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The modern Indian diet needs to be high in vegetables and protein, and moderate in carbs and fats
A balanced Indian meal can include 1 or 2 Chapattis with 1 bowl of dal, 1 bowl of Sabzi, enriched with protein and vegetables, made with less oil and paired with salad.
Indian food, known for its rich, bold flavours and diverse ingredients have been consumed by billions of people for centuries. Yet, a significant number of people in their 50s are struggling with high blood sugar. Raj Ganpath, Certified fitness & nutrition coach shares all you need to know:
Why is it happening?
It’s important to understand that no diet is healthy or unhealthy by itself. A diet or a cuisine contains many components, and how healthy/unhealthy they are depends on how an individual uses the various ingredients in that cuisine – be it Thai, American, Japanese or Indian.
The traditional Indian diet like many other diets is majorly carbohydrate-based with smaller proportions of proteins and fats. But sometimes traditional diets need to evolve or they can become irrelevant to the current nutritional needs of the average human body.
In the past, people led highly active lifestyles and required a significant amount of energy. Over centuries, the Indian diet evolved as a practical solution to meet the dual needs of energy and nutrients. A carbohydrate dense meal was essential and it worked well in the past because our physically demanding lifestyles utilised the extra energy from the carbs.
However, today lifestyles are largely sedentary with desk jobs limiting our daily energy expenditure. Our physical activity is lower, hence the idea of a balanced Indian diet has changed. Traditionally, an Indian diet is high in carbs, moderate in fat, and low in protein and vegetables. We have to switch that up to make it more relevant.
The modern Indian diet needs to be high in vegetables and protein, and moderate in carbs and fats. A balanced meal can include 1 or 2 Chapattis with 1 bowl of dal, 1 bowl of Sabzi, enriched with protein and vegetables, made with less oil and paired with salad.
If we can make these changes, we can continue to eat Indian food without any worries. It has the potential to be an extremely healthy diet, as long as we plan our meals and practice portion control.
