18 minute read
Smoking, drinking & drugs
No man is a fa ilure who is enjoying life.
-William Feather
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Smok ing
Smoking causes cancer. This is a very well-known fact. But how many people know that it
has negative effects on body weight? I think most people don‟t know. Well here we
discuss about smoking and its effects.
When a person smokes, the nicotine suppresses the activity of brain. Simply if a person feels hungry, if he smoke s, the nicotine suppresses the brain making the hunger to disappear. In this case, now the person will not able to eat as he does not feel the urge to eat. So, smoking people won‟t feel the hunger to eat at correct times. This will make the person slimmer as his intake of food is cut off. This is the reason why people who are
chain smokers appear slim in nature. When a person smokes, the depressing activity at the brain makes every pa rt of the body to slow down. Eventually the heart too slows down, achieving a lower blood flow in blood vessels which finally decreases the blood
pressure.
This is the reason why many people smoke when they have a heart attack or experience a
critical situation in job environment. When they smoke, the depression achieved through smoking, makes them to feel like being relaxed. They get into smoking whenever facing
those critical times, and eventually become chain smokers. Some people tell us that, when they quit smoking, they gain weight. Fact is that only a small fraction of the people gain
weight. It doesn‟t match everyone. If you were one among those who gain weight by quitting smoke, I would tell, “Read this book again”. Sure ly you will lose weight if you do
practice properly.
See-two-h-five-oh
Nowadays we can see more people engaging in drinking. Whatever the drink be, a beer
or brandy, they surely destroy your health. Alcohol is harmful for health. Let‟s see how this
alcohol impacts body health.
So why do people behave like junk, when alcohol goes in? Let‟s take a look of how
alcohol does the work.
Food in the diet must be digested before being absorb ed by the cells, but alcohol included in the diet flows directly through the body‟s membranes into the bloodstream,
which carries a lcohol to nearly eve ry o rgan in the body. The alcohol flows through the stomach walls into the bloodstream and on to the small intestine. From there it flows
through blood vessels to the liver. The normal, healthy liver can process about 1/2 ounce
of pure alcohol (that‟s 6 to 12 ounces o f beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1 ounce of spirits) in
an hour.
The rest flows on to the heart. Entering the heart, alcohol reduces the fo rce with which the
heart muscle contracts. Heart pumps out slightly less blood, blood vessels all over the
body relax, and the blood pressure goes down temporarily. The contractions soon return to normal, but the blood vessels may remain re laxed and the blood pressure lower for as long as half an hour. Meanwhile, alcohol flows in blood from the heart through the pulmonary vein to the lungs. Now when the person breathes out a tiny bit of alcohol
every time, the breath smells of liquor.
Alcohol also makes blood less likely to clot, temporarily reducing the risk of heart attack and stroke. Alcohol makes blood vessels expand, so more warm blood flows up fro m the
centre of the body to the surface of the skin. The person feels warmer and, if the skin is fair, he may flush and turn pink. When it reaches the brain, it slows the transmission of
impulses between nerve cells that control the ability to think and move. That‟s why people
become fuzzy, tongue twisted, have their vision b lurred, and loss control.
Alcohol contains empty calories and has no nutritional value. Not only does alcohol not contain any nutrients of its own, but it can impair your body's ability to absorb nutrients and vitamins from the food you eat. Alcohol irritates your gastrointestinal tract, and can damage your body's ability to ab sorb nutrients, vitamins and minerals from the food you eat. Alcohol is toxic to your liver, and if you drink heavily for a long time you can
experience cirrhosis o f the liver and death.
Heavy drinking ove r the long term can also impa ir your live r's ability to activate vitamins, which contributes to the malnutrition often suffered by long term alcoholics. when you drink alcohol, maintaining healthy blood sugar levels is one of the first elements of metabolism to be shoved aside in your body's rush to excrete the toxins as efficiently as
possible. Alcohol inhibits your body's ability to make glucose and to maintain healthy levels of glucose (or blood sugar) in the blood. Over time, heavy drinkers develop glucose
intolerance and can even become diabetic. Even occasional alcohol consumption can
cause dangerous drops in blood sugar levels, especially when consumed on an empty stomach. That's why drinking alcohol can be very dangerous for diabetics and
hypoglycaemic.
Because your body can't store alcohol and must metabolize it right away, other metabolic processes suffer. Your body won't metabolize sugars and fats as e fficiently during the metabolism of alcohol, and drinking heavily can cause your metabolism to slow. This can
contribute to weight gain.
