Big Interview: If you want to be healthy take 12 to 16 hours without eating -Dr Kasenene

We always have an option to eat the right foods that protect our health but we choose the wrong ones because of influence, limited time to prepare our own meals.

 What the body craves for might make it sick and eating unhealthy foods may lead to non-communicable diseases which are a diverse group of chronic diseases that are not communicable or transmitted from one person to another.

Muhamadi Matovu caught up with Dr Paul Kasenene, a medical doctor who specialises in nutrition, lifestyle and functional medicine to break down some of the healthy habits  that people ought to adapt to improve on their health.

Excerpts below:

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First things first, who are some of the top categories of people who always visit Dr Kasenene Wellness Clinic?

People who want to lose weight, those who realise that they must start eating healthy, people who have lifestyle diseases (diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol) digestible health issues, people who have ulcers (among others).

Is it true that 80% of diseases that people suffer from pass through the mouth?

 Of course. It is very true. Of course, there are other factors but 80% of the disease comes through the mouth because food can be medicine, it can be poison but for me I always tell people that we are what we eat.

What is contributing to the rapid rise of non-communicable diseases?

The five most important factors. Eating unhealthy food(including) junk foods, processed food, refined food. Failure to do exercise (lack of movement). This human body was designed for movement but most of us sit for the whole day. Not getting enough sleep. People don’t realise that sleep is very critical in managing health and preventing disease. People don’t drink enough water and they are drinking more sugary drinks such as soda, alcohol(etc). (Another factor) is stress.

Are you not afraid that our schools are not doing enough to help children remain fit and healthy?

Our governments need to create an environment where education is not about going to get (good grades).It has created an environment where people are focused on education. (Children) get less sleep which is very important for their development. Less sleep means a child needs more sugar and gets hungrier more. They don’t exercise because they are not doing any physicals.

We have a situation where we are not creating awareness in our parents. Our parents are of the mindset that the child who is big (fat) is healthy and so, when a school wants to attract parents, they have to do what will make them happy. Schools need to create awareness and then start teaching the children because what you teach children is what they learn. Schools need to diversify their meals.

What makes refined grains unhealthy?

Fibre is the thing that is found in all food that makes the food complete. There are nutrients, calories and there is fibre. When you eat the whole maize, you get all the carbohydrates but when you refine it, you remove the whole fibre and nutrients. What is left is just carbohydrates and in the blood is going to become sugar. When there is no fibre the rate at which that carbohydrates becomes sugar is so fast and your body can not cope up with that surging sugar. It raises insulin, it converts a lot of it into fat. You become overweight and you start getting a big belly and all kinds of problems. The body doesn’t need a lot of sugar, it needs more fibre and nutrients.

How best can we help people to adopt healthy lifestyles you are talking about?

Creating awareness is very important. You cannot act unless you are aware then the state of action must be gradual but this gradual action must be consistent so that eventually can lead to results. I always tell people to start with a few things. If you have been taking three spoons of sugar, start with two and then go to one. Let’s create awareness. Let’s not make healthy eating feel like a punishment.

So, what are some of the diseases that we get from eating unhealthy foods?

The most common one is obesity; it is a disease. The second one is diabetes type 2 is the lifestyle, then we have the cardiovascular conditions led by high blood pressure, followed by high cholesterol. Then consequences of those ones, there is heart attack and the stroke. There are also others like Asthma, allergies. Even things like depression, memory loss. All these are what we call non communication diseases. Every organ has its disease. We have back pain, failure to sleep (among others).

How can regular physical exercise help in preventing some of these diseases you have mentioned? 

It helps to improve (blood) circulation. It helps to reduce the risk for cancer, it controls your blood pressure. It helps your brain to be very active. For a lady, it is good for fertility. It is good for your joints. Exercise is the foundation of movement. People must exercise for at least three hours a week. 30 minutes a day or three hours a week. Exercise can be running or walking. Get into the habit of walking.

Why do you always encourage people to eat meat only at the weekend? What is the secret behind the message?

The human body is designed in such a way that the digestive system accepts animal foods but cannot accept too much. Animal food increases the risk of colon cancer. Animal foods also increase the risk of ageing. Too much animal food can cause so many problems. Keep on your animal food for Sunday and when you eat animal food, please eat natural animal food. Even avoid animal food which are reared like broilers. Animal food makes our body age quickly.

Where shall we get proteins from if you are stopping us from eating animal foods?

