Eating Ghutka or Gutka

Eating ghutka or gutkha (or gutka) is very bad for health and has been banned in most states in India. It is a form of chewing tobacco and is made of crushed areca nut (betel nut), tobacco, and other ingredients like catechu, paraffin, slaked lime and flavorings. 

By 2013, gutka was banned in 24 states and 3 union territories in India, not that it stopped everyone from having it, specially in the rural areas. 

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Spitting in public places

Spitting is very common in India and is mainly due to people chewing tobacco. Mostly people spit on roads, in lifts, in ditches and in any place they find as long as it is not in their own home.

Spitting out of train and bus windows is very common. But here is a cab driver risking dirtying his own cab by spitting out of the window.

Here is an example of how public places are dirtied by spit.

Related Reading: Garbage on the roads in India  or People peeing and shitting on the streets in India or KFC Garbage or Garbage trucks or dumpers in India or see other posts on Sanitation

Should you take Multi Vitamins and Mineral tablets?

There has been a lot of discussion as to whether multi vitamins and multi minerals should be taken regularly. Latest research seems to suggest that they are not necessary, and even harmful for healthy people. This is misleading. What is required is an intelligent approach. Taking them blindly can indeed be harmful.

Why they should be taken:

1) Everyone does not have a good diet.
2) Some high stressed and active individuals may need the supplements. Also the elderly and those who smoke, drink alcohol etc.

These multi vitamin supplements should be taken with the following precautions:

1) Read labels so that you do not over dose. For example the human body cannot ingest more than 600 mg of calcium at a time so what is the point of over loading the body with a 1000 mg tablet at one go? And if you have some natural calcium in your diet why do you need to take the amount you are taking?

2) The vitamin and mineral dosages do not take into consideration that you may be getting some of the stuff from natural sources. So taking half the tablet at a time makes sense. Or perhaps twice week. Supradyn for example has far too much of certain vitamins and that is why you will be over dosing if you take it everyday. Also, formulations are wrong and skewed in many cases. So read the labels and find out what your body needs according to your age and lifestyle and what your diet is all about.
Yes, a doctor should tell you this but they vulnerable to marketing by pharma companies. Don't trust your doctor to give you the right brand name. Asking him for advise in this matter is also fruitless as they will spout out some known brands. Do the research yourself.

These are imported health supplements in bottles. The tablets at the bottom is not a supplement but a medicine.

You might also like images of Muesli Nutrition Comparison and misleading labelling or Processed foods in India or How to recognize a fake Tata Tetley tea bag

Muesli Nutrition Comparison and misleading labelling

Which Muesli product is the most nutritious and which breakfast brand of Muesli has the least calorific value? What does the nutrition information tell us? Muesli by itself is a high calorie food because of the nut and sugar content. 1 small katori is about 60 grams of muesli (half a cup) and this can contain about 180-200 calories.

Bagrry's No Added Sugar Crunchy Muesli, if compared to another Bagrry's Muesli product with added sugar, should logically contain fewer calories, right? Otherwise why advertise it as "No Added Sugar" on the food label? The calorific difference is just 1 calorie as seen in the nutrition information! The No Added Sugar Muesli is 119 cals for 30 grams and 398 cals for 100 grams, even though this high calorie muesli has no nuts, just rolled oats and  bran, wheat flakes and bran, and apple juice concentrates. Where are the calories coming from then? This makes one doubt the nutritive value of Muesli as a breakfast food.

The other Crunchy Muesli from Bagrry's has the same ingredients but added sugar, honey and raisins, corn flakes, and also almonds and yet it is 120 cals for 30 grams and 399 cals for 100 grams! Just one calorie more than the No Sugar and no nuts variety? Something seriously wrong here. Misleading and false claims by Bagrry's one would think.

Express Foods' Harvest Crunch has similar ingredients like nuts and honey, and it is 123 cals for 30 grams, just slightly over the Bagrry's nut mixture. However this is a very poor quality product. I have bought it several months before the expiry date but it still emanates a stale stink. Probably due to inferior quality ingredients. Avoid this one if you can.

Interestingly, a muesli mixture of dried nuts and fruits (the Indian brands referred to here have a very small quantity of nuts and hardly any dried fruit) from a developed country is just 118 for 30 grams. This too with a far larger number of nuts! And muesli without nuts and fruits from a developed country is 108 calories for 30 grams, with sugar included! And Sainsburry's no added sugar muesli with nuts is only about 106 cals for 30 grams.

