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guyanatimesgy.com
tuesday, december 31, 2013
Views Editor: Nigel Williams Tel: 225-5128, 231-0397, 226-9921, 226-2102, 223-7230 or 223-7231. Fax: 225-5134 Mailing address: 238 Camp & Quamina Streets, Georgetown Email: news@guyanatimesgy.com, sales@guyanatimesgy.com
Editorial
Mismatch diseases
T
he Caribbean’s history, including that of Guyana, reflects the increasingly radical shift in the diet of man from that of our ancestors, which had been practically constant for over a million years. We were colonised to produce sugar for Europe, where the product had been a rarity, brought from the East. Soon the Europeans were consuming millions of tons of the substance and went on to invent processes to extract sugar from beet, which poured millions of additional tons down their throats and any other country that could pay for it. In the last 50 years, high fructose corn syrup was invented and today is the “sugar” that gives the punch to practically all “soft drinks”. Each ounce of soda has the equivalent of one teaspoon of sugar: drinking the average eight-ounce glass of soda puts eight teaspoons of sugar into your blood. But sugar is not the only “new” food our body has had to deal with compared to say, our Palaeolithic cavemen foreparents. Just a cursory glance at our Christmas-laden tables would alert us of the changes that have occurred in the diet of modern man. In addition to the sugar-suffused foods, there are the fatimpregnated ones. Some, like cakes, have a surfeit of both. And there are consequences, which most of us ignore. There has been some awareness recently of the “obesity” epidemic that has exploded in the richer, developed countries and are now being exported to the poorer countries such as Guyana. We are proud of the “progress” represented by KFC and others in the “fast food” fraternity. But just last week, McDonalds had to pull an article from their employee magazine that expatiated on the dangers of the fast foods sold by the company. Obesity, however, is only one symptom of what is now being labelled “mismatch diseases”: the food we are consuming does not match the body that evolved over the last million years to deal with a whole range of different environments, foods and lifestyles. Type 2 diabetes is a perfect example but the “mismatch” is also at the base of acid reflux, acne, anxiety, asthma, certain cancers, depression, flat feet, high blood pressure, irritable bowel syndrome, lower back pain and osteoporosis. The change actually began when we shifted from being hunter-gatherers to cultivating and rearing our food. We evolved to crave sweet foods where today everybody loves sweet foods. But the diets of hunter-gatherers (or chimpanzees) were and are quite bland and unsweet. Most wild fruits are about as sweet as a carrot. Honey was practically the only sweet consumed by early man but was a rare, special treat. Processed sugar provides quick energy into the blood and onto the muscles but we don’t have the metabolism of early man. Our sedentary bodies are unable to cope with those kinds of levels of sugar, and the result is that we get sick. Stress also leads us to crave sweet and fatty “comfort” foods. The hormone that gets secreted when individuals are stressed is cortisol, which puts our body into a “fight or fright/flight” state – we become prepared for danger. And cortisol plays an important role because it releases sugar into the bloodstream so the caveman could have run from that sabre toothed tiger. But while the extra sugar makes us more alert, it also exacts a toll. Cortisol makes us want to bring in more energy to cope again, with those presumed “energetic” needs. So stress activates basic primal urges to eat calorie-rich foods, which are, of course, useful to cope with those kinds of situations, from an evolutionary perspective. But in our sedentary modern lives, there are not many lions to fight off, so the sugar levels in the blood tend to remain high (diabetes) or fats accumulate all over the body especially over the heart (obesity and coronary diseases). This New Year, let us ease the food “mismatch”.
