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Archive for October, 2018

HOW EFFECTIVE ARE ANTI-MISSILE DEFENCE SYSTEMS-US THAAD & RUSSIA’S S-400

Posted by admin in Ant-Missile Defence on October 6th, 2018

Missile defense, hitting a bullet with a bullet, is a very challenging task that is difficult to master, especially without a real combat scenario to test effectiveness.

 

Can America’s Missile Defenses Really Beat ICBMs Fired from Russia, China or North Korea?

by 

Ryan Pickrell

 

The U.S. military conducted a successful intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) intercept test Tuesday, but it is unclear how the U.S. missile shield would hold up in the event of an actual ICBM strike.

 

 

The U.S. military is heralding the test as a major success, one that ensures the U.S. is protected against ICBM threats from rising challengers, such as North Korea. “I was confident before the test that we had the capability to defeat any threat that they would throw at us,” Vice Admiral Jim Syring, director of the Missile Defense Agency, toldreporters at a post-test press briefing. “I’m even more confident today after seeing the intercept test yesterday that we continue to be on that course.”

“This test was similar in nature to the type of threat we would expect to defend against,” MDA Public Affairs Officer Chris Johnson told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

During Tuesday’s ICBM intercept test, several sensors, including infrared satellites and radar systems, detected and tracked an incoming missile, according to Thomas Karako, the director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. A sea-based X-band radar provided high-resolution images of the missile target, allowing the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system to distinguish the missile from debris and decoys and move to eliminate the threat.

After exiting the atmosphere, the interceptor missile released a Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle that identified the warhead and adjusted course for a direct collision.

“This is a good day for homeland missile defense and a bad day for Kim Jong-un,” Karako said in response to the intercept test.

“The test was a success by its own standards,” Melissa Hanham, an arms expert and senior research associate in the East Asia Nonproliferation Program in the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, told TheDCNF. “But there were probably a lot of differences from what a real nuclear strike might look like.”

The ICBM was fired from a known location, the Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific. The defending interceptor team had advanced knowledge of when the mock ICBM was coming, as well as the trajectory, the MDA revealed. However the system relied solely on data provided by real-time surveillance equipment, so it was reportedly responding much as it would during an actual combat situation.

“The scenarios aren’t realistic enough,” Hanham explained.

“If North Korea was actually going to attack the U.S., not just launch a single test ICBM, they would launch everything they had. It wouldn’t resemble this test,” Hanham said. “If we are talking about war with Russia or China, this is not at all a good test. Russia and China would have many ICBMs with confusers and multiple independent re-entry vehicles launching from many different locations at very hard to determine times and targeting all over the country.”

Missile defense, hitting a bullet with a bullet, is a very challenging task that is difficult to master, especially without a real combat scenario to test effectiveness. “People think missile defenses are a magic wand. They aren’t,” Jeffrey Lewis, a renowned arms expert, told The DCNF. The U.S. missile shield has a test success rate of 55 percent, with eight failures out of 18 interceptor tests.

The GMD system “has not demonstrated through flight testing that it can defend the U.S. homeland against the current missile defense threat,” the Government Accountability Office reported in 2016. The Fiscal Year 2016 report on ballistic missile defenses from the Office of the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation declared that the GMD system “demonstrates a limited capability to defend the U.S. Homeland from small numbers of simple intermediate-range or intercontinental ballistic missile threats launched from North Korea or Iran.” The report adds that the GMD system has low reliability.

The Pentagon is boosting missile defense development, but certain challenges persist.

“Let us say that there is someone on the other side of a large room shooting at you and you are shooting back. Maybe you could ricochet one of the bullets if you are an excellent marksman, but you are still going to get hit with other bullets,” Hanham said. “In the best case scenario, [missile defenses] could protect some places some of the time. They could reduce casualties, but it’s not a force field.”

“I don’t think that Americans should take this test as the reason that they sleep soundly at night,” she told TheDCNF. Hanham explained that Tuesday’s ICBM intercept test is a “stepping stone” to improved defenses.

