movements of the bowels is a culprit for constipation. Sometimes it’s diets, especially for people that eat a lot of dairy and too little fiber. Dairy can cause lactose intolerance and diarrhea for some, but for others it causes constipation. Magnesium deficiencies, dehydration, unbalanced gut flora, and stress are also good offenders. Other causes could be idiopathic, age-related, or response to diseases. But how do we deal with it? I will explore a few strategies as we go along.

Strategies for easy elimination

  • If you are at risk for any of the reasons, here are a few ideas and suggestions to prevent it from happening.
  • Increase fluid intake, to clean bowels and flush out the kidneys. Warm non-caffeinated liquids such as herbal teas, and vegetable juices help keep intestines moving.
  • Eat high fiber foods, foods such as raw vegetables, beans, fresh and dried fruits, and high fiber cereal to increase the bulk in your stools and stimulate the intestines to move. As a caution, fiber supplements must be taken with plenty of water.
  • Add about 2 tablespoons of flax seeds to your salads, meals, or soups. These absorb a lot of water and are rich in fiber
  • Consider magnesium citrate supplementation.
  • Get moving to get moving. Exercise is a powerful bowel stimulant. Daily exercise has great potential to stimulate the bowel to do its thing. Sweat profusely at least once a day; if none of these strategies do the trick, it is time to check in with your doctor to troubleshot. Whatever the reason; empty, it is a good way to good health. Happy new month.

 

About the writer

Maria Nakalanda is an Author, wellness Consultant, and Founder of the EONS of Life Wellness Program. She is no stranger to weight gain, needless fatigue, and insecurities. These are all things she has personally struggled with.
 Maria is passionate about wellness and teaches her clients that the key to better health is taking on small sustainable lifestyle changes. She puts emphasis on nature therapy, food, and indigenous medicines, to balance exotic options with healthier alternatives.
She teaches people that it’s possible to gain transformation,  adopt new habits, manage stress, and prepare fast, easy, nutritious meals.
She understands people’s personal struggles and doesn’t only focus on the actions required to create better health, but also on the limiting beliefs that often hold people back.
Contacts;
Tel; 0703813158
Email; nakalanda23@gmail.com
See you next Wednesday
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