Ishi Khosla talks to SM Verghis about summer diets and how losing weight can be really simple
Do our diets and exercise routines have to change during summerIJ “Not really,” shared nutritionist Ishi Khosla, adding, “The major difference is that we must drink extra fluids and eat lighter proteins. And if you arevegetarian, you can use plant protein.”
Her book, The Diet Doctor (Penguin), has several options for what she said is a major problem relating to modern Indian, “in the area of non-communicable diseases.”
Unfortunately, the government is not given this much importance currently, because infectious diseases are the immediate priority. “But a bill is waiting to be passed on the topic,” commented Khosla, “However, how many people are still aware about subjects like trans-fats. In a nation like Japan on the other hand, obesity is in the limelight and there is a focus on making functional foods available to the general public. In India there still remains to be a policy change.”
Meanwhile she agrees that one of the main changemakers are mothers, and they should be targetted when it comes to diets — after all they design kiddie’s tiffin boxes, and their feeding habits.
Khosla is not a fan of fad diets of any kind herself. And after a book on celiac disease, she focussed on obesity because she felt, “it is an alarming problem, which has a lot of intense psychological effects. And with the kind of foods available to youngsters like the processed variety, and also these fad diets, I had to make things simpler for people.”
She commented, “You don’t need to go on the latest fad diet at all. Be it something based on blood groups for instance. Or even a paneer diet. The solution can actually be very simple. Often diets tend to disable you from normal situations. And you also feel deprived, when you’re with someone and have to say, “Oh I cannot eat this. Or I can’t drink that.” If her answer is simple, what does it consistIJ
“Well one thing is the habit of snacking. You don’t need to eat processed food for that. You can chew on chana or almonds. As for those on the roads, like journalists, who frequently ask me this question. I tell them, ‘pre-planning is the answer.’ You can even purchase something like yoghurt and don’t use oily vegetable preparations. There is a proper approach. And when you follow principles of moderation for longer periods, you can control the excesses.”
Because Ishi said, “It’s not possible to go on dieting all your life. The thing is that we must learn to eat. And at the end of the day, you should work with your body’s signals.”
She also stated we cannot take the belief that traditional diets are the best either. “Because they were often for working life in rural areas. The thing is how we use every input in a quality way.”