The U.S. military will conduct another experiment next year, firing two interceptors at a single ICBM in a “real world” test next year, a defense official revealed Wednesday. Boeing has been awarded a $58.6 million contract for the development of interceptors that can destroy multiple warheads simultaneously. This type of technology is expected to be demonstrated by 2025, but until then, the U.S. is protected by GMD system tested Tuesday.

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Bajwa’s Beijing sojourn by S M Hali

Posted by admin in China- Global Security, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, China-Pakistan Friendship & Brotherhood, CPEC, CPEC:Pakistan's Strategic Program & First Priority on October 6th, 2018

OP-ED

Bajwa’s Beijing sojourn

S M Hali

According to the Chinese media, in all the meetings, both the sides have resolved to strengthen the relations between, Pakistan and China and continue the progress of the CPEC. China appreciated the security initiatives taken by the Pakistan Army for the ongoing CPEC projects and expressed the desire to benefit from Pakistan’s military experience

COAS General Qamar Jawed Bajwa made a high profile three-day visit to Beijing, where he was afforded the opportunity to call on Chinese President Xi Jinping. This level of a protocol is normally not provided to visiting heads of militaries but an exception was made in the case of General Bajwa. The Pakistani Army Chief also held meetings with his Chinese counterpart, officials of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and other senior dignitaries, with whom he held discussions on bilateral security cooperation.

According to the Chinese media, in all the meetings, both sides resolved to strengthen the relations between, Pakistan and China and continue the progress of the CPEC. China appreciated the security initiatives taken by the Pakistan Army for the ongoing CPEC projects and expressed the desire to benefit from Pakistan’s military experience. General Bajwa also visited the Headquarters of Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) in Beijing and met the PLA Chief General Han Weiguoa. The PLA chief appreciated and acknowledged high professional standing of Pakistan Army displayed while combating terrorism. Vice Chairman of Chinese Central Military Commission (CMC), General Zhang Youxia, expressed in a meeting that the “Pakistan Army is the backbone of the Pak-China relationship”.

The visit by the Pakistani COAS was at the heels of Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s three-day official visit to Pakistan. After meeting his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi and making a courtesy call on President Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Imran Khan, the Chinese Foreign Minister opined that Pakistan-China relationship is based on a convergence of views and mutual respect. During his call on General Bajwa at the GHQ, appreciating the professionalism of Pakistan Army, the foreign minister said that the world should acknowledge Pakistan’s efforts towards regional peace and stability.

Vice Chairman of Chinese Central Military Commission (CMC), General Zhang Youxia, expressed in a meeting that the, “Pakistan Army is the backbone of the Pak-China relationship”

The Army Chief’s visit to China had been planned well in advance but some politicians from the opposition benches found it prudent to surmise that all was not well with the Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to Islamabad. Some Pakistani politicians misconstrued that Pakistan is considering reviewing CPEC projects, much to the chagrin of China; hence the Army Chief was hurriedly dispatched to Beijing for damage control. A leader of the opposition, who has enjoyed the largesse of the Chinese government for decades, now found it opportune to point out that the top Chinese official was received by a senior Foreign Office official at the Noor Khan Airbase at Chaklala, instead of a senior government functionary, who should have welcomed him at the airport instead. The learned opposition leader even went to the extent of sharing a picture of June 2017, when then Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had received the Chinese Foreign Minister. “But, today, on arrival at Islamabad, he got ‘Pompeo treatment’, when junior Foreign Office official received him! Protocol oversight or deliberate downgrading?” he inquired.

Such baseless and irresponsible statements provided fodder to the grist mills of the detractors of CPEC, Pak-China deep ties and enemies of both China and Pakistan. Quoting the Pakistani opposition leaders, Indian media in particular and a section of the US media propagated that all was not well between the new government of Imran Khan and Beijing.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The Prime Minister has instituted a CPEC body to ensure that the projects get completed on time. Indeed if corruption has occurred in the execution of any of the projects, the culprits will face the music. Sino-Pak ties are not between two governments but between two nations. Governments may come and go but the deep bonds between the “iron-brothers” are forever.

