chatwithketch

Q: Hi Dr. Ketch, I have a question for you. How can one eat a balance diet daily? In other words, what can we be eating on a daily basis that should be regarded as a balance diet morning, afternoon and evening/night.. Thanks

A: Diet should focus on what we eat, how we eat it, how we cook it and the portions we eat.

What should we eat?
All food groups: Don’t fall all those ‘don’t eat fats’, ‘don’t eat carbs’ diets. Every food group is important. Just ensure that you take only the right portions.

• Proteins: focus on white meats (fish, chicken), plant proteins like melon seeds

• Carbohydrates: focus on complex carbohydrates like whole grain wheat bread, oat meal (made as porridge or used as swallow food to go with local soups), beans etc. White carbs as found in pastries cause your blood sugar to yo yo (go up and down) because soon after you’ve eaten them, you feel hungry wanting to eat even more. Clearly, this cannot help any weight loss program 😀

• Fats and oils: Use healthy oils like Olive oil, Canola oil etc and use sparingly. Generally oils that are solid at room temperature are full of unsaturated fats which are not healthy for you.

• Vitamins and minerals: Load up on fruits and veggies and make sure you have them with every meal. They are full of vitamins, anti-oxidants and other nutrients that help your body fight diseases.

Sea salt is touted to have a lot of minerals that are good for you, but make no mistake about it…sea salt contains as much sodium chloride as common salt or table salt. For anyone to get the benefits of the extra minerals they contain, they must be taking a whole lot more salt that what they need in a day. Remember that excessive consumption of salt leads to high blood pressure.

• Water: Drink sufficient amounts of water daily to keep your joints supple, encourage proper excretion, prevent dehydration etc

How should we eat it?
Slowly. Make a conscious effort to chew your food properly and take your time. Don’t wolf it down…or inhale it :D. Chew intentionally so as to give your brain sufficient time to process the signal from your brain which says that you are full. Have you observed that when you rush your food, you move from being very hungry to being completely stuffed! There’s no in-between, where you realize that you’re full before you get to the stuffed part. That’s because your brain didn’t have enough time to process that info before you became ‘over-full’.

Cooking of food should be done bearing healthy cooking methods in mind. Poach, grill, steam, boil etc.

Portions: Even if you do all the above but we take excessive amounts, then we will pile on the weight. What are the right portions? First, reduce plate size and then ensure that half the plate is filled with fruits and veggies, a quarter is filled with carbs and the last quarter with protein. Remember the tips we’ve given above and focus on picking the right foods from the mentioned classes.

Now don’t go piling your plate high while staying within your portions 😀 That’s an absolute no!!! Even if a food is considered healthy, it doesn’t mean you should eat as much of it as you want. For instance, beams is healthy on so many levels but it also high in calories and so you still need to stick to the portion described. Moderation in everything!!

Examples:
Breakfast: Remember to eat like a king’
• Wheat bread with peanut butter and a glass of fresh juice (or fruit slices)
• Or Oatmeal with fruit slices
• Or a slice of wheat bread with an egg and a glass of juice
• Or a smoothie
• Or A wrap of moi-moi with oats or pap and some fruits

Lunch: Eat like a prince
• Vegetable soup with fish and oatmeal (remember that the vegetable soup should be half the plate, the fish a quarter of the plate and the swallow should be normal height 😀
• Or local rice with stew (please no sign of floating oil should be seen :D), grilled chicken and veggies. Again I feel compelled to explain that the veggies should be half the plate, the rice and chicken should take up a quarter of the plate respectively
• Or Bean pottage with vegetables and fish. If you choose to have some plantain with it, just understand that the beans and plantains are struggling for a quarter of the plate which MUST NOT be crowded 😀
• Spaghetti (pasta) with sauce, salad and fish/chicken. Again, no mounds please!

