Empty (the) Stomach!!!

With our increased frequency of reading and forwarding messages through WhatsApp, we get a sense of feeling that we have become more health conscious and demi-doctors to take care of ourselves. Of course, it is another matter of concern that  our visits to doctors have  not come down. Rather, it has become more frequent than ever before. 

Today, when I opened the WhatsApp on my mobile, one of the first messages received was a video in which a doctor was very persuasively sensitising the audience about the goodness of taking one litre of water on an empty stomach as the first thing in the morning that will help neutralising alkalinity in our stomach.

A few days back, a forward  was received on the virtues of taking a fruit that would serve as a detoxicant if taken on an  empty stomach every morning. 

 

One message reportedly from a guru  exhorted the goodness of ginger-honey drink as a blood purifier if taken every morning on an empty stomach.

I am a diabetic with creatinine above the permissible level. My loving sister googled (another demi-doctor on hand) and shared a message in the WhatsApp. It advised taking a  concoction made of  barley, wheat, black jeera (kalonji)  water every morning on an empty stomach as a cure for diabetes and reduction of creatinine level. Of course,  there was improvement in my creatinine level. I am not however, sure if the reduction was on account of the concoction or my reduced consumption of  protein rich food as advised by my diabetologist.   

One of our children  was suffering from dry cough and all our efforts to get at the root of the problem failed. As a god sent,  one WhatsApp message popped up in my mobile, recommending ‘Tulsi Arc Water’ every morning on an empty stomach as a  cure for it. She was very religiously taking the TAW every morning and  found considerable improvement in her dry cough. She was not sure if it was the placebo effect or the TAW effect taken every morning on an empty stomach.

Recently, one of our relatives was diagnosed with cancer. Soon, a rush of forwards and messages poured in his WhatsApp account.  A few messages are worth mentioning. One recommended taking a concoction of wheat sprouts, garlic and apple cider every morning and of course on an empty stomach for a sure cure of cancer. Another one counselled drinking  asparagus juice every morning on an empty stomach. Another strongly recommended drink was green tea to be taken every morning on an empty stomach.

My wife was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. The doctor prescribed a tablet to be taken every morning on an empty stomach. Having been forced by me to maintain good health, thanks to WhatsApp-cum- demi-doctor’s advice,  she is in a dilemma as to which of the drinks she should take first in the morning.

The list is endless.  In the present day living,   most of us may be suffering from more than one illness or disease. It is an everyday challenge  to start the day as a variety of drinks are waiting to be taken as the first thing in the morning.

I recall my childhood days when my mother used to force me  to drink a spoonful of  castor oil mixed with milk on an empty stomach once in  every three months. It was considered a detoxicant and it surely emptied the stomach.  In order to follow various recommendations, suggestions on wellness, humans should be blessed with the features of ruminants so that we can have multiple chambers of our stomach.

As I was reading another forward on health in my WhatsApp, my grandson  started  humming the rhyme ‘….stomach aching, stomach aching just now, call the doctor…..’. I just laughed.

Just then, my wife called  the housemaid to the kitchen to collect her breakfast. The housemaid politely declined to take it saying, ‘Amma, today is Ekadasi and so I am on fast for the whole day.’ Her faith in going on empty stomach for a day in a month  is the  best wellness tip that should be  posted in the WhatsApp and read by one and all.