Airy Hall/Riverstown residents were forced to flee their homes after a huge breach of the conservancy dam remained unfixed and water swamped the communities (See story on page 13)
He woke us up in the morning – a tribute to Oswald Singh delivered at service held on December 28, St Andrew’s Lutheran Church, Chateau Margot, East Coast Demerara
H
e woke us up in the morning with the “Breakfast Show” during his more than a decade at National Communications Network (NCN) and endeared himself to thousands who turned their radios on at that time. These included one of the most ardent and consistent listeners to radio – Aunt Ruby, who is here today. But, more than that, he endeared himself to everyone at NCN as a humble and friendly colleague. In fact, he was more than these words describe him, for he was a mentor to those who sought his advice, and even sometimes when you didn’t seek it, but needed it anyway. Yet Oswald always had a way of advising that made you listen, and which made you appreciate his sincerity. Always friendly, always smiling, always in good spirits, always jovial. He always had a good word to say that made you feel comfortable. These are just a few of the many ways in which he could be described. And this permeated his on air presentations, for listeners would feel happy because he was happy to be in their homes or offices or vehicles. He loved broadcasting and he loved his cup of coffee. I often made a joke about this in the mornings – mornings I myself enjoyed even more because he was there. Yes, he always had a bit of humour to offer no matter what. Oswald even made a joke when describing (in one particular way) a female sports-
Oswald Singh
caster‘s manner of dress regardless of what she wore. Anyone else may have made her annoyed, but this was Oswald and no one got annoyed with Oswald, or if they did they wouldn’t or couldn’t show it. Edward Layne would tell you that Oswald referred to him as “the man from Agriculture Road, the road with the beehive”. To this day Eddie is still trying to find out where that beehive was. Was Eddie annoyed? No way, because it was Oswald, and that was Oswald. I also remember him introducing me at news time in the mornings in so many different ways. Was I annoyed? No way, because it was Oswald, and that was Oswald. What many may not know was that Oswald was an expert on cricket, or at least that was the impression he made. He did have a passion for the game and had many discussions about several aspects of it and, God
help the West Indies when they did badly – which is almost a habit with them. That was when you experienced the other side of Oswald – the angry and even inflamed side. Angry and inflamed, but still calm and soft spoken. When he named the best 11 to play for the West Indies, he would offer very salient and sensible reasons for his choice – quite often with that same anger. In fact, he often suggested that the selectors didn’t have a clue about the players – or at least they had less knowledge about them than he did. Sometimes, of course, you would disagree with him. In a discussion, however, he would respect your views while holding fast to his (whether right or wrong), as Eddie Layne would attest. Oswald was always very open and somewhat frank in his comments but, as I said, always calm. You see, he was never afraid to criticise, but always found a way to do so that was acceptable to those being criticised. In other words, he did it in a nice way. Nevertheless, he himself took advice without taking umbrage. Yes, he was good at giving, as well as receiving, constructive criticism. There was yet another side of Oswald Singh that impressed his colleagues. That was his wide knowledge of Indian movies and songs. He had learnt so much about Indian culture, music and practices that he was a source of enlightenment to broadcasters who of-
ten sought his knowledge in these matters. Name a movie and, more often than not, he would tell you the stars, the songs and the singers without hesitation. This was another passion of his that was an asset to colleagues on several occasions. Oswald joins the highest team of broadcasters who preceded him to God’s radio station above – including Pancho Carew, Christopher Deane, Bruiser Thomas, B L Crombie, Ayube Hamid, Matthew Allen, Sonny Mohamed, Bertie Chancellor, Ulita Anthony, Pat Cameron, Hugh Cholmondeley, and many others before them. On his final broadcast on NCN he played many tunes of farewell and was obviously moved to tears for he could barely speak on air. In fact, that programme would have been appropriate right now as he says his final farewell to us, or as we say ours to him. Guyana has lost a good son and a passionate broadcaster, who possessed enviable attributes and NCN has lost a great and well-loved colleague. He will be missed by all on both sides of the microphone, but his memory will linger for many years to come. On behalf of all at NCN, I offer deepest condolences to his family, loved ones and friends and say a fond farewell. May his soul rest in peace and rise in glory. Ron Robinson Broadcaster