Prime Minister Imran Khan will be undertaking a state visit to China this month. Yang Yi’s visit to Islamabad, Bajwa and now the PM’s high-level visits to Beijing should put to rest all rumors and misreporting initiated by the adversaries and antagonists of Sino-Pak ties.

Such elements, both at home and abroad, who are trying to create a wedge between Pakistan and China over CPEC, are actually in a state of shock. India’s animosity is understandable because it has been trying to isolate Pakistan and has been a major critic of CPEC. Prime Minister Imran Khan’s high profile visit to Saudi Arabia and the Saudi leadership’s agreement to install the world’s third largest oil refinery in Gwadar city so Central Asian countries can be supplied oil, has shaken India out of its wits. As a first step, Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj cancelled her meeting with her Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi at the sidelines of UNGA quoting flimsy excuses. Moreover, her venomous presentation at the UNGA accusing Pakistan of the oft-parroted lines of supporting terror received flak at home.

It is Pakistani politicians, who should realize that Sino-Pak ties along with CPEC should unite the nation, not divide them.

The writer is a retired Group Captain of PAF. He is a columnist, analyst and TV talk show host, who has authored six books on current affairs, including three on China

Courtesy & Reference

Published in Daily Times, October 6th 2018.

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Afghan Security Agencies Increased Civilian Casualties in Afghanistan

Posted by admin in INDIA TRAINED SUICIDE BOMBERS FROM AFGHANISTAN, OPINION, OPINION LEADER, Sajjad Shaukat on October 6th, 2018

Afghan Security Agencies Increased Civilian Casualties in Afghanistan

By Sajjad Shaukat

 

Since the US-led NATO forces occupied Afghanistan in 2001, their air strikes on funerals, marriage-ceremonies and mosques, including special military operations killed thousands of civilians in Afghanistan. Therefore, previously, Afghan Government, as well as the parliamentarians, used to criticize the US-led NATO for the Afghan civilian causalities.

 

But, from 2015, Afghan security forces and secret agencies are conducting most operations themselves. Involvement of Afghan forces in civilian causalities is a matter of grave concern, making them unpopular in the eyes of their own people.

 

 

In this regard, under the caption, “Parliament demands action as civilian deaths hit record high”, Afghanistan Times wrote on September 26, 2018, “As civilian casualties hit record high in Afghanistan, Parliament called the spike in deaths a matter of ‘grave concern’, urging security agencies to ratchet up efforts to rein in the menace. The concerns are voiced a day after the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) in Afghanistan raised concerns over a drastic rise in civilian casualty toll from this year. Speaker of the Lower House Abdul Rauf Ibraimi blamed most of the civilian deaths in military operations on Detachment 1 of the 1st Special Operations Group. Ibrahimi referred to recent protests of families of martyrs in front of the Parliament to urge the government and its security apparatus to follow a good pattern to protect civilians. Parliamentarians too turned the heat up on the 1st Detachment, saying the conduct of the unit with civilians during raids were lawless, which caused harm to people. Lawmaker Obaidullah Barekzai lashed out at coalition airstrikes in volatile regions and contended that the U.S. forces bombed areas in Nangarhar, Laghman, Kapisa and Maidan Wardak provinces in last two weeks, killing and hurting tens of civilians including women, children. Criticizing government silence regarding civilian casualties during an airstrike, he asked relevant organs to stop civilian casualties. Complaints came about casualties while recently…UNAMA expresses its concern about the rising number of civilian casualties from airstrikes this year in Afghanistan, with credible reports of the latest incident occurring in Kapisa province.”

