The Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) medical board has recommended former president Asif Ali Zardari to eat only home-cooked and diet food after his health deteriorated. According to hospital sources, doctors instructed the PPP Co-chairman to avoid the use of salt and oil in food. The medical board allowed the former president to eat fish and chicken, in small quantities and advised him to take more vegetables. Yesterday, Zardari was brought to PIMS for lab tests on the recommendation of the medical board in Adiala jail. The PPP leader was brought to the hospital on Tuesday from Adiala jail in an armoured vehicle. Doctors at the hospital performed a medical examination and took samples for labs. The former president has meanwhile been shifted to the cardiology department of the hospital. Last week, an accountability court in Islamabad had ordered jail authorities to act upon the advice of medical officers on Zardari’s plea for his shifting to a hospital.