You will get proteins from where cows get it from. They get protein from vegetables (grass), you will never be sick because you eat less meat but if you eat meat, there is likelihood that you will develop a big stomach, you will develop high risk of pressure, cholesterol and all these things which can eventually cause us to be unwell. 

What are the benefits of fasting in fighting weight loss?

When you don’t fast from the aspect of weight loss, the body has two ways it can use energy. Carbohydrates which become glucose and fats which become (triglyceride) which is also a source of energy. Because we eat more than we need, the body stores extra energy as fat. When you (fast) the body is supposed to burn fat. Many years ago, people were not fasting but they just had less food. Fasting was only done for spiritual reasons but not for health reasons, so, when you miss more than 12 hours without eating usually you reduce your carbohydrates supply. Everybody should take 12 to 16 hours without eating.  Beyond fat burning, fasting helps the brain become sharp, there is detoxification, there is healing, there is cell repair. Those who want to be healthy must spend time fasting.

Some nutritionists disagree with you when it comes to the issue of eating animal foods. What brings about this kind of argument?

We are looking at nutrition instead of looking at food. It’s true that meat has the most amount of proteins but protein is not only in meat. Protein is also in spinach, broccoli, cabbage and in grass and that is where cows get protein. So, if you are discussing protein, meat will win. If you are discussing health, you must remember meat is not only protein. Yes, you might get the protein but you are going to get all the chemicals that are in the meat, you are going to get all the hormones that are in the meat, you are going to get all the other impacts of the meat. This message of eating meat is not as simple as protein. Those who eat less meat are always healthier and live longer. If there were no proteins in plants, cows would never have proteins, goats would not have proteins. The question is not protein because the protein is in plants and animals. The question is what is the best source of protein with the least chance of disease and the answer is mostly vegetables with animal foods on occasion.

You have always talked about the benefits of sleeping naked. What are they?

We need to understand nature. This body, the skin, is a big organ whose role is meant to communicate with the outside world. When you are naked you are always going to sense the temperature of the environment and help your body to work better. The most important thing with sleeping naked is to help temperature of your body which is going to balance your hormones, which is going to help you to sleep better, helping your immune system, it increases the chance of sexual relations, it helps to improve your skin.

In your view, do you think Parliament has done enough in terms of passing policies and laws to regulate quality of food?

 The Parliament has a very important role (like)putting in place laws and policies but in the area of food and nutrition, we have not done well. This is partly because of the financial interest of people who benefit when we eat poorly. They are very strong lobbyists. If the guy wants to sell sugar here, there is no way you can ban sugar. Parliament has the capacity to put in place laws and policies to regulate the quality of  food.

How can parents make the right food quality and quantity choices for their children?

Parents need to (make)themselves aware about food health choices. This means (they need) to read and understand what are the good and bad foods. Most of us already have the idea but the big challenge is that many parents are struggling to take this knowledge and put it to their children.  Parents have to first eat healthy and live a healthy lifestyle for their children tomorrow. Parents must be on the same page (father and mother) for them to be able to impact this. But also, parents need to stop taking this philosophy that when a child is young (he or she) can eat what (he or she) wants. Whatever our children eat is what we buy and cook.

Would you please list for us some of the natural foods that we need to eat.

In natural foods there are what we call non-starchy vegetables that people call greens. In that category there are three types. The first one is cruciferous (cabbage, scumawiki, cauliflower, broccoli). The second type in non-starchy are leafy vegetables (lettuce, spinach, dodo, nakati etc). The rest are colourful vegetables (carrots, onions, beet roots, mushrooms). We have fruits, they should be eaten as a whole (mango, banana, watermelon, pawpaw, jackfruits, guavas). These are natural foods, of course not modified by genetics. Then legumes (beans, peas, groundnuts etc) Then we have nuts (groundnuts, pumpkin seeds, watermelon seeds etc.)  We have grains (maize which is a whole, millet which is a whole, sorghum) you can use some of these as drinks. Starchy foods (matooke, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, yams, cassava). Animal foods (local eggs, fish, local chicken) and occasionally your red meat.

Lastly, what do you do exactly and how can people get your services?

We run a health and wellness clinic. We help people to manage their health in terms of managing their weight and learning how to eat better. But most importantly we help people to manage and reverse their health conditions. We offer health screenings, medical consultations, we have programmes like weight loss programmes, we have nutritional products, supplements. You can google Dr Kasenene and you will get our website and direction of our clinic here in Bugoloobi.