Dr. Sylvester Ikhisemojie
The sheer number of people who throng this page with questions relating to their relatively small weight is often baffling. Many of the people who so enquire are from our judgment here, young female adults who desire to gain a more ample frame. And while we have spent some quality time dealing with issues of excess weight and the harm it can bring to the body, it was decided that perhaps the time had also come to deal with a restless segment of the reading public who wish to move in the opposite direction. That was the reason for this particular essay. Therefore, gaining weight is not necessarily a bad thing and doctors can often be found having to make recommendations to various people who are found to be consistently weighing too little. In other words, such people are underweight and this is also a situation that can cause health problems of its own.
Weight gain is a subject that has fascinated many people through the ages and even today, it is not out of fashion. For some, weight gain is desired only for the purpose of an increase in overall weight. For others, there is a belief that when weight is gained and the addition involves certain parts of the body, such gain adds to their sex appeal. For other people such as athletes and bodybuilders, weight gain is desired only for the purpose of building muscle bulk. This helps to enhance their macho feeling and perhaps their confidence too as they seek to dominate their rivals on the athletics tract and in field and team sports. For many people, the ordeal of gaining weight can often be a real struggle. That is not a problem at all for another segment of the population.
Anybody who is classified as underweight is likely to experience certain health issues such as infertility and delays in physical development. Such problems include the inability to appropriately develop the typical secondary sexual characteristics in both young boys and girls as well as the delay in some motor abilities. These are challenges to do with motion. Other problems are a weakened immune system which then makes such a person prone to certain diseases while ensuring their increased likelihood of developing peculiar complications following even routine operations. Such people are classified as being malnourished and that has a huge implication for their ability to withstand biological stress and other trauma.
The development of osteoporosis, a bone disease characterised by progressive loss of vital minerals in the bones and their resulting weakness, is also to be found in many numbers amongst this subset of the population.
There are important foods that are useful for the quest of weight gain. The most ubiquitous of all of them is milk and its associated products of cheese and butter. By extension, this will include eggs. These food substances are generally referred to as dairy products or simply dairy and are known to contain important food supplements such as healthy fat, carbohydrates, proteins, minerals and calcium. The protein content of milk, for example, makes it an excellent choice for all those people who desire to build their muscle up. One important study found that after a resistance training workout among a particular group of people, the consumption of slim milk, which is low fat milk, helped more to build up muscle than soya-based milk. A similar study involving women alone showed that women who took milk following a workout showed much better results in those who took milk after their exercises. As a result, it is safe to conclude that anyone looking to gain weight can add milk to their diet throughout the day.
Another common source of weight gain ingredients is rice, which is already a staple food in Nigeria and elsewhere. Rice contains plenty of carbohydrates which are useful in gaining weight. One cup of this peculiar food contains as much as 200 calories of carbohydrates and it is therefore an important additive to the diet of any person who seeks to gain weight. Add this to a diet that limits the intake of red meat and weight is gained almost without effort. Limiting the intake of red meat helps to build muscle and promote weight gain. Steak, the rough equivalent of suya, contains both leucine and creatine which play a significant role in building up muscle and increasing its bulk. This is because red meat contains proteins and fat which, therefore, promote weight gain.
Therefore, if you want to gain weight, you must eat more suya and other red meat; and when you want to cut down on your weight, you must then do the opposite. This is largely because leaner cuts of red meat are believed to be healthier that those parts which contain fat. The eating of cow leg, cow tail and the hump promote weight gain but not good health in those people already suffering from cardiovascular diseases.
Starch is another food compound which helps greatly to gain weight in any person. Starch is known to help some of the food compounds already mentioned to boost weight and increase muscle bulk. Some of our common foods which contain complex starch that are able to do this include corn, yam, garri, potatoes, beans, oats and whole wheat bread. Whole grain cereals of various types which are found anywhere in Nigeria also help to provide these substances. As a result, beyond the provision of energy in the form of glucose, starch provides energy which is stored in the body as an excess food substance in the form of glycogen. It is therefore indispensible to both weight gain and efforts to maintain current weight levels. Pounded yam, plantain and semovita are local derivatives that enhance this potential.
Other foods which ensure quick weight gain are pasta made from whole grains, avocado pear and yoghurt. While pasta provides a carbohydrate-rich pathway to weight gain, unsweetened yoghurt does so by providing the body with proteins and other nutrients. It is usually wise to avoid the sweetened yoghurt which is laced with sugars and concentrate more on those variants that are flavoured with nuts and fruits. In the same way dried nuts, fish like salmon and tilapia as well as protein concentrates such as complan and casilan are similarly useful in the general efforts made at gaining weight. For all those people who wish to gain weight, the above information is for you.
