MAKING MONEY IS NOT EVERYTHING.

I got this real story of Dr. Richard Teo  from my friend . I sharing it . MUST READ..& spread it around, we sometimes takes things for granted, and miss the true meaning of happiness in our lives!  Very profound thoughts of a person - who is close to the end of his Life -   Real Meaning of Success MAKING MONEY IS NOT EVERYTHING. Born in Singapore on 29 February 1972 Passed away in Singapore on 18 October 2012 Aged 40 years Condition: Lung Cancer                                                                                                                                                        Below is the transcript of the talk of Dr. Richard Teo, who is a 40-year-old millionaire and cosmetic surgeon with a stage-4 lung cancer but selflessly came to share with the D1 class his life experience on 19-Jan-2012. Hi good morning to all of you. My voice is a bit hoarse, so please bear with me. I thought I'll just introduce myself. My name is Richard, I'm a medical doctor. And I thought I'll  just share some thoughts of my life. It's my pleasure to be invited by prof. Hopefully, it can get you thinking about how... as you pursue this.. embarking on your training to become dental surgeons, to think about other things as well. Since young, I am a typical product of today's society. Relatively successful product that society requires.. From young, I came from a below average family. I was told by the media... and people around me that happiness is about success. And that success is about being wealthy. With this mind-set, I've always be extremely competitive, since I was young. Not only do I need to go to the top school, I need to have success in all fields. Uniform groups, track, everything. I needed to get trophies, needed to be successful, I needed to have colours award, national colours award, everything. So I was highly competitive since young. I went on to medical school, graduated as a doctor. Some of you may know that within the medical faculty, ophthalmology is one of the most highly sought after specialities. So I went after that as well. I was given a traineeship in ophthalmology, I was also given a research scholarship by NUS to develop lasers to treat the eye. So in the process, I was given 2 patents, one for the medical devices, and another for the lasers. And you know what, all this academic achievements did not bring me any wealth. So once I completed my bond with MOH, I decided that this is taking too long, the training in eye surgery is just taking too long. And there's lots of money to be made in the private sector. If you're aware, in the last few years, there is this rise in aesthetic medicine. Tons of money to be made there. So I decided, well, enough of staying in institution, it's time to leave. So I quit my training halfway and I went on to set up my aesthetic clinic... in town, together with a day surgery centre. You know the irony is that people do not make heroes out average GP (general practitioner), family physicians. They don't. They make heroes out of people who are rich and famous. People who are not happy to pay $20 to see a GP, the same person have no qualms paying ten thousand dollars for a liposuction, 15 thousand dollars for a breast augmentation, and so on and so forth. So it's a no brainer isn't? Why do you want to be a gp? Become an aesthetic physician. So instead of healing the sick and ill, I decided that I'll become a glorified beautician. So, business was good, very good. It started off with waiting of one week, then became 3 weeks, then one month, then 2 months, then 3 months. I was overwhelmed; there were just too many patients. Vanities are fantastic business. I employed one doctor, the second doctor, the 3rd doctor, the 4th doctor. And within the 1st year, we're already raking in millions. Just the 1st year. But never is enough because I was so obsessed with it. I started to expand into Indonesia to get all the rich Indonesian tai-tais who wouldn't blink an eye to have a procedure done. So life was really good. So what do I do with the spare cash. How do I spend my weekends? Typically, I'll have car club gatherings. I take out my track car, with spare cash I got myself a track car. We have car club gatherings. We'll go up to Sepang in Malaysia. We'll go for car racing. And it was my life. With other spare cash, what do i do? I get myself a Ferrari. At that time, the 458 wasn't out, it's just a spider convertible, 430. This is a friend of mine, a schoolmate who is a forex trader, a banker. So he got a red one, he was wanting all along a red one, I was getting the silver one. So what do I do after getting a car? It's time to buy a house, to build our own bungalows. So we go around looking for a land to build our own bungalows, we went around hunting. So how do I live my life? Well, we all think we have to mix around with the rich and famous. This is one of the Miss Universe. So we hang around with the beautiful, rich and famous. This by the way is an internet founder. So this is how we spend our lives, with dining and all the restaurants and Michelin Chefs you know. So I reach a point in life that I got everything for my life. I was at the pinnacle of my career and all. That's me one year ago in the gym and I thought I was like, having everything under control and reaching the pinnacle. Well, I was wrong. I didn't have everything under control. About last year March, I started to develop backache in the middle of nowhere. I thought maybe it was all the heavy squats I was doing. So I went to SGH, saw my classmate to do an MRI, to make sure it's not a slipped disc or anything. And that evening, he