Our Indian brands skimp on the nuts, but put a high calorie count on their labels, it would appear. Either the labels are wrong or we are consuming hidden calories. Even if we assume that developed countries like the UK and the USA are labelling their products wrong despite the strict labelling laws there, the minimal difference between two products of Baggry's (one with sugar, another without) raises suspicions.

The reason I have not mentioned Kelloggs here is that I cannot eat their muesli and never buy it. I hate those little fruity brightly coloured fake food that they put in their muesli. Also I think their value for money equation is very poor. I am not at all satisfied with the quality, and I consider Kelloggs worse that Harvest Crunch and Bagrry's. Unfortunately their distribution might ensures that they sell their products!

Related Images: or How to recognize a fake Tata Tetley tea bag or
Obesity statistics of the world or Obesity silhouettes or Images of overweight people
High Calorie Food - Sausages and Fries or Processed foods in India or Should you take Multi Vitamins and Mineral tablets?
Sketches and images of feet on a weighing machine or pictures of Gymnasium and training equipment

Pesticide Spraying

Pesticide spraying if properly regulated and judiciously used helps crops improve their yield. Pesticides are designed to kill insects, fungus, bacteria and other pests which prey on crops. Unfortunately, the chemical pesticides are toxic chemicals which can affect human health, more so if improperly administered.

Pesticides residue on farming produce is harmful to consumers. Pesticides are also carried in the air, and they mix with water and the soil, which in turn affects livestock and drinking water supplies. It also affects those who actually carry out the work of spraying.

Look at this man, he is not wearing any protective gear while spraying pesticide on the crops. It is likely that he is unaware of the dangers.The toxic chemicals can enter the human body through the skin, eyes, mouth and nose.

The danger from pesticide use is widespread, specially in countries like India where there is greater illiteracy. Farmers often cannot understand the instructions given on the label.

You might also like: Working without protective gear
Or Plastic Pollution or Diwali Air Pollution or see all images filed under the label "Environment"

Or images of Man and Bullock cultivating field or Palm Plantations of Malaysia or Rubber Plantations in Kerala

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Obesity statistics of the world

This graph about the average weight of people from different countries is from the Economist. How many people are overweight and fat in the world? The answer is quite fascinating actually, specially as gender wise stats are given. Obesity rates are rising across the world, but rising faster in developing countries. Indian and China still have relatively thinner people, lots of them, but this is set to change.

More women from the UAE (United Arab Emirates) are fat as compared to their men. But significantly more American men are fatter than American women. I guess the need to look good is more prevalent amongst American women than the women from the UAE. There is similar trend in the U.K. British men are fatter on an average than British women. Indian women on the other hand are becoming a little fatter than the men! In China there doesn't seem to be a significant difference between the sexes.

Less Brazilian women are overweight as compared to their men, but the difference is not as marked as the average weight difference between American and British men and women. Although South Africans are not as overweight as the British and the Americans, there appears to be a sudden increase in their weight after the year 2000! The women are fatter than the men in South Africa.

Now, that's the weight the world is going to bear and one can only imagine the future!

Related Images: Obesity silhouettes  or Sketches and images of feet on a weighing machine or pictures of Gymnasium and training equipment or Images of overweight people or High Calorie Food - Sausages and Fries or or Processed foods in India

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Cancer Patients

These are photos of patients in a hospital. Specifically they were taken at Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital.
The photograph shows an old man lying on a stretcher and being wheeled by a relative.

This is a child cancer patient lying still on a bench outside the doctor's office.

Related Images: Tata Memorial Hospital Photos

Tata Memorial Hospital Photos

A photo of the Tata Memorial Hospital, the main building. This is the famous Cancer Hospital in Parel, Mumbai, India.

 

These are pictures of the main building of the Tata Cancer Hospital in Parel, Mumbai. This one is a close look at the building. The name of the hospital, written in the Devanagari script is on the building. A few people, probably relatives or friends of patients can be seen leaving the building.

Another close look at the building with people leaving the building. Perhaps employees.

Colorful synthetic drinks sold on the streets of India

These are photographs of the common man's Coca-Cola, Fanta and Sprite. Colored sherbet made out of sugar syrup and chemical colours and flavours many of which are banned. These drinks are inexpensive, sold openly on the streets, and it is mostly the poor who buy them. Lemons are used to add taste.

A boy is behind the wheels of this cart selling synthetic drinks. When asked he tells me that it is nothing but sugar syrup and colors and flavours. A dash of lemon adds taste.

The same boy posing for a picture. Not the colourful decoration of the hand-cart. It attracts customers, particularly children.

