'Be extra cautious in maintaining health post festival seasons'

By Mahima Devkota, Kathmandu, Nov.2: Experts have suggested to be extra cautious in maintaining health as risk of developing chronic diseases increases after festivals seasons. 

According to Dr Om Murti Anil, a senior consultant cardiologist at Nepal Cardiac Centre, usual diet of Nepali is changed during festival times replaced by the intake of oily, greasy, extra sugary items.  Meat items, fatty items, sweats and sugary cold drinks, alcoholic beverages contain high level of sugar and fat, which are triggering factors of chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, cardio- vascular diseases, kidney diseases and diabetics. 

Similarly, as people are over-burdened with work, the regular and food timing also is disturbed, diseases worsens in people with pre- conditions while diseases surface of  people underlying conditions triggered by the unbalanced food and beverages. As a result, the inflow of patients with high blood pressure, kidney problems, constipation and cardiovascular diseases is observed. 

He said that one must be careful if symptoms such as heart arrhythmia, fainting, constant fatigue is observed. 

Yogita Sapkota, a dietician supervisor at the National Trauma Center, said that that patients with chronic diseases such as sugar, diabetes, pressure, cardiovascular diseases, and kidney problems, need a timely and balanced diet. However, the balanced diet is barely maintained during festivals as people consume loads of oil, sugar, salt items, such as different kinds of rotis, sweets, sugar, meat. 

A plate diet should have 50 per cent of vegetables and fruits, and the rest should be a mixture of everything for a balanced diet, but, we consume sugar and fat in form of meat, cold drinks, rotis and sweats during our festivals. Many people use repeat oil while cooking meat, which causes trans fat, cholesterol, and cardiovascular diseases. 

Pointing out that the number of patients in the hospital increases soon after Dashain, she suggested maintaining a balanced diet that is moderation of each item in a diet, even more in Dashain as the workload is more and the body needs a proportionate food item. 

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