Dinner: Eat like a pauper
• Boiled sweet potatoes with vegetable sauce and fish
• Or a (small) bowl of salad with a wheat bread roll

I have had cause to describe the ideal plate of food several times: Half the plate should be filled with vegetables, a quarter with complex carbohydrates like beans, local rice (like Ofada/Abakaliki/brown/wild rice), sweet potatoes, oatmeal etc and the last quarter with protein (fish, chicken etc). Remember that carbs are necessary to provide the energy needed for our daily activities. So, O do not ‘demonise’ (:D) them….however, not all carbs are created equal. Complex carbs are superior because they supply energy and fibre and some also supply minerals and vitamins.

I hope this helps.

Have a good night y’all 😀

Hello everyone! I hope you had a great day yesterday!

Today, we will talk about an issue that I receive a lot of mails and questions about. ‘How do I lose weight?’. The video on today’s post on my facebook page (www.facebook.com/healthylivingwithdrketch) illustrates a couple of things that I would like to highlight.

It is nice to want to lose weight to fit into a dress, be more attractive etc, but it is more important to do it for you. If you do it for any other person or any other purpose, you may not focus on healthy living long term. Remember that this is a journey and not a destination.

‘For decades, the body mass index (BMI) has been the gold standard for gauging obesity-related heart disease risk. But this handy tool doesn’t always tell the whole story.’ Now if that doesn’t intrigue you, I don’t know what will! Read!

https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/overweight-vs-overfat-is-your-scale-lying-to-you?utm_source=delivra&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=WR20171110-WeighLess&utm_id=701695&dlv-ga-memberid=11052531&mid=11052531&ml=701695

‘Relaxation, meditation, positive thinking, and other mind-body techniques can help reduce your need for pain medication.‘

Want to know how? You should read this! https://www.health.harvard.edu/pain/6-ways-to-use-your-mind-to-control-pain?utm_source=delivra&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=GB20171108-Pain&utm_id=698735&dlv-ga-memberid=11052531&mid=11052531&ml=698735

Q: Thanks doc, please I want to ask about releasing of semen while in sleep is it always a spiritual something or it’s a medical issue or its normal. Thanks

A: Thanks for writing in.

Well, in very few words, ‘this is not a spiritual somtin!’ 😀 Trust me it’s not.

I’m not sure how old you are but in young men going through puberty, especially, wet dreams (also called nocturnal emissions) may occur as the body starts producing testosterone. There is ejaculation during sleep leading to wet PJs and embarrassment when the gentlemen wake up. Note that not every teenage boy goes through this experience.

Q: Good evening Doc. Please I’d like to know if a woman can go through pregnancy without taking routine drugs (I mean folic acid and the likes) and still have a healthy baby. If no, what are the possible side effects? Thank you!

A: I actually laughed when I read this! The first thought that came to mind was a bible verse: ‘all things are lawful; but not all things are helpful’. So, you can go through pregnancy without taking routine drugs, but it is not advisable. Some people say that once you eat well, you don’t need the medications. But remember that pregnancy is a period of increased need for nutrients as your body grapples with the idea of feeding itself and another young, growing lufe within it. Indeed, you are advised to take your antenatal medications (prenatal vitamins) in addition to eating well. Foods rich in iron and foods rich in folic acid like green leafy veggies and beans are especially recommended. Folic acid prevents deformities of the spine. Dairy is also a great idea. Take, at least, 4 servings of milk, other dairy products or calcium rich foods. If you don’t eat enough, your baby will start drawing on your own stock from your bones. So, drink up your milk! The veggies you are taking have fibre but be sure to include other high fibre foods like whole grain cereals to deal with the constipation associated with pregnancy.

I hope this helps.

Have a great evening, everyone 😀

Q: Hello good evening ma’am. I’m a medical student. I have an issue that’s been bothering me for a while now. 2 years ago when I was 20 I noticed a discharge from my breasts, I complained to my brother-in-law who is an endocrinologist. He did some examinations and that was it….recently I started to have migraine during my period and he said I had menstruation-induced migraine. He gave some medications for it. Until recently, I forgot about the discharge from my breasts so, I checked and noticed it was still there. …I did some research and realized it might be a result of hyperprolactinaemia. So my fear is…I learnt it could cause infertility. I’m not married though and not sexually active but I’m worried….I don’t want to have issues when I do get married….and I forgot to add….The discharge is colorless and bloodless….Thank you

A: Hi dear. Thanks for writing in. The greatest problem(s) that doctors and other medical professionals have is that of over-diagnosing themselves! So, I suggest that instead of doing more self-diagnosis, you actually make an appointment to see the endocrinologist in the teaching hospital where you are studying.