called me up and said that we found bone marrow replacement in your spine. I said, sorry what does that mean? I mean I know what it means, but I couldn't accept that. I was like “Are you serious?” I was still running around going to the gym you know. But we had more scans the next day, PET scans - positrons emission scans, they found that actually I have stage 4 terminal lung cancer. I was like "Whoa where did that come from?” It has already spread to the brain, the spine, the liver and the adrenals. And you know one moment I was there, totally thinking that I have everything under control, thinking that I've reached the pinnacle of my life. But the next moment, I have just lost it. This is a CT scan of the lungs itself. If you look at it, every single dot there is a tumour. We call this miliaries tumour. And in fact, I have tens of thousands of them in the lungs. So, I was told that even with chemotherapy, that I'll have about 3-4months at most. Did my life come crushing on, of course it did, who wouldn't? I went into depression, of course, severe depression and I thought I had everything. See the irony is that all these things that I have, the success, the trophies, my cars, my house and all. I thought that brought me happiness. But i was feeling really down, having severe depression. Having all these thoughts of my possessions, they brought me no joy. The thought of... You know, I can hug my Ferrari to sleep, no... No, it is not going to happen. It brought not a single comfort during my last ten months. And I thought they were, but they were not true happiness. But it wasn't. What really brought me joy in the last ten months was interaction with people, my loved ones, friends, people who genuinely care about me, they laugh and cry with me, and they are able to identify the pain and suffering I was going through. That brought joy to me, happiness. None of the things I have, all the possessions, and I thought those were supposed to bring me happiness. But it didn't, because if it did, I would have felt happy think about it, when I was feeling most down.. You know the classical Chinese New Year that is coming up. In the past, what do I do? Well, I will usually drive my flashy car to do my rounds, visit my relatives, to show it off to my friends. And I thought that was joy, you know. I thought that was really joy. But do you really think that my relatives and friends, whom some of them have difficulty trying to make ends meet, that will truly share the joy with me? Seeing me driving my flashy car and showing off to them? No, no way. They won’t be sharing joy with me. They were having problems trying to make ends meet, taking public transport. In fact I think, what I have done is more like you know, making them envious, jealous of all I have. In fact, sometimes even hatred. Those are what we call objects of envy. I have them, I show them off to them and I feel it can fill my own pride and ego. That didn't bring any joy to these people, to my friends and relatives, and I thought they were real joy. Well, let me just share another story with you. You know when I was about your age, I stayed in king Edward VII hall. I had this friend whom I thought was strange. Her name is Jennifer, we're still good friends. And as I walk along the path, she would, if she sees a snail, she would actually pick up the snail and put it along the grass patch. I was like why do you need to do that? Why dirty your hands? It’s just a snail. The truth is she could feel for the snail. The thought of being crushed to death is real to her, but to me it's just a snail. If you can't get out of the pathway of humans then you deserve to be crushed, it’s part of evolution isn't it? What an irony isn't it? There I was being trained as a doctor, to be compassionate, to be able to empathies; but I couldn't. As a house officer, I graduated from medical school, posted to the oncology department at NUH. And, every day, every other day I witness death in the cancer department. When I see how they suffered, I see all the pain they went through. I see all the morphine they have to press every few minutes just to relieve their pain. I see them struggling with their oxygen breathing their last breath and all. But it was just a job. When I went to clinic every day, to the wards every day, take blood, give the medication but was the patient real to me? They weren't real to me. It was just a job, I do it, I get out of the ward, I can't wait to get home, I do my own stuff. Was the pain, was the suffering the patients went through real? No. Of course I know all the medical terms to describe how they feel, all the suffering they went through. But in truth, I did not know how they feel, not until I became a patient. It is until now; I truly understand how they feel. And, if you ask me, would I have been a very different doctor if I were to re-live my life now, I can tell you yes I will. Because I truly understand how the patients feel now. And sometimes, you have to learn it the hard way. Even as you start just your first year, and you embark this journey to become dental surgeons, let me just challenge you on two fronts. Inevitably, all of you here will start to go into private practice. You will start to accumulate wealth. I can guarantee you. Just doing an implant can bring you thousands of dollars, it's fantastic money. And actually there is nothing wrong with being successful, with being rich or wealthy, absolutely nothing wrong. The only trouble is that a lot of us like myself couldn't handle it. Why do I say that? Because when I start to accumulate, the more I have, the more I want. The more I wanted, the more