Watch your diet. Sigh.

I know I'm incorrigible, but now I also know I'm stupid. My mom is an expert nutritionist and cook, and I have a lifetime of health tips embedded in this brain... and yet I generally don't follow them. Now I've finally landed up with health problems thanks to my negligence. Double sigh. If you are a young adult living away from family, I offer the following points of advice. I'm witness to the fact that evading them can have bad consequences.

:) Eat meals at regular times. The body has a rhythm. Stick to it!
:( I postpone or skip meals with little provocation... work, or a superb novel, or plain laziness to cook.

:) Have three square meals a day. Don't skip breakfast! By definition, you are breaking your fast after not eating for nearly twelve hours since the previous night's dinner. That makes breakfast the most important meal of the day.
:( I have breakfast when it is convenient. Which is on an average, twice or three times a week for the past 5 years.

:) Include milk, and curds or yoghurt in your regular diet, unless you have a lactose intolerance medical condition. Irrespective of age.
:( I became irregular in having milk (in the form of coffee/tea/cocoa/whatever) over the years. After coming to the US, I've become irregular in having curds/yoghurt as well.

:) Avoid fast food and junk food. They are highly unbalanced in nutritive content.... high fat, high sodium, high cholesterol, high carbs, low in essential amino acids and proteins and minerals. Think of them as recipes for disaster.
:( How can I live in the US without pizza or burgers or potato chips?

:) Have fruit juices of different types. Avoid sodas. Sodas are essentially composed of phosphoric acid, carbonic acid, artificial flavours, artificial preservatives, artificial colouring and sugar. Which part of that is good for you?
:( I almost always wash down my fast food with sodas!

:) The strength of your immune system is closely connected to your diet. If you get all your vitamins and minerals and have a balanced diet, you're less likely to get a sore throat after eating that ice cream or a cold after getting wet in the rain, so on and so forth.
:( I know my diet is not balanced. Help!

I could write a lot more, but I'm not in the best of health and I'm tired. I guess what I'm trying to say is, take care of your health, friend.

Cheers,
Prashanth.