 

Afghanistan Times added, “In a statement UNAMA said that it received multiple, credible allegations that on 22 September, aerial ordnance impacted the home of a teacher in the Budrab area of Tagab district, Kapisa province, killing nine civilians, including four children and three women, with several others injured. All the victims from the attack were from the same family, including grandparents and children aged between two and twelve. Five of the six other family members who were injured when their home was destroyed were women and young children. Also, UNAMA in its preliminary findings indicate that 12 civilians were killed Sunday in an airstrike in Maidan Wardak province during operations conducted by Pro-Government Forces in the area. Ten of those killed were children whose ages ranged from 6 to 15. Eight were girls. In the first six months of the year, UNAMA documented 353 civilian casualties (149 deaths and 204 injured) from aerial attacks, a 52 per cent increase from the same period in 2017. It is of particular concern that women and children made up more than half of all aerial attack civilian casualties. The Mission attributed 52 per cent of all civilian casualties from aerial attacks to the Afghan Air Force, 45 percent to international military forces, and the remaining three per cent to unidentified Pro-Government Forces. Around seven per cent of all civilian casualties in the Afghan conflict in the first half of the year were attributed to air operations. Since the release of UNAMA’s 2018 mid-year Protection of Civilians Report, the Mission has continued to record increasing numbers of civilian casualties caused by airstrikes.”

 

It is notable that campaign for Afghanistan’s parliamentary elections to be held in Afghanistan on October 20, this year, continues, despite a wave of deadly violence across the country and allegations of fraud.

 

In this respect, on October 2, 2018, “The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) expressed its concern around the level of violence early in the campaigning period for the 20 October parliamentary elections, including intimidation and attacks against candidates, their agents and supporters. The Mission condemns today’s [October 2, 2018] most serious incident that killed at least 14 civilians and wounded a further 42 when a suicide attacker struck at a campaign rally in Nangarhar. Since campaigning formally commenced on 28 September, there have been several attacks resulting in the killing of a candidate and three security guards of another candidate, as well as the shooting of a further candidate’s agent and son.” UNAMA “urges all actors to halt all violence and intimidation against candidates and voters….I am outraged by attacks deliberately targeting civilians seeking to exercise their basic right to participate in elections, said Tadamichi Yamamoto, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan…This violence, including today’s reprehensible attack in Nangarhar, is an assault on the constitutional rights of the people of Afghanistan…Today’s suicide attack appears to have deliberately targeted a crowd gathered at an electoral campaign event.”

 

The Islamic State group (Also known as ISIS, ISIL and Daesh) which accepted responsibility for previous and recent terrorism-related attacks in Afghanistan also claimed responsibility for the suicide attack on an election-campaign rally of October 2, 2018, via its Amaq news agency.

 

It is mentionable that on August 10, this year, Taliban fighters attacked the Ghazni city of Afghanistan, killing at least 14 police officers and wounded dozens before the US-supported Afghan forces pushed them out of the city after a few days.

 

Afghan high officials revived the old blame game against Pakistan by accusing the security agencies of Pakistan regarding the Ghazni terror attack. Indian media also availed the opportunity and manipulated the Taliban attack against Pakistan.

 

In fact, prior to the visit of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Islamabad, both India and Afghanistan wanted to spoil positive development between Pakistan and the United States.

 

However, regarding Ghazni terror attack, the spokesman of the Foreign Office (FO) of Pakistan, Dr Muhammad Faisal said: “We have not received any evidence to back up these spurious accusations and reject these baseless allegations made by Afghan officials and others.”

 

It is noteworthy that since the occupation of Afghanistan by the US-led NATO forces, the country has become center of the intelligence agencies such as CIA, RAW and Mossad which are in connivance to obtain the covert designs of their countries and some Western countries against Russia, China and Pakistan, including Iran. Under the cover of fighting terrorism, these foreign agencies which are also in collaboration with the Afghan Afghan intelligence agency National Directorate of Security (NDS), support the militants of ISIS and Afghanistan-based Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), including their linked outfits which have been conducting terror-assaults in Afghanistan and Pakistan as part of the secret strategy of the US-led countries. Besides, these terrorist outfits are weakening Tibetan regions of China and Iranian Sistan-Baluchistan through subversive activities.

 

When any terror attack occurs in Afghanistan, the Afghan government revives old blame game against Pakistan.

 

On May 31, 2017, a massive truck bombing of the Afghan capital’s diplomatic section killed more than 150 people and injured hundreds of others, including foreigners. It was the deadliest terror attack in the 16-year-old conflict.