obsessed I became. Like what I showed you earlier on, all I can was basically to get more possessions, to reach the pinnacle of what society did to us, of what society wants us to be. I became so obsessed that nothing else really mattered to me. Patients were just a source of income, and I tried to squeeze every single cent out of these patients. A lot of times we forget, whom we are supposed to be serving. We become so lost that we serve nobody else but just ourselves. That was what happened to me. Whether it is in the medical, the dental fraternity, I can tell you, right now in the private practice, sometimes we just advise patients on treatment that is not indicated. Grey areas. And even though it is not necessary, we kind of advocate it. Even at this point, I know who are my friends and who genuinely cared for me and who are the ones who try to make money out of me by selling me "hope". We kind of lose our moral compass along the way. Because we just want to make money. Worse, I can tell you, over the last few years, we bad mouth our fellow colleagues, our fellow competitors in the industry. We have no qualms about it. So if we can put them down to give ourselves an advantage, we do it. And that's what happening right now, medical, dental everywhere. My challenge to you is not to lose that moral compass. I learnt it the hard way, I hope you don't ever have to do it. Secondly, a lot of us will start to get numb to our patients as we start to practise. Whether is it government hospitals, private practice, I can tell you when I was in the hospital, with stacks of patient folders, I can't wait to get rid of those folders as soon as possible; I can't wait to get patients out of my consultation room as soon as possible because there is just so many, and that's a reality. Because it becomes a job, a very routine job. And this is just part of it. Do I truly know how the patient feels back then? No, I don't. The fears and anxiety and all, do I truly understand what they are going through? I don't, not until when this happens to me and I think that is one of the biggest flaws in our system. We’re being trained to be healthcare providers, professional, and all and yet we don't know how exactly they feel. I'm not asking you to get involved emotionally, I don't think that is professional but do we actually make a real effort to understand their pain and all? Most of us won’t, alright, I can assure you. So don't lose it, my challenge to you is to always be able to put yourself in your patient's shoes. Because the pain, the anxiety, the fear are very real even though it's not real to you, it's real to them. So don't lose it and you know, right now I'm in the midst of my 5th cycle of my chemotherapy. I can tell you it’s a terrible feeling. Chemotherapy is one of those things that you don't wish even your enemies to go through because it's just suffering, lousy feeling, throwing out, you don't even know if you can retain your meals or not. Terrible feeling! And even with whatever little energy now I have, I try to reach out to other cancer patients because I truly understand what pain and suffering is like. But it's kind of little too late and too little. You guys have a bright future ahead of you with all the resource and energy, so I’m going to challenge you to go beyond your immediate patients. To understand that there are people out there who are truly in pain, truly in hardship. Don’t get the idea that only poor people suffer. It is not true. A lot of these poor people do not have much in the first place, they are easily contented. for all you know they are happier than you and me but there are out there, people who are suffering mentally, physically, hardship, emotionally, financially and so on and so forth, and they are real. We choose to ignore them or we just don't want to know that they exist. So do think about it alright, even as you go on to become professionals and dental surgeons and all. That you can reach out to these people who are in need. Whatever you do can make a large difference to them. I'm now at the receiving end so I know how it feels, someone who genuinely care for you, encourage and all. It makes a lot of difference to me. That’s what happens after treatment. I had a treatment recently, but I’ll leave this for another day. A lot of things happened along the way, that's why I am still able to talk to you today. I'll just end of with this quote here, it's from this book called Tuesdays with Morris, and some of you may have read it. Everyone knows that they are going to die; every one of us knows that. The truth is, none of us believe it because if we did, we will do things differently. When I faced death, when I had to, I stripped myself off all stuff totally and I focused only on what is essential. The irony is that a lot of times, only when we learn how to die then we learn how to live. I know it sounds very morbid for this morning but it's the truth, this is what I’m going through. Don’t let society tell you how to live. Don’t let the media tell you what you're supposed to do. Those things happened to me. And I led this life thinking that these are going to bring me happiness. I hope that you will think about it and decide for yourself how you want to live your own life. Not according to what other people tell you to do, and you have to decide whether you want to serve yourself, whether you are going to make a difference in somebody else's life. Because true happiness doesn't come from serving yourself. I thought it was but it didn't turn out that way. With that I thank you, if you have any questions you have for me, please feel free. Thank you.