Ask the doctor
Dear doctor, I operated an ectopic pregnancy in 2011 and since then, I couldn’t conceive. I went back to the hospital where I was operated and they gave me some drugs and asked me to do HSG (Hysterosalpingogram) which I did. The HSG result said I have a blocked tube which was made open and I got pregnant in 2015 but suffered a miscarriage after two months. Since that 2015, I have not conceived again although at times, I used to miss my period with the feeling of pregnancy symptoms. Later, the period would still come. Please doctor, what can I do to conceive because I need it seriously? It has affected one of my tubes but I am 34 years and getting married soon. Thanks so much. 0803xxxxxxx
Good day. I believe that you should seek to have a proper consultation with your gynaecologist for a comprehensive assessment of your overall health and, in particular, the reproductive aspect of your health. This will enable a comprehensive evaluation of your remaining tube with diagnostic efforts that go beyond using the HSG alone. Procedures like laparoscopy will also be required. Good luck.
Dear doctor, I am taking herb that I am mixing with milk. Is it good? 0802xxxxxxx
Well, as I have no idea what kind of herb you are taking, it is not possible for me to say whether it is good or bad. However, as a general rule, I can tell you that most herbs are vegetables and if you mix vegetables with milk, there ought to be no harm. That general rule should apply here as well.
Dear doctor, I saw your number in SUNDAY PUNCH. I am 36 years old and I need your advice. I have done several abortions in the past but now I need to ovulate so what do I do? 0813xxxxxxx
It is somewhat confusing if you use terms like several when you actually mean many or a couple when what you mean is several; five for example is several while a dozen and above would qualify as many. Now, depending on where you belong, it stands to reason that the more you perform, the worse the effects although in the real world that is not often the case. That said, you ought to see a gynaecologist for a professional assessment of the state of your reproductive system. When that is done and any possible problems identified, then treating your challenge becomes much easier. Any other way to arrive at a good answer will simply be guesswork. So see your doctor and allow that process to begin. You may choose to start from the very doctor who has helped you the most with the abortions.
Dear doctor, your article on the effects of tight clothing refers: How about women who put on tights/cyclers nowadays as you would see in almost every skirt-wearing woman. Isn’t the sweat, tightness, odour associated with your essay too? God bless. xxx@xxx
Indeed, all of that is part of the essay. Thank you for your observation. Those aspects were left out of the essay because they have no direct bearing on the more evident physical health itself in a tangible way and secondly, they were largely left out because of space constraints.
Dear doctor, I am a 39-year-old woman who got pregnant for the very first time about eight months ago after getting married three years ago. I am almost due now and I have a dispute with my doctor concerning the mode of delivery. He argued that I should have the baby by operation which I am not keen on. However, my deeper feeling is that he is more interested in the much bigger money the operation will fetch his hospital rather than the reasons he is giving me. What is your advice sir? 0813xxxxxxx
Well, I do not know what reasons you have been given by your doctor as being those behind his choice of an operative mode of delivery. I must assure you however, that even from this distance I endorse your having this baby by caesarian section because of the following reasons;
- Your age at above 30 years considered the safe threshold for a first-time mother.
- Since you married as late as you did and still had to wait for a while before this baby came along, you must use the safest possible mode of delivery that will ensure the best wellbeing for both you and your baby. That position can only be guaranteed by your doctor being in control of the entire spectrum of events.
- Lastly, I would classify this baby as a precious one. All babies are precious but on a scale of desire and endurance, some are more appropriately weighted than others. This one carries a heavy rating and must be treated as such.
It is tempting to say that some other women of your age who you know had no trouble having their babies frequently on their own. That may well be so. But the circumstances surrounding their pregnancies may be different from yours from a medical standpoint which will encourage different outcomes. As far as your history is concerned, I would advise you to stick with what your doctor has said.
Dear doctor, I met my darling partner in 2015 and we got hooked a year later. She is naïve sexually speaking because up till the time we got married, she had only had sex once even though she was then 47 years. That first experience of hers was at the age of 30 years. She was not sexually active and each time we tried to consummate our marriage, it was always a story of pain and more pain. She would hold her stomach and complain of a certain peppery feeling and behave as though I shifted something within her body. When I stay still, she complains of pain just like she would complain when I use my fingers. From the external genitalia all the way to the vaginal canal, it is pain and now I feel so concerned that I believe we should both go and see a doctor so that I do not wake up one day to find that I have caused her some damage or bodily harm. What do you advise we do sir? 0802xxxxxxx
I do not believe there is much of a problem here except of course, with regards to what she is now has to learn as a middle-aged woman. Some of the feelings she has expressed and those she has repressed may be due to some deep psychological problems that have made her frigid. Teaching and constant communication by mouth, eyes and touching will do the work. You may also have to see a clinical psychologist but even before then, you do need to see your doctor, together and with open minds so that this problem can be overcome. Good luck.
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