If you are diabetic add vitamin C, cinnamon and ginger in your diet

Taking vitamin C supplements can lower elevated blood sugar levels in diabetics throughout the day. The research, published in the journal Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, also found that vitamin C lowered blood pressure in people with type 2 diabetes. According to Glenn Wadley from Deakin University in Australia We found that participants had a significant 36 per cent drop in the blood sugar spike after meals. This also meant that they spent almost three hours less per day living in a state of hyperglycaemia,".

The dose of vitamin C used in the study was about 10 times the normal dietary intake. Vitamin Cs antioxidant properties can help counteract the high levels of free radicals found in people with diabetes.

Studies have also shown that ginger may help lower blood sugar levels and regulate insulin response in diabetics. For example, a 2012 study, published in the journal Planta Medica, suggested that ginger may help improve blood sugar control in people with type 2 diabetes in the long term.

Also, an animal study done in 2014 showed that obese rats fed a mix of cinnamon and ginger experienced a wealth of benefits - such as decreased sugar levels, reduced body fat mass and weight, increased insulin levels, etc.

We hope you are not reusing cooking oil?

FSSAI DIRECTS FOOD BUSINESS OPERATORS NOT TO RE-USE COOKING OIL DIRECTLY IN FOOD PREPARATION NOR RE-ENTER FOOD CHAIN

 Dr K K Aggarwal and Advocate Ira Gupta

FSSAI has issued directions under Section 16(5) of Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 vide circular bearing F.No. 1-2/Stds/O&F/Notification n(II)/FSSAI-2018 dated 30.01.2019 regarding disposal and collection of used cooking oil (UCO).

Repeated use of oil leads to changes in physiochemical, nutritional and sensory properties of edible oil. During frying Total Polar Compounds are formed in the oil which has adverse effects on health.

In this regards, FSSAI had notified Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration) First Amendment Regulations, 2017 on 24th October 2017 which prescribes the limit for Total Polar Compounds (TPC) to be maximum 25% beyond which the vegetable oil is not suitable for use.

To ensure that the used cooking oil is neither directly used in the food preparation nor re-enter the food chain, vide circular dated 30.01.2019, FSSAI had decided that all Food Business Operators whose consumption of edible oil for frying is more than 50 litres per day shall maintain records i.e. date, name of the oil, quantity of oil taken for frying, quantity discarded at the end of the day, Date and node of disposal of used cooking oil and discarded oil collected by agency and dispose used cooking oil to agencies authorized by FSSAI or Commissioner of Food Safety of States/UTS.

Further, vide circular dated 30.01.2019 FSSAI has directed that cooking oil having developed Total Polar Compound of more than 25% shall not be topped up with the fresh oil. The said circular shall come into effect from 1st March 2019.

If you are 60 plus before you take any medicine read Beers criteria!

The Beers criteria are the most widely cited criteria used to assess inappropriate drug prescribing,

The criteria are a list of medications considered potentially inappropriate for use in older patients, mostly due to high risk for adverse events.

Medications are grouped into five categories: those potentially inappropriate in most older adults, those that should typically be avoided in older adults with certain conditions, drugs to use with caution, drug-drug interactions, and drug dose adjustment based on kidney function.

The criteria have been repeatedly updated, most recently in 2019

1. Avoid the concurrent use of opioids with either benzodiazepines or gabapentinoids, due to the increased risk of overdose and severe sedation-related adverse events such as respiratory depression and death.

2. Use caution when prescribing trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole in patients who are taking ACE inhibitor or AR blocker, and who have decreased creatinine clearance, to avoid hyperkalemia.

3. H2-receptor antagonists may be used in patients with dementia, although they should be avoided in patients with delirium.

4. Use caution when recommending aspirin for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease or colorectal cancer in patients age 70 or older (down from the previous threshold of 80 years or older), due to increased risk of bleeding.

5. Avoid the use of serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) in patients with a history of falls or fractures.

6. Avoid the use of sliding-scale insulin regimens (short- or rapid-acting insulin dosed according to current blood glucose levels), due to the risk of hypoglycemia without benefit of improvement in hyperglycemic management, unless patients are also on basal or long-acting insulin.

90% of older adults take at least one prescription drug.[2] And about one-third of these older patients have been prescribed at least one drug on the Beers Criteria warning list.

Potentially Inappropriate Medication Use in Older Adults(Part 1)

Analgesics/anti-inflammatory agents

• Etodolac (high severity rating [H])

• Indomethacin (H)

• Fenoprofen (H)

• Ibuprofen (H).................to be continued.