Kemiskinan dan Pengaruh Filem Antara penyebab Jenayah di Kalangan Masyrakat India

Kemiskinan dan Pengaruh Filem Antara penyebab Jenayah di Kalangan Masyrakat India

25 June, 2011 By Office of Mp Kapar Leave a Comment

Berikut adalah Jawapan Perdana Menteri untuk Soalan Tuan Manikavasagam Sundaram [Kapar] yang berbunyi :

Minta Perdana Menteri Menyatakan penyebab utama Kadar jenayah di kalangan masyarakat India paling tinggi. Nyatakan usaha-usaha yang dijalankan dalam membendung penularan kumpulan gelap di sekolah-sekolah

Jawapan :

1. Antara penyebab utama kadar jenayah di kalangan masyarakat India paling tinggi adalah disebabkan oleh perkara-perkara berikut:

a)      Keciciran dalam Peperiksaan

1. Daripada penelitian yang dibuat didapati ramai remaja India tidak menamatkan pengajian sehinggan tingkatan lima dan ini menyebabkan mereka tidak memiliki Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) . Mereka ini tercicir samada di peringkat darjah enam (UPSR) , Tingkat 1 ( kelas peralihan) , Tingkatan 3 (PMR) atau di tingkatan 4. Akibat ketiadaan kelulusan SPM, menyebabkan mereka sukar memasuki institusi kemahiran kerajaan. Selain itu keadaan ekonomi keluarga juga menyebabkan mereka tidak mampu mengikuti kursus kemahiran di institusi institusi swasta
2. Ekoran kegagalan dalam pelajaran dan ketiadaan sijil kemahiran ini, remaja-remaja india terpaksa membuat kerja kerja biasa yang tidak memerlukan kemahiran dan kelulusan. Jenis kerja seupama ini memberikan pendapatan yang paling rendah dan yang tidak dapat menyara hidup mereka dan akhirnya mereka terjebaj dalam kegiatan jenayah seperti samun, ragut, mencuri dan sebagainya yang boleh mendatangkan wang lumayan dalam masa yang singkat.
3. Kegiatan gangsterisme di sekolah juga agak membimbangkan , ada gang yang mengrekrut pelajar kedalam kumpulan gang mereka.

b)      Latarbelakang Keluarga & Kemiskinan

1. Keretakan dalam keluarga yang kucar-kacir seperti keluarga yang berpecah belah (Ibu atau ayah melarikan diri meninggalkan keluarga) di tambah dengan kemiskinan isirumah juga mempengaruhi penglibatan remaja dan belia India terjerumus dalam kegiatan jenayah
2. Ibu Bapa yang tidak memberi pemerhatian serius atau mengambil pendekatan keibubapaan yang betul dalam mengasuh anak-anak menjadi pendorong kepada kejadian ini. Mengutamakan kerja, kerana perlu mencari duit untuk menanggung keluarga yang hidup dalam kemiskinan, menyebabkan secara tidak langsung anak terbiar dan tidak diasuh dengan baik.
3. Emosi anak ini terganggu,mereka mencari teman dan ‘idola’ di luar dari keluarga.Mereka merangkumi ‘kumpulan gelap’ kerana mereka kononnya bergaya-‘macho’ memiliki kenderaan ,mempunyai ramai pengikut dan berani.