 

Taliban denied responsibility for the terror attack. But, Afghanistan’s intelligence service accused the Haqqani network by saying that a Taliban-affiliated group in Pakistan, carried out the attack. Addressing the conference-the “Kabul Process on Peace and Security Cooperation”, held in Kabul on June 6, 2017, which was attended by representatives from 26 countries and international organizations, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani alleged that Taliban insurgents are using sanctuaries on Pakistani soil to wage the insurgency in Afghanistan.

 

In the same speech, President Ghani offered peace talks to the Afghan Taliban. But, a Taliban spokesman rejected Ghani’s offer of a peace dialogue by stating that it is another attempt to endorse and to prolong the foreign occupation of Afghanistan.

 

During the same conference, a powerful bomb went off at the main mosque in the western city of Herat, killing at least 10 people. Again, the Taliban spokesman denied its involvement in connection with the explosion.

 

On the other side, Pakistan’s special Corps Commander Conference took the stern notice of Afghanistan’s allegations and threats and vowed to defend the country with full forces.

 

According to the press release of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), issued on June 6, 2017, the “Special Corps Commanders Conference presided over by Chief of the Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa called for Afghanistan to introspect and not allege Pakistan of sponsoring terrorism…the conference reviewed the security situation…Strongly condemning the Kabul blast…meeting has expressed complete solidarity with the Afghan government…instead of blaming Pakistan, Afghanistan needs to look forward and identify the real issues…Armed forces will defend the country from each challenge and will continue work to establish peace in the region.”

 

ISPR statement further reported that the meeting reaffirming continued support to regional peace and stability, the forum reiterated military’s resolve to defend the motherland against all types of threat.

It is worth mentioning that the armed forces of Pakistan have successfully broken the backbone of the foreign-backed terrorists by the successful military operations Zarb-e-Azb and Radd-ul-Fasaad which have also been extended to other parts of the country, including Balochistan. And Pakistan’s primary intelligence agency, ISI has broken the network of these terrorist groups by capturing several militants, while thwarting a number of terror attempts.

 

Besides, since the government of the Balochistan province announced general pardon and protection to the Baloch militants as part of the reconciliation process, many insurgents and their leaders have surrendered their arms and decided to work for the development of Pakistan and peace has been restored in Balochistan.

 

Peace has also been restored in Karachi and other provinces of Pakistan, including the tribal areas. But, in the recent past and during the election-campaign of 2019, blasts in Balochistan and other regions of the country showed that the US-led India, Afghanistan and Israel have again started acts of sabotage especially to destabilize Pakistan and to damage the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

 

Notably, there are many outfits of the Taliban. A majority of Taliban is fighting a war of liberation against the occupying forces. The US-led NATO has failed in their fight against the Afghan Taliban. Therefore, the main purpose, especially of America, is to accuse Pakistan of cross-border terrorism in Afghanistan in order to pacify its public in connection with the endless war in that country. Now, particularly CIA is also behind various terror attacks in Afghanistan, conducted by the ISIS and similar terror groups.

 

As regards the terrorism-related incidents inside Afghanistan, by availing the continued lawlessness in that country, India, Israel and the Afghan Government want to prolong the stay of the US-led NATO forces there and are using the militant outfits like ISIS and TTP to create further unrest there, while shifting the blame game towards Islamabad. In this connection, especially RAW, Mossad and the NDS are in collaboration. They have also kidnapped and killed many civilians in Afghanistan.  

 

Undoubtedly, we can conclude that Afghan security agencies have increased civilian casualties in Afghanistan, while the above mentioned foreign intelligence agencies have also added to these casualties.

 

Note: I have updated my similar article.