These people appear as if they are in the middle of nowhere, but actually they are in a holiday spot called Matheran. Here the drinks sellers cater to a slightly well-off crowd, and people who don't mind spending while on a holiday. This one makes a masala mix of various bottled cold drinks like Sprite and Coke. Colors and favors are used in the masala too at times and so is lemon. Basically these drinks are a concoction of the various bottled drinks and some local flavours. Masala Thums Up is popular and so is Kala Khatta soda. Kala Khatta or Chuski is made from Jamun, a small purple fruit. 

Another view of the same drinks vendor. In this frame her son is helping her out.

Related Photos: Road-side food stalls or street food or Coconut water vendor in India or Processed Juices in India or Sugarcane juice vendors
Or try this! Coke on a Swiss mountain

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Processed foods in India

It's amazing the number of processed foods you can find in an upper-middle class home today. With all the emphasis on fresh goods, most well-to-do people are addicted to processed foods like noodles, pasta, and fried snacks. Not to forget that our wheat flour and refined rice and oils are all processed too! So is salt. I guess we just need to ensure that we don't overdo with the consumption of processed foods which are full of chemicals or at their best, stripped of nutrients.

Many sauces are available in bottles today like Soya sauces, chilli sauces. Other processed foods like soups, iced tea mixes, drink mixes, and instant oats. Breaksfast cereals like muesli is also processed, although it may be healthy and wholesome. Many of these brands are foreign like Chings and Tabasco.

Various spices and available in bottles too from ground cinnamon and ginger to ground pepper and mixed herbs. Possibly these are pure ground herbs without additives, but one can never be sure.  Many foreign brands dominate Indian homes today like Heinz, Twinings and Nestle's Nescafe.

Related Images: Instant Noodles Stock Photo or High Calorie Food - Sausages and Fries or Ingredients of instant noodles and instant soups (Junk food) which will tell you about the many chemicals we consume!

Ingredients of instant noodles and instant soups (Junk food)

If we eat junk, lets admit to ourselves its junk. These are some of the actual ingredients of processed food. These are close-up photographs of the labels on instant noodles and instant ready-made soups of different brands like Nestle and Knorr.

The dal atta noodles call themselves healthy but just look at the ingredients. The word "atta" is almost immediately followed by "wheat flour" which means maida or white refined flour. Followed by edible vegetable oil, salt and guar gum. The garnishing of dal is more for show. The mixed spices, sugar, salt are too much for the serving size. The rest of the ingredients are: wheat (read refined flour or maida) noodle poweder, tamarind powder, acidifying agent, curry leaves, asafoetida or hing, dehydrated vegetables (which hardly have any food value) and then there are flavour enhancers. Sounds quite unhealthy to me.

Here are the ingredients of these noodles: wheat flour or  maida, refined vegetable oil, salts and antioxidants.

This is the pack of instant pasta which seems a little better as it claims to be made of semolina (rawa) and wheat fibre.

This is an instant soup powder made of maltodextin, salt, monosodium gulatamate (which is not present in all instant noodles), sugar, chicken fat, vegetable fat, hydrolysed vegetable protein, flavourants, thickener, yeast extract, herbs, acidifiers, spices, flavour enhances and antioxidant. Seems like poison to me!  If you have to use this stuff add your own vegetable puree to it.

These are vegetable atta noodles purportedly made with whole wheat. As in the earlier case the word "atta" is immediately followed by the word "wheat flour" which means white refined flour or maida. This one has artificial colour as well.

This packet of hot and sour vegetable soup says it has no synthetic colours, but it will have colors, though of the natural variety. However even these are chemicals as it is all processed. Ingredients: Corn flour, salt, dehydrated vegetables, dried glucose syrup, sugar, flavour enhancer, soyabean sauce condiments, acidity regulator, yeast extract and dehydrated garlic and vitamins. The only think I like about it is vitamins because at least they are vitamins. Whether the actual food has any vitamins we don't know. Most likely not. Best to add your own finely chopped vegetables.

Related Pictures: Processed Juices in India or Instant Noodles Stock Photo or Processed foods in India or How to recognize a fake Tata Tetley tea bag or Muesli Nutrition Comparison and misleading labelling
Or for more try the label "Processed Food" or "Snacks" for cooked snacks.

Herbs and Spices in boxes

This is a shot of different types of herbs and spices, all neatly laid out in small plastic containers. This wide array of spices and herbs has not been put out for sale by a vendor, but a medicine man who promises to cure all your ailments by using these "medicines!" He claims to practice Ayurveda. 

Here is a a photograph of the medicine man. He has a white beard and white hair, wears a silk kurta and beads, all to impress the unsuspecting customer! Wonder what's in those tiny bottles next to the spices.