So, now you have known the effects why alcohol causes we ight gain. Let‟s see the last
part…drugs!
Drugs
There are d ifferent types o f drugs. They can be classified under d iffe rent categories such
as sedatives, inhalants, hallucinogens, stimulants, tranquilizers, pain relievers etc. So, how
do these function in weight gain?
Guess what? The answer is similar to that of the smok ing and drinking. In smoking the
nicotine depresses the brain activitie s and in drinking the alcohol that is taken does the work. In drugs, similar to the former cases, a chemical present in each of these drugs
depresses the b rain.
Tobacco contains Nicotine. Marijuana is a cannabinoid. The main psychoactive substance
in marijuana is tetrahydrocannabinol and there are at least 66 other cannabinoids present in marijuana, some of which are also psychoactive. Heroin is a kind of opioid, which is
metabolized into 6-monoacetylemorphine and morphine, which brings the excitement effect. Cocaine is a stimulant, basically a hydrochloride salt, when inhaled, can bring the excitement-relaxing effe ct within 10 seconds. Some drugs depre ss the central nervous
system and in most cases the brain gets depre ssed.
Think a while, what will happen when if all the wires in an electronic device get damaged? The same happens in the body. If the nervous system gets damaged, then the whole
body losses control. When the control system itself gets “out of control”, every other systems (digestive, circulatory, excretory etc.) gets damaged, not able to perform up to the level. So when the balance is lost, it causes improper dige stion leading to improper
nutrition absorption and improper blood circulation. So totally the health collapses and causes the fat to be stored in the blood. This is the reason why drug addicts gain body
weight.
By now you have known the ways how these habits affect our health. But now, you must also know the methods to stop and say good bye to these habits, if you are an unhealthy
person. The case I mention as “unhealthy person” and not as a “fat person” is that, a slim drug addict is not a healthy one. Anyone who is addicted to “any of these” or “all of
these!” is an unhealthy person. So say no to smok ing, drinking and drugs.
How to stop and escape from addict ion?
Anyone can quit and say “no” to smoking or alcohol or drugs. All they have to do is to have a strong desire to quit the habit and believe that they can quit those habits even it is
too hard to quit.
7 habits of highly “quitting” peop le
Commitment
Commit yourself and engage fully in the program and work for it. Every se cond remember that these will dest roy your health, happiness, peace of yourself and also your family, friends etc.
Will
Every New Year, we all take a resolution to do “this” or “that”. But many can hold that only
for a day. So think that you have everyday a new year.
Inspiration
Read some books on people who quit these and how they become successful. If you get
a chance to meet such person, then never leave the chance.
Friendly
Whether it‟s a Facebook page or a local community, whatever it be, it‟s better to have a
company. Join a group of people who try to quit smoking, drugs o r drinking.
Win
Set a plan to quit and if you do it, you must ce lebrate it. Start with a week plan to quit and
if you do, reward yourse lf with so mething special, such as a dinner at a re staurant.
Consistency
Remember the tortoise who won the hare? If you constantly put effort without quitting,
surely you will win.
Restarts
If you have failed in quitting, never say “I quit doing quitting”. Just start from the start. I have read in a book that if a man practices a habit for just 23 days continuously, it will
become a routine habit. So if you fail, just plan for 23 days. Say that you don‟t quit without winning! So, if you have been addicted, start to quit smoking, drinking and drugs. If you are not addicted, say no to anyone who offers you these in future. Always
remember the hazard s of these habits.
Be Inspired: Do it continuously
There was a man who was digging a well for to get water for his land. After digging for about 25 feet, he saw that there was no water coming in the well he had dug. He left the place and started to dig a well in another place. There also he dig about 25 feet and
didn‟t get any water.
He again left it and went to a nearby place and started to dig a well. There also he didn‟t get any water. The man felt frustrated and became tired. There was a wise man going that way. When he asked why the man was so frustrated and tired, the man replied what had
happened.
The wise man said, “It is your mistake, instead of digging wells at different places, if you
have dug the first well fo r mo re 50 feet, at 75 feet you must have got water.”
If we have consistency in what we do, we will succeed.
