I walk 30 minutes daily, but I have a very sedentary job

Studies show that even if you exercise 30 minutes a day, seven days a week, sitting for eight hours at your desk will undo all that hard work. So try getting up every half an hour and taking a few steps or jogging in place. That will prevent your metabolism from slowing down and undoing all your hard work.

Sleep schedule

I sleep 6-7 hours a night. Is that enough? Can I make up for the lack of sleep by napping?

Adults need 7-9 hours of sleep a night. Less than that does not give your brain and body time to recuperate. Also, it may increase craving for junk food. A short nap of 30 minutes may help. More than that will make you feel groggy. You cannot make up for lost sleep with naps.

Cardio vs weights

I need to lose weight fast. Is it better to do cardio workouts or weight lifting?

Cardio workouts burn more calories in the same amount of time as weight lifting, especially if you combine it with some high-intensity intervals (increasing the speed of your training with short periods of lower intensity or rest in between). Weights, either free weights or with machines, use fewer calories than cardio, but the effects are more long-lasting. They speed up your metabolism all day.

Nothing can, however, negate the effects of a lousy diet with increased consumption of total calories.

Long life

I was told that people live longer in villages and are less likely to get cancer. Is this true?

This is true and has a lot to do with air pollution. Our cities are highly polluted. Autopsies done on city dwellers show lung lymph nodes clogged with black pollutants. This reduces the function of the immunity-producing cells and macrophages. As a result, not only are respiratory infections (which may even be fatal) more frequent, but the likelihood of cancer is also greater.

Regular steam inhalations can help to clear out the lungs, remove pollutants from the trachea and thereby reduce the incidence of respiratory infections. It may make sense to take steam inhalations once or twice a day.

Footwear etiquette

Is the Indian habit of taking off footwear at the door healthy?

Thi is not solely an Indian habit. Footwear is also removed at the door in many other countries like Japan. This is because the outside areas may have cow dung, manure, mud and plenty of disease-causing bacteria. These stick to the soles of your outside footwear. Therefore, removing the outdoors footwear at a designated place near the door is safer. If you do not want to walk barefoot on your hard tiled or marble floor, you can use a pair of indoor slippers. Just make sure that their soles are not smooth and that they are non-slip.

Bluetooth side effects

Do Bluetooth devices cause cancer?

Bluetooth uses the generally harmless non-ionising type of electromagnetic waves. Bluetooth earpieces send radiofrequency waves at significantly lower levels than cell phones. The data that says cell phones cause cancer has not as yet been proven. Bluetooth sends out waves at an even lower frequency.

Time of attack

Do heart attacks occur more often at certain times of the day?

Heart attacks are more likely between 6am and 12 noon. At these times, the attacks are also more likely to be severe and fatal. The exact reason for this discrepancy is yet to be discovered. It is not due to heavy meals. The postulation is that more stress hormones (adrenaline and noradrenaline) are released by the body itself at these times which results in a rise in blood pressure and an increase in heart rate.

The writer has a family practice at Vellore and is the author of Staying Healthy in Modern India. If you have any questions on health issues please write to yourhealthgm@yahoo.co.in