About the Author

Sajjad Shaukat writes on international affairs and is the author of the book: the US vs Islamic Militants, Invisible Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International Relations

 

Email: [email protected]

 

 

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Encroachments

Posted by Billa in Col.Riaz Jafri (Retd) Column, OPINION:OP-ED on October 4th, 2018

LETTER TO EDITOR

October 1st, 2018

Encroachments

by

 

Col. Riaz Jafri (Retd)

 

 

According to media reports and telecasts quite a lot of demolition work is being carried out all over in various cities and towns of the Punjab to clean up and widen the roads and bazaars by flattening the illegal encroachments.  Whereas on the one hand it is a welcome step but on the other millions and possibly billions have been lost by some.  The question arises how, why and by whom was it all allowed in the first instance?  The municipal Inspectors are known for their hawk’s eye to detect even an inch of transgression of a door or a gate of a house under construction, then how can such huge structures like hotels and showrooms are ignored?  Even a Kindergartner would smell corruption in such a scheme of affairs.

 

https://nationalcourier.pk/metropolis/houses-shops-demolished-anti-encroachment-drive/

 

 

 

Demolishing the encroachments is, therefore, not enough.  The concerned Municipal and Cantonment officials MUST also be RUTHLESSLY demolished to serve as a severe and exemplary deterrent for others in future.

 

Col. Riaz Jafri (Retd)

E.mail: [email protected]

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Drinking beverages during meals major cause of fat bellies. Dr. Faisal Khan

Posted by aka in Health, HEALTH WARNINGS on October 4th, 2018

Drinking beverages during meals major cause of fat bellies.

Dr. Faisal Khan

 

 

 

Drinking beverages during meals is our national habit. As per World Health Organization (WHO) Pakistani nation is generally classified as malnourished, but same time we are ranked 9th out of 188 countries in terms of fat bellies, because more than 50% of the population in Pakistan have fat tummies. This situation is the major cause of so many diseases including, heart disease, gallbladder disease including gallstones, osteoarthritis, gout, breathing problems, such as sleep apnea (when a person stops breathing for short episodes during sleep) and asthma. Fat belly also can lead to illnesses from acute to chronic, some very severe and deadly, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, coronary vascular disease, heart attack, stroke, and even cancer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Pakistan the most common causes of fat belly are overeating, drinking beverages during meals, mental stress, physical inactivity, metabolic problems and unawareness from balanced diet. Fat belly is generally caused by eating too much and moving too little. If we consume high amounts of energy, particularly fat and sugars, but don’t burn off the energy through exercise and physical activity, much of the surplus energy will be stored by the body as fat. Other main causes of fat tummy are, eating processed or fast food high in fat,Lack of fiber in our diets, not eating fruits, low consumption of vegetables and unrefined carbohydrates such as whole meal bread and brown rice, drinking too much beverages & liquids while having meals, tea &“sharbat” are our national drinks. Our sleep pattern is also not aligned with nature, sleeping most part of the day and staying up for whole night is never good for health and can causedeposits around belly and weight gain.

 

Eating patterns in rural & urban areas and our food menus have so many question marks from dieticians. This is in our tradition, that we always entertain our guests with the plenty of servings of Cold drinks, beverages, sweets and meetha panwith full of sugar. We always celebrate our festivals with distribution of laddu, gulab-jamun, jalebi, barfi, rassgullay& other types of “metthai”. We are known as a top sugar loving nation, even the sugar is a product which can topple the government by price hike, as per our national history in the era of 1970s.

 

In our society most of men have an issue, they don’t feel as much attraction to their wife as they were used to feel earlier, because, when they met their wife first time, she was slim, smart & gorgeous.But just after one or two kids she started put on a considerable amount of weight, has a big tummy and rolls of fat. when this happens, most men do not find their women attractive any longer. Men with fat bellies are also considered as ugly, unattractive and undesirable by their life partners.

 

Whenever we compare our self as a nation with other nationalities in different international gatherings and multi-nations participated events, unfortunately we find so many deficiencies, including lack of body fitness & charm. Most of times we find our self with big fat tummies. Even if we are good in education, good in financial status, but very rarely we are careful about our physical appearance. It’s a reality that most of us have big fat bellies and we are destroying our natural grace of personality, grace of knowledge, grace of education and also grace of our intelligence.