Sleep
“Sleep is the best med itation”
-Dalai Lama
Now, when you consider the factors that affect weight reduction, sleep plays a vital role. Brain is the main powerful organ in our human body. So it is very important to know
about sleep. Here I am just discussing the basics; you can read more about sleep by your own from various sites and books. Sleep is a must fo r any person. There is no problem bigger than sleeple ssness. Ask those who suffe r from sleeple ssness, their life will be filled
with problems, problems and only p roblems.
Why is sleep so impo rtant in weight loss?
At sleep all your body organs comes to rest. The blood pressure is reduced; the breathing
rate is made constant and the brain takes rest. The blood in your body, when you are active, flows to all organs and less to muscles. But when you sleep, the process is reversed. The b lood flows from organs to muscles. So when you do body weight
exercises, the muscles are damaged. During the sleep, these damaged muscles are
repaired. That‟s why when you do heavy work, you get good sleep. Also when in sleep, the proteins that are needed fo r ce ll g rowth are proce ssed. That is the reason why small babies sle ep fo r hours. During the sleep the body g rowth takes place. There are some
diseases that affect sleep. The most common disease s are Parkinson‟s disease, Neurosis
rheumatology and chronic pain diseases.
Insomnia
This is the disease that occurs for people with problem of getting a good sleep. The basic
symptoms of insomnia includes…
1. Difficulty in getting sleep 2. Waking up often during night
3. Waking too early in morning
4. Feeling tired upon waking
There are 2 type s of insomnia, Primary insomnia and Secondary insomnia. Primary
insomnia is the sleeplessness not associated with any diseases. Secondary insomnia is the
one which comes due to some diseases (cancer, asthma, depression etc.), that are already
in our body.
Main causes of insomnia
Stress due to job loss; change of job type; death of loved ones; divorce etc. Environmental conditions (noisy, too bright light, uncomfortable climatic condition)
Medications: Patients undergoing medication
Interference: People who have home near airport, transport terminals, kids playing
How to get good sleep?
For reducing the weight effectively you need to organize your sleeping habit. According
to a research, the persons who are sleeping less than 5 hours have the urge to eat more, than those who sleep for 8 hours. So if you sleep at correct time then it will enhance your
weight reduction program.
Tips fo r a good sleep
1. Go to bed at regular time: If you practice to go to bed at 10pm every day, then on
the course you will start experiencing sleep as soon as 10pm comes. Your body w ill schedule itself to start sleep mode at 10 pm.
2. If you go to sleep at 10 pm don‟t do any work beyond 10 pm. Instead postpone the work to next day and start sleeping. If you are an emplo yee working during night hours, then as soon as you come home after duty, start to sleep.
3. Since darkness will bring you sleep, try to keep the room dark by installing low bright light and installing a dark colour screen for the windows. Keep the air conditioner at an optimal temperature that is comfortable for your body condition.
Try to keep away substances such as perfumes, room fresheners, which produce extreme smell inside the room. Keep all those make up kits away from your bed room. A bed roo m is only for sleep (Mostly!) 4. If you have the habit of drinking coffee, prevent it. Researchers say, the effect of the caffeine in coffee, remain up to 7 hours in your body. So if you can‟t leave drinking coffee, then at least p revent it during e vening or night time.
5. Whether it may be the television or computer or that music player that causes disturbance, remove it. Suppose if you want to sleep, but your wife wants to see
her favourite program on television or those episodes of “How I met your mother” on the computer, then you can opt for two ways. One is either you can get her a
new headphone or you can get an earplug. It is better to give her a headphone, because if you put on the earplug and go for sleep, she may feel that you are
insulting her. But if you give her a new headphone, she may think “My husband loves me a lot! That‟s why he has got me a headphone set.” It will be more effective if you give it on anniversary o r birth day. 6. Keep away all your worrie s fro m your mind. Most of us get these sleep diso rder because we focus more on worries rather than sleeping. Listen to some re laxing
instrumental music, read a book or do some meditation and bring your mind to a
relaxed state.
7. When you are travelling long distance, you can sleep during the travel. 8. Prevent drinking and smoking. 9. Do exercise regularly: If you do exercise regularly then you will get good sleep. Do
aerobic exercises or body strength exercise s with high intensity. You will get good
sleep.
Be Inspired: There ‟ a way
There was a king who ruled a country for a long time. People had trust in him and they would inform about any proble m that existed in the country. One day, the king was asking
the problems that were in the country. Many people told him that the roads were
damaged a lot and they hurt people a lot during travel. The king promised that he would
solve this p roblem.
