Watch What You Eat

A new week had started. While going through the appointment list of the day, I came across a name which looked familiar and triggered a memory. She was one of my older clients, who had undergone a fabulous transformation. I was about to talk to her after 5 years. When we started the skype call, I came to know that she wanted to discuss about her 10 year old son. He was recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I was horrified to hear this. When I started my career, I never would have imagined that I would make plans for a young kid to control diabetes. This boy in focus had a round tummy and was completely on all kinds of junk food. The excuse was that he was young and he could afford to eat all the crap. She was under the impression that she could wean him off all the junk when he would grow up. Sadly she forgot one important fact that “Habits don’t change easily”.

This incident made me aware about the enormity of the problem. We live in a world of over information or confusing information. Cashing on this confusion is a multi-crore rupee food industry, which would go to any length to entice all of us. Their main propaganda is profits at the cost of the health of the public. The focus is always on the taste buds. People find it extremely difficult to choose the right food. Packaged food has taken prime place in our kitchen aisles. Knowingly or unknowingly we are replacing our traditional foods with these foods which hardly provide any nutrients, though their labels make tall claims. One other major problem with these foods is that they are highly addictive in nature. The excessive sugar and salt contents can lead to the release of substances in the brain which create cravings for the same foods.

There are many myths associated with food. Every time I take a recall of what the client eats on a daily basis, I come across such weird beliefs about food that it’s a very difficult task to change their beliefs. Don’t eat carbs, olive oil doesn’t have calories, Eating fat makes you fat, Protein is the magical nutrient for weight loss, Peanuts have cholesterol, Exercising is a licence to eat, A magical herb will make us lose weight without exercise and control of food. The list goes on and on. I am at my wits end to convince them otherwise.

I have seen that a balanced nutrition can cure many of the modern disorders and also prevent and heal the person from within. Nutrition therapy is primarily the use of different foods to reverse or contain diseased conditions and restore vital health. Adopt a whole food based lifestyle like our ancestors did and reap the benefits of health and vitality.

Watch what you eat.