 

Generally, we love to eat spicier and chat-patti food, which caused to develop a national habit of drinking too much beverages and cold water while having our meals, so main aim to write this article to inform and educate the general public about disadvantages of drinking beverages and cold water while taking lunch and dinners. We have to get rid from our habit to take cold drinks and too much water & liquids while having our meals.Our stomach contains digestive acids that help in the digestion and breakdown of food. Apart from this, these juices are also responsible for killing any infectious agents that might be ingested along with food. Also known as the ‘digestive fire’.These digestive enzymes are essential for our overall well-being as they also allow the stomach to contract and thrash the food we eat. When this fire is diluted with water, it not only dulls the entire system but may cause cramping of the intestinal wall in some individuals. This inactivity of the entire digestive process allows food to remain in the stomach for longer and slows the process of passing digested food into the small intestine for the absorption of nutrients. Our stomachs have a knack of knowing when we will eat and starts releasing digestive juices immediately. If we start drinking water at the same time, what we are actually doing is diluting the digestive juices being released to digest our food, thusdelaying them from breaking down food, we are eating during having meals.

 

Our saliva is the first step to digestion. Not only does it contain enzymes that help break down food, but it also helps stimulate the stomach to release digestive enzymes and ready itself for the process of digestion. When we drink water during our meals, our saliva gets diluted. This not only sends weaker signals to the stomach but also stops the breakdown of food in our mouth – making digestion that much more difficult. This situation is a major cause of acidity, if we suffer from constant sessions of acidity, then this habit might be to blame. Since drinking water dilutes our digestive system, it leads to a chain-reaction of ill-effects. The stomach continues to absorb water till it gets saturated, after that, this water starts to dilute gastric juices; making the mixture much thicker than normal. This leads to lesser digestive enzymes being secreted, causing undigested food to leak into our system causing to acid reflux and heart burn.

 

Drinking water while we are eating can also lead to a rush-flow in our insulin levels, much like high glycaemic foods would. This is because when our body is not able to digest foods well enough it tends to convert the glucose filled part of that food into fat and stores it. This process then requires a gush of insulin in the body increasing our overall blood sugar deposits.Another common side-effect of drinking water with our meals is the fact that we do tend to put on weight. As explained earlier, there is a surge in insulin levels and food is broken down to make fat which is stored. Apart from that, according to recent researchers it is proved that a weak digestive fire is one of the leading reasons for obesity. Not only does this lead to an imbalance between the digestive elements in the body, but it also leads to the disruption in the way our body works.

 

While the practice of drinking beverages and too much water while having meal is bad for health, there are a few ways we can overcome the need to drink water during our meals.We should have meals with less spices &salt. Spices & salt are tend to make us thirsty during having meal, so it is best we lessen the intake of these compounds. Don’t gulp down food, chew it well. Chewing our food has a number of health benefits, and one of those is the fact that our saliva helps hasten the process of digestion. Moreover, well chewed food is easier to breakdown and assimilate, allowing our digestive system to do its job well. Apart from all this, one great benefit of this practice is the fact that as we chew, the amount of saliva produced increases, beating the urge to drink water.

 

Drinking water 30 minutes before our meal is always the best for our health and helpful to reduce weight. We should ideally drink room temperature water before our meals if we wish to lose weight and have a healthy metabolism. This practice also beats the urge to drink water during one’s meals.We also can prevent our self from fat belly by exercise regularly. We need to get 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity activity a week to prevent weight gain. We have to follow a healthy eating plan, we should also know and avoid the food traps that cause us to eat more than our body requirements and we should monitor our weight regularly.

 

There is a need to educate the masses about disadvantages of belly fat, obesity, fast food, beverages, extra salty or sugary products. There is also need for awareness campaigns with the help of print & electronic media to educate the people regarding advantages of healthy life style, healthy food, balanced eating habits, importance of healthy activities, importance of daily exercise & sports, importance of gym, play grounds, walking tracks, public parks, sports clubs, with an aim to educate the people about eating& drinking wisely if you want to keep your belly down and body best.

 

 

Dr. Faisal Khan

M.B.B.S, SMLE, MPH, MCPS, MRCPCH-UK

Al-Dar Hospital Madina Munawara, Saudi Arabia.

 

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