Returning home, the king arranged for a meeting to discuss with his ministers. Many
ministers told various ideas. Finally they chose an idea. The idea was to lay the leather skin
of the buffalo over the roads, so that people when walking don‟t get hurt. But when they calculated how much buffalo would be killed fo r making such arrangement, it was
crossing larg e numbers. The king was so worried.
Then a wise man came and asked why he was so worried. The king told his problem, and asked where he would go for such a large number of buffalos for to make the roads be
covered. The wise man smiled and said that the problem is so simp le. He continued that
instead of killing a lot o f buffalos for co vering the roads, it would be wise that if the people cover their feet. The king was delighted by the idea of the wise man and thanked
him. Then the king ordered fo r to make shoes for the people.
Every co in has two sides. If there is a prob lem, think in a different approach
Meditation
-Jere my Ta ylor
Mental concentration is what you call as meditation. Your mind concentrates on
something and through this constant concentration, the mind is made controlled which
leads to peace. There are so many advantages of meditation. Some of them are…
1. Achievement of mental peace
2. Tranquillity of mind
3. Strengthen your nervous system.
4. Deep breathing improves blood circulation. 5. Increases the absorption of nutrients
6. Body metabolism is tuned for better health.
Why meditation is important in weight reduction?
During meditation, the lungs inhale larger amount of air. So your body takes in larger amount of oxygen than during normal oxygen. Now this oxygen is mixed in the blood
stream and it is carried to all the cells. So each and every cell receives this enriched
oxygen, which increases the working capability of cells.
Simply, in other words, the cells become healthy and they do their work more effectively. So the metabolism is increased a lot making the absorption of the nutrients from the food more effectively and burning more calories during exercises. Also since meditation brings
peace of mind, it becomes easier to get a good sleep at night.
How to do meditation?
1. Before doing meditation, loosen your clothing and undo any belt if you are
wearing one.
2. Take your seat in easy and natural way. Your posture must be comfortable. If
possible take the cross-legged sitting position. 3. The body should be erect; the spine must not be stiffly straight or should be too
bent.
4. Rest your right palm on right knee and le ft palm on left knee.
5. Close your eyes – not too tight nor opened. The eyelids must be closed like
curtain.
6. All the muscles must be we ll relaxed.
7. Now slowly inhale the air by taking a deep breath. The breathing must be in a uniform rate. Just count numbers in your mind when inhaling. 8. Hold the breath for 2-3 seconds and then slowly exhale it. The exhale of a ir must also be in unifo rm rate like that of the inhale cycle. 9. Repeat this cycle for about 15 minutes. 10. During meditation, try to focus your mind on a single thing. Say you can focus your mind on the number of breath you inhale and exhale or you can focus on the
expansion and contraction of your lungs. Please don‟t fo cus on your worries or any kind of emotions. They will destruct your e ffectiveness in do ing this exercise. 11. When you are finishing, inhale the air at a very fa st rate and exhale it very fast.
Repeat this for about 10 times. This is done to remo ve your excess body heat.
After doing this don‟t get up, but stay at the place where you d id med itation and give a
good rest to your body.
Distractions
At first, you will experience a lot of distractions in your mind. As there goes a saying, “Our mind is like a monkey and our thoughts are like horses”, it is initially too hard for to focus upon one thing. But, because of this don‟t stop to med itate. Try and try the same
meditation again and again. Say if you are counting your breath for 45 with 50 as your
target, when you suddenly make a mistake and lose concentration, don‟t frustrate, but focus on starting from one again. It will take some time to become good at meditation.
But once you do well, you will enjoy the peace that is obtained in meditation. All you need
is constant effort.
Be Inspired: Feel great about yourself
One day a teacher took out a 100 rupee note and showed to his students and asked,
“Who needs this?” Everyone raised their hand. Now he put the note down on the floor
and again asked the same question, “Who needs this?”
Again, everyone raised their hand. Now he took the note and crushed it and again asked
the same question, “Who needs this?” Again, everyone raised their hand. Now the teacher
asked, “Why do you need the note now? It‟s crushed!”
Everyone replied that even though the note is crushed, its value remains the same. Now
the teacher replied, “Yes, like this note, you should contain a good character. You should
never lose your se lf-esteem. Self-esteem is how you look yourself. If you have a good self-
esteem about you, then none can bring down your value."
Whatever bad happens in your life, don‟t lose self-esteem.
