Health—physical and mental — is crucial to life. To address this, The Daily Star collaborated with Super Fresh Fortified Soybean Oil to launch a three-episode series of Live Healthy. This series, which was hosted by public health specialist, Dr Tune Tehrin, brought together three prominent professionals who shared their knowledge on how to improve your physical strength and live a better, more rewarding life.

Changes in your body

As you get older, and shortly after age 30, your body starts to change. There are external signs of this: your hair starts to fall out, your eyesight gets direr, and age spots start to show up on your face.

Changes in your body can be internal as well. Cardiologist, Professor Dr S M Mustafa Zaman explained, "The body has lesser energy to expend as you grow older and stores more fat. Your body becomes more acidic." As a result, he advises eating more food like leafy stems and green vegetables to alkalinise the body.

Additionally, if you are not attentive to your food choices, you could develop health problems like high cholesterol, hypertension, diabetes, and so on if they run in your family. Dr Mustafa Zaman thus stated, "As you hit close to 30, it is wise to go through several tests to identify any major health issues early on."

Photo: Sazzad Ibne Sayed

Foods surrounding you

For the changes in your body to go well, you need to eat foods that are good for your health. When we see bright and shiny foods or ingredients, we might think they are good for our health and bodies. But are all the foods surrounding us good for our bodies?

When asked, Chowdhury Tasneem Hasin, Chief Clinical Dietitian at United Hospital Limited said, "Food adulteration has become very common and ranges from water added to drinks to chalk added to flour. So, the health risk varies from acute diseases like diarrhoea or vomiting to chronic diseases like cancer from carcinogenic."

Ingredients like Fresh Spices are produced from the best quality raw materials selected from natural sources, ensuring that they are free from artificial colours and any form of adulteration.

Buying raw ingredients from trustworthy producers with quality checks on the box is wise. It is also a good idea to wash raw fruits and vegetables after buying them to get rid of any chemicals that are bad for you. Besides, Dr Mustafa Zaman also recommended, "You should gradually try to forgo items like fish heads or ox brains from your groceries and rather feast on food and ingredients rich in omega-3."

Photo: Sazzad Ibne Sayed

Myriad diets

Obesity among youth in Bangladesh is on the rise due to the prevalence of the fast food culture, which has serious health consequences. Certain people also require particular foods to help them deal with their medical conditions. Some people also want to lose weight. As a result, there are many dietary choices because people have different tastes, health problems, and ways of living.

Talking about two popular diets, keto and intermittent fasting, Chowdhury Tasneem Hasin shared, "Keto diet started as a way for certain neurological disease patients to calm their brain like epilepsy. In general, your body will require carbohydrates. So, the keto diet should only be done with proper consultation with a dietitian and after a kidney test. As for intermittent fasting, it can cause gastric issues so it should also be consulted with a dietitian before attempting."

Moreover, diets seem to immediately be thought of as bland food with no flavour. That seems to not be the case as Tapati Saha, Clinical Dietitian at Square Hospital Limited said, "Oil, especially fortified is good for skin and nutrition. An average person should have 25-35 millilitres of oil per day and a family of four should consume 2-2.5 litres of oil a month."

With beta-carotene and omega 3 and 6 ratios preserved in their purest form through lipico technology, Super Fresh Fortified Soybean Oil can help control your blood pressure, prevent cardiovascular disease, and reduce cardiology risk.

A balanced diet

Given these precautions and advice, what should your balanced diet be? Firstly, everyone needs different balanced meals. Tapati Saha recommends eating a combination of lipids, protein, and carbs unless medically directed otherwise. She also advised, "Do not consume the same cooked oil again and again. As the oil reaches past the smoking point, the nutrients are burnt off and produce harmful toxins which are better avoided."

In addition, winter is the best season to eat winter vegetables. To make them taste great, feel free to add delicious seasonings like Fresh Spices.

And last but not least, keep moving around and make sure you get some exercise. Eat plenty of fresh products and see a nutritionist or dietitian for check-ups regularly to learn more about your health. With that, you will soon be on your way to live a fresh life!