While I do have faith in Ayurveda, this particular "chemist"seems dicey to me! Here is a list of diseases and ailments he hopes to cure. Right from Ladies Problems and Piles to White Spots, Pimples and Dental Pain! As if this is not enough, he claims to help cure Paralysis, Asthma and Jaundice!

There's more. Arthritis and Impotence to Hernia and Gastritis! In addition to speech problems and weight gain! Amazing why the authorities allow such people on the roads in Mumbai.

This little card was given to us on the London streets of all places! A man claiming to be a gifted african spiritual healer advertising himself! He claims to cure problems concerning black magic and voodoo, exams and court cases! Just how one cannot help but wonder!

More pictures: How to make paan in pictures or Chaat or savory snacks in India or check out all the photos filed under the label Food.

Paan vendors in India

Shops which sell paan and paan vendors are dime a dozen in India. They can be found at street corners and outside eateries, hotels and restaurants. The paan walas or makers of paan make the paan out of betel leaf, rollling it with a filling of finely chopped betel nut and flavour it with slaked lime paste. Sometimes saffron and gulkand as well as other spices are used. Paan is considered "a breath freshener, and for digestive purposes. It is offered to guests and visitors as a sign of hospitality (after meals at both personal and social occasions" (Wiki). Many customers demand a tobacco filling as well. It is common to find people chewing tobacco wrapped in betel leaf.

This photograph shows the ingredients that make up a paan or what is called paan masala. You can see Kattha in the large brass pitcher. Many of the small plastic containers which are covered are different types of tobacco. The open boxes with the brown mush are different kinds of supari. The betel leaves are covered with a damp red cloth. Chuna is also used, and is probably in one of the covered steel  boxes. At times a concentrated form of tobacco is used, very fragrant, almost spicy, and this can be seen in a small covered box next to another type of tobacco. In the background of the picture you can see cigarettes of different brands, many of of them imported. The small pink rolls are bidis, cigarettes made of leaves and without a filter. A few filtered cigarettes lie at the bottom of the shelf, as customers often pick up one for a smoke. These places usually  have a smoldering thick rope at the side, so that customers can light up their cigarette or bidi.

These two photos are of paan vendors in India in their little shops. His ware is placed in shiny brass containers.

A paan vendor outside a hotel.

You might also like: How to make paan in pictures

Images of overweight people

These are photographs of overweight people. Some of the people in these pictures could be considered obese individuals, some fat, some just plump or well built.

These two women were seen in a busy market in Ahmedabad, India. They are middle-class women.

An overweight middle-aged woman, a pillion rider on a motor-cycle.

Here is a plump boy. Obesity amongst well-to-do youth is rising in India.

This is a young modern girl on the streets of Mumbai. She is on the heavier side.

This man was waiting for a bus in Mulund, Mumbai. Not obviously overweight, but many Indians have a paunch even if they are not obese.

This is what the common man looks like. Slim, but with a pot belly.

It is unusual to see a rickshaw driver who is fat, leave alone plump. But this one is certainly is.

This elderly couple (tourists) waiting at the airport lounge in Aurangabad, India. The woman is overweight.

These group of people were caught on camera as they walked on a London platform. The woman in the green coat is overweight

Another overweight person in a saree.

You might also like: Obesity statistics of the world
or related images: Obesity silhouettes  or Sketches and images of feet on a weighing machine or pictures of Gymnasium and training equipment or High Calorie Food - Sausages and Fries

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People smoking in China, Switzerland, France and India

These are photos of men smoking, young and old.

The first one is of a young man in China. He is standing at a shopping centre or mall, and enjoying his smoke. He seems to be concerned with style, the way he is holding his cigarette between his teeth. China has 300 million smokers and the latest news is that China is planning to ban public smoking at indoor public places, similar to this one.

This one is of an elderly man on a bridge in Zurich, Switzerland. He is lighting his cigarette. This photograph was taken in October 2009, seven months  before the ban on smoking in public places took effect in Switzerland.

This photo is of a man smoking in the city of Paris. He sure seems to be addicted, because he cannot stop himself even as he is packing something on his scooter.

Here is an image of an Indian man on a horse smoking beedi or bidi, in Matheran, India. A beedi is a thin cigarette. Tobacco is wrapped in a leaf, and it is cheap and commonly smoked in India. It delivers more poisonous substances than other types of cigarettes.

This smoker is a Rajneeshi (devotee of Rajneesh, a self-styled Godman) and he is smoking while walking down a road near the Rajneesh Ashram. He is wearing the maroon/orange robes which are commonly worn by Rajneeshis.

Related Images: Smoking hookah on the streets of Cairo or Pictorial Warnings on Tobacco packs