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COVID-19 and what else?

Posted By Steven Buchanan, Wednesday, March 11, 2020
Updated: Wednesday, March 11, 2020

Thanks for raising awareness about the latest corona virus in your newsletter. I'd like to add that it would also be more important than usual to take precautions to avoid foodborne illnesses, especially by cooking all food (including plant based meals, which cause half of the foodborne illnesses annually, when eaten raw). This is because if one were to encounter both a foodborne illness and the corona virus at the same time, it would be much more difficult to recover from either of them (just as the CDC recommends that people with pre-existing conditions take extra precautions).

Here is the CDC portal about foodborne illnesses: Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases

Personally, I suppose this could explain why some people who are younger than those in high risk age groups and who do not have pre-existing health problems would somehow be unable to recover from the coronavirus (or influenza) at times, as they may also have acute food poisoning and not know it (which can be life threatening to the same groups as those at high risk for coronavirus, or compromise the immune system of anyone with more than one acute illness at a time). My point is that foodborne illnesses occur often with the consumption of any raw foods, including plants, so be careful with that if you are concerned about the coronavirus too.

Tags:  common good  News Clippings  pandemic 

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What do we know about fasting?

Posted By Steven Buchanan, Wednesday, April 17, 2019
Updated: Saturday, April 20, 2019

In the process of reading about this topic, I saw a fairly recent report about a Jain girl who died shortly after ending a long fast. Coincidentally, I wonder if "refeeding syndrome" is commonly understood to be a risk. If not, I'd like to raise awareness about it, because this syndrome may be avoidable, as an unintended consequence of faith based fasting (or a complication of eating afterward, that is).

Although her story indicates an especially long period of fasting, there is medical literature that describes the risk of refeeding syndrome to involve much shorter periods as well. NICE guidelines (which are referred to in a medical journal also) list 'criteria for determining people at high risk of developing refeeding problems'. These may include little or no nutritional intake for more than 5 days, and subsequent fasting beyond 10 days is a high risk criterium in itself.
 
Briefly, their recommendations say that "people who have eaten little or nothing for more than 5 days should have nutrition support introduced at no more than 50% of requirements for the first 2 days"... and "using only 5 kcal/kg/day in extreme cases (for example, BMI less than 14 kg/m2 or negligible intake for more than 15 days) and monitoring cardiac rhythm continually in these people"... by the way, she is said to have passed away due to cardiac arrest, two days after refeeding (which I presume was related to this syndrome).
 
Likewise, the Jain practices of Atthai (fasting for 8 days), and Masakshman (fasting for 30 days) would involve higher risks for refeeding problems, respectively.

 

There are other risks (or benefits) to be aware of, to say the least. Many are discussed in a related forum topic: intermittent fasting (Philosophical Vegan... especially pages 2 through 4 there). Maybe less is more, but feel free to discuss fasting from another perspective here also, thanks.

PS,

 
I've since looked up an additional story about that "tragic and accidental death", in which it is concluded that "health information on the dangers of prolonged fasting" could "effectively protect minors". I'd just like to add that this kind of accident can happen to people of all ages, and under less extreme circumstances (as the health information suggests).
 

Take care.

Tags:  body  care  common good  News Clippings 

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Jains & Trucks

Posted By Steven Buchanan, Friday, February 10, 2017
Updated: Friday, February 10, 2017
There was a sad story in the JAINA Newsletter 4/1/16, about a trucking accident. At the time I didn't know it was one in a series of such accidents. Here is a link to what I've since found out: Jain Monks Facing Highway Side Accidents (Truckers Report).

Tags:  News Clippings 

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