c)       Pengaruh Filem

1. Kebanyakan filem yang gemar ditontoni oleh belia India adalah filem-filem dari Negara India yang banyak memaparkan aksi-aksi keganasan,gaduh dan kegiatan jenayah.Kebanyakan filem –filem ini tidak melalui tapisan yang ketat,yang mana secara langsung mengundang kumpulan gelap untuk meniru aksi gaya yang ditonjolkan oleh ‘hero’ atau ‘penjahat’ dalam filem-filem berkenaan.Contohnya; Aksi ‘hero’ memancung kepala ‘penjahat’ juga ada dipaparkan di file ini-yang mana membawa mesej yang songsang kepada remaja India bahawa adalah tidak salah sekiranya seorang ‘hero’ memancung kepala ‘penjahat’ kerana apa sahaja yang dilakukan  oleh ‘hero’ adalah hakikatnya untuk kebaikan .Tambahan pula, kadang-kala filem dari India ini, memaparkan penjahat sebagai hero dan pihak polis sebagai kumpulan jahat.

Tuan Yang Di Pertua,

1. Usaha-usaha menangani masalah jenayah dikalangan masyarakat India.

a)      Kebanyakan pelajar yang cenderung untuk dipengaruhi dengan kupulan gelap adalah mereka yang tiada berminat dalam akademik dan tidak dapat menyesuaikan diri dengan sistem pendidikan di sekolah. Bagi mereka yang sememangnya tercicir atau ‘dibuang sekolah’ peluang mereka mendekatkan diri dengan kumpulan gelap adalah tinggi.

b)      Adalah diperhatikan, kebanyakan pelajar ini terlibat dengan jenayah .Halatuju pelajar ini menjadi tidak menentu. Suatu program di bawah Kemanterian Sumber Manusia (KSM) iaitu SLDN(Skim Latihan Dual Nasional) berusaha melatih pelajar-pelajar tercicir ini dan menempatkan mereka di tempat pekerjaan. Prestasi pelajar berkenaan dipantau oleh Jabatan Pembangunan Kemahiran (JPK) bersama syarikat yang mengambil menempatkan mereka.

c)       Pelajar ini yang berumur 15 tahun ke atas dibenarkan untuk mengikuti Kursus latihan kemahiran di Pusat Bertauliah yang diiktiraf oleh kerajaan. Peluang untuk pelajar yang tidak pandai akademik; untuk mengikuti latihan kemahiran adalah amat luas.Kerajaan ada menyediakan bantuan kewangan-di mana pelajar-pelajar ini boleh memohon untuk pinjaman kewangan dari Perbandaran Tabung Pembangunan Kemahiran (PTPK) bagi mengikuti Sijil Kemahiran.

d)       Beberapa program untuk memulihkan belia-belia India yang terlibat dalam jenayah dipergiatkan dengan kerjasama dari Polis DiRaja Malaysia (PDRM),dibantu dengan Jobs Malaysia dan Tekun. Pasukan Petugas Khas Pelaksanaan (SITF) dengan kerjasama agensi tersebut mengambil langkah untuk mengalihkan belia India yang mencari sara hidup dengan melakukan jenayah menceburi bidang perniagaan kecil melalui pinjaman perniagaan TEKUN dan membantu mendapatkan pekerjaan melalui Jobs Malaysia. Begitu juga bekerjasama dengan Jabatan Belia dan Sukan untuk membawa remaja-remaja ini menyertai aktiviti-aktiviti Rakan Muda.

e)      SITF dengan kerjasama dari Ibu Pejabat Polis Daerah telah mengadakan beberapa Sesi Dialog mengenai isu-isu gangsterisme di kalangan pelajar-pelajar Sekolah. Objektif dialog ini adalah untuk mengenalpasti tahap tatatertib di Sekolah dan membincangkan kaedah-kaedah yang dapat  digunakan untuk mengatasinya. Pengetua dan PIBG sekolah serta wakil-wakil NGO berkenaan telah nadir mengemukakan  cadangan dan berkongsi maklumat. Melalui sesi dialog ini beberapa kawasan berisiko tinggi kejadian jenayah di kalangan masyarakat India di kejiranan ‘neighbourhoods’ dikenalpasti untuk tindakan pemulihan.