Having said that, I’ll attempt to unpack some of the symptoms you describe.

Headaches during menstrual periods are referred to as menstrual or hormonal migraines and are due to a drop in the level of estrogen, a hormone. For a headache to be classified as this, it would happen anytime between about 2 days before a menstrual period to about 3 days after the first day of menstrual period. Some of these women find relief during pregnancy as the level of estrogen rises.

To pre-empt this, you can take pain relievers that are also anti-inflammatory like ibuprofen at the start of the period or even about a few days before the start of an expected period until the bleeding stops. If you’re asthmatic or have peptic ulcer disease, this drug is not a safe choice for you.

It is possible that the breast discharge is associated with the headache as can happen in prolactinomas, but they could be separate issues.

Causes of breast discharge include:

• Pregnancy
• Breastfeeding
• Stimulation of the nipples during sexual foreplay or even pressing the nipple by people who are worried about the nipple discharge or friction between fabric and nipple can lead to nipple discharge.
• Breast abscess/infection
• Injury to the breast
• Cancer of the breast
• Use of some medications
• Hormone imbalance which can lead to production of prolactin even when one is not lactating. This results in women who are not pregnant having milky fluid come out of their breasts when they are not breastfeeding or even in women who have never been pregnant. This is called galactorrhea (pronounced gulactoria). This is not a disease on its own but a symptom of a problem. The hormone, prolactin is usually produced in these cases.

This milky fluid can be expressed by pressing or it can spontaneously come out on its own. It can affect one or both breasts and usually there are no blood stains involved. Sometimes, the cause of this discharge may not be known but some causes could be some medications, some drugs like cocaine, spinal cord injuries, some birth control pills, stress and even excessive stimulation during sexual intercourse. Galactorrhea can also happen in men and new born babies! In new born babies this can happen if the mother has a high level of estrogen which crosses over into the baby and stimulates the formation of breast tissue and sometimes, some milky white discharge.

If you notice this, please visit your doctor who may try to express this discharge to study. The discharge may also be clear, bloody or even tinged yellow. These need further evaluation and the presence of lumps should also be checked for. The level of prolactin will also be assessed. This may, however, be normal in people who are overly sensitive to prolactin. In this class of people, prolactin level is normal but there is still milky discharge from the nipples.

To determine cause, the doctor may do a scan, take tissue sample to examine (biopsy) etc. Treatment depends on cause. If due to pregnancy or breastfeeding, it will eventually stop. If due to stimulation, the discharge will continue as long as the stimulation is present. If due to injury, it will also stop with healing. If the discharge is due to medication, stopping the medication is sufficient to bring this to a stop or switch to something else under the supervision of your physician (doctor). If there is a tumour producing prolactin (this condition is associated with complaints of headache when they are large), drugs can be taken to shrink it or surgery can be done.  If no cause is found, drugs that reduce prolactin level are prescribed. Remember, that you could be pregnant and so a pregnancy test may not be out of place.

In the meantime, breast pads can be worn to prevent the embarrassing leaks from staining clothes, limit manipulation of breasts either by self-breast examination or during sexual activity and try not to wear clothes in which there would be friction between the nipples and the material.

The first challenge is confirming a diagnosis and then dealing with the cause. I suggest that you deal with that first and then sort out other issues, if need be, afterwards.

All the best!

Have a good weekend 😀

‘Many natural therapies promise to help with erectile dysfunction (ED), but there are reasons to be cautious.’

Want to learn more? Click on this link: https://www.health.harvard.edu/mens-sexual-health/beware-of-erectile-dysfunction-scams