f)       Untuk memesrakan Polis dan Masyarakat India, SITF akan mengadakan program-program bertemu Rakyat dimana pegawai dari Bukit Aman dan Ibu Pejabat Polis Daerah akan berjumpa dan mendengar sendiri permasalahan rakyat. Dalam program ini,remaja dan belia India didedahkan dengan bahaya penglibatan mereka dalam kumpulan gelap dan jenayah. Aktiviti-aktiviti yang telah dijalankan adalah seperti pameran narkotik,pendaftaran Rakan-Cop da sebagainya.

g)      Untuk memperbetulkan perpesi rakyat India terhadap polis,isu-isu buang daerah,tahanan d Simpang Rengam,Macang dan tahanan remaja dilokap diberi perhatian oleh SITF. Dengan kerjasama dari beberapa Pertubuhan bukan kerajaan (NGO) yang berkaitan dan pengalaman dari pegawai-pegawai Polis dan Penjara yang telah bersara,SITF mencadangkan supaya alternatif pemulihan berbanding dengan tindakan buang daerah ke kawasan pendalaman yang kini dilaksanakan. Pesalah remaja ini dapat dipulihkan dalam satu Pusat Pemulihan yang dapat menyedarkan pesalah melalui kaunseling, perubahan minda dan penerapan nilai-nilai hidup disamping  memberikan latihan kemahiran untuk mereka.

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Do I need supplements?

Sunday September 16, 2012

Do I need supplements?

WOMEN'S WORLD
By DR NOR ASHIKIN MOKHTAR

Dietary supplements may not be for everyone, but they could have a role to play in your life.

THE title of this article poses one of the most frequently-asked questions by people today.

As we become more concerned about our nutritional well-being, we are understandably worried about whether we are getting proper nourishment from the food that we eat.

Not only do our busy and stressful lifestyles prevent us from eating well, but even the food in our markets and supermarket shelves may no longer be the healthiest sources of nutrients.

Due to these reasons, it is no wonder that I hear the question “Do I need supplements?” so often. Dietary supplements may not be for everyone, but they could have a role to play in your life, depending on the quality of food that you eat every day.

Here are a few reasons that supplements may be necessary for you.

Quality of soil and crops

The idea of dietary supplements is to make up for nutrient deficiencies in our diet – often deficiencies of micronutrients, like vitamins and minerals, instead of macronutrients, which are quite abundant in our food.

The idea of dietary supplements is to make up for nutrient deficiencies in our diet – often deficiencies of micronutrients, like vitamins and minerals, instead of macronutrients, which are quite abundant in our food.

Vitamins and minerals cannot be made in our body, therefore we have to obtain them from the food that we eat.

Plant foods, such as vegetables, fruits, legumes and grains, are one of the main sources of minerals, as plants absorb minerals from the soil that they are grown in.

But did you know that even if you eat plenty of plant foods, you may not be getting as much minerals as you think you should?

This is because our soil is becoming increasingly depleted of minerals, due to the land being used repeatedly for agriculture. When plants are grown over and over again in the same soil, the mineral content of the soil decreases over time – much like a well that becomes empty after you keep drinking the water from it.

As a result, most agricultural soils today are low in zinc, manganese, chromium, molybdenum, calcium and magnesium. Research shows that this can lead to up to a 75% decrease in the trace minerals in plant foods.

To make matters worse, the intensive form of farming taking place today has further reduced the level of nutrients in crops. High yield crops contain less nutrients because the crops are competing for nutrients from a finite amount of soil.

For instance, wheat farmers today plant 10 times the amount of wheat on the same land, compared to the amount grown 100 years ago. As a result, today’s wheat consists of only 6% protein, half of the 12-14% level from a century ago.

Making polished rice causes 75% of zinc and chromium to be lost. 

You can counteract this problem by eating organic fruits and vegetables as much as possible. Organic farmers practise “crop rotation” to reduce the likelihood of soil depletion, although this does not completely prevent soil depletion.

Modern fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides

Before modern fertilisers came into the picture, farmers would use manure to encourage crops to grow better. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case as manure has been replaced by superphosphate fertilisers, which contain mainly nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus.

Modern fertilisers are used for the purpose of stimulating crops to grow, but as they do not contain trace minerals that are vital for health, they do not serve to enrich the crops.

The use of pesticides and herbicides further deteriorates the soil content, as they kill the microorganisms living in the soil that make minerals and other nutrients available to plants.

As we ingest traces of these pesticides when we eat plant foods, our bodies need more nutrients to remove these toxins. This places a heavy toll on the body, which is already deprived of micronutrients.

Food transportation and processing

When was the last time you ate fresh produce, harvested just hours or days before it reached your dining table? Chances are, it was so long ago that you don’t remember anymore.

As much of our produce today is imported, the food often takes days or weeks from the time it is harvested until it reaches our supermarkets or markets.

Many vitamins are unstable and are easily destroyed when exposed to environmental factors like heat and light. Therefore, by the time the food is handled, packaged, transported by airplane, train or truck and unpacked on our shelves, it has lost a lot of its nutritional value.

Similarly, food processing causes a lot of nutrients to be lost, particularly minerals.

We consume a lot of refined, processed, canned and frozen food today for convenience and economic reasons, but they are far less nutritious than fresh and natural food.

The process of refining wheat to make white flour removes 80% of magnesium, 70-80% of zinc, 87% of chromium, 88% of manganese and 50% of cobalt.

Making polished rice causes 75% of zinc and chromium to be lost, while making white sugar from sugar cane causes 99% of magnesium and 93% of chromium to be lost.

The use of food additives, such as artificial flavours, colours, conditioners, stabilisers and preservatives, can also deplete the body of nutrients.

Unhealthy lifestyle

One of the biggest reasons that many of us do not meet our daily nutrient requirements – in the right proportion – is that we lead very unhealthy lifestyles.

We often skip meals and then binge on one heavy meal to make up for it, or make poor food choices that do not provide the variety of nutrients we need.

Wheat farmers today plant 10 times the amount of wheat on the same land, compared to the amount grown 100 years ago. As a result, today’s wheat consists of only 6% protein, half of the 12-14% level from a century ago. 

If you get through the day on coffee, soft drinks, instant noodles, doughnuts and chocolates, you are certainly deprived of a lot of important nutrients.

High stress levels will also deplete nutrients, including calcium, magnesium and zinc. Stress also overstimulates the sympathetic nervous system, which causes poor digestion and weak absorption of nutrients.

Finally, as we age, it is inevitable that our bodies will produce fewer enzymes that are needed to properly digest the food that we eat. That is why older people tend to be vulnerable to nutrient deficiencies.

Supplementing a healthy diet

“Supplements” came by their name because they were meant to complement or enhance the daily diet, not replace it. Fundamentally, you still need to eat a healthy, balanced diet consisting of a variety of foods.

However, supplements will come in useful if the fruits, vegetables and plant foods that you eat are of poor quality (due to depleted soil, as explained above) and cannot provide an optimum amount of nutrients.

You may also need supplements if you are going through a particularly stressful period and your body needs a helping hand to meet its nutrient requirements and balance the hormone levels.

If you are pregnant, lactating, elderly, vegetarian or have a chronic illness, you are likely to have special nutritional needs which may not be met by your diet alone.

However, you cannot rely on supplements forever. They are useful to help you get through a tough period and bring your body back to balance, but you have to be able to maintain good nutritional health through natural means.

Get advice from a dietitian or pharmacist before purchasing dietary supplements, so that you do not overdose on nutrients or consume poor quality – or even toxic – products.

Once you know what it feels like to get all the nutrients you need, you will start to pay more attention to your diet and lifestyles.

■ Datuk Dr Nor Ashikin Mokhtar is a consultant obstetrician & gynaecologist (FRCOG, UK). For further information, visit www.primanora.com. The information provided is for educational and communication purposes only and it should not be construed as personal medical advice. Information published in this article is not intended to replace, supplant or augment a consultation with a health professional regarding the reader’s own medical care. The Star does not give any warranty on accuracy, completeness, functionality, usefulness or other assurances as to the content appearing in this column. The Star disclaims all responsibility for any losses, damage to property or personal injury suffered directly or indirectly from reliance on such information.

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