Entries Tagged 'India' ↓

The greatest love on earth is indeed one’s love for food. It is indestructible and the most sincere.
It is a dietician’s job to make the obese get over this love: no doubt one of the toughest jobs on earth.

Obesity one of the greatest problems crippling humans now has a number of co morbidities that includes diabetes, blood pressure, arthritis , heart disorders and bone problems. An Indian dietician thus holds a very important position in today’s society.

The Indian diet is quite balanced in itself. But in the past few years many have switched to the western diet laced with Pepsi, pizzas and pastas which is the sole reason for the sudden peak in obesity. Also many have lost control of calories eating too much of rice and wheat which mostly gets stored as fat in the body.

Also studies have proven that Indians are very susceptible to abdominal obesity due to a gene we carry. Hence we have to be extra careful to tread the line of obesity.

An Indian dietician works in clinics, hospitals or specialty centers (like diabetics, kidney or coronary wards). They assist infants, elderly, the sick, athletes and the obese to control their calories and nutrition.

They help patients carry out a customized food plan that is drawn up especially for them. This plan is based on their occupation, age, weight, fitness, disorders and stress levels.

Dieticians should necessarily enjoy working with people. Apart from working in clinics or hospitals they may also be employed in defense establishments, educational institutions, residential schools, factories, sports establishments, and health and fitness centers

Research in diet and nutrition is also an option. Organizations like The UN and some NGO’s employ dieticians to work on new diets.

If you enjoy writing you may even combine journalism or blogging with health and nutrition and write about diet plans and weight loss tips. In fact most news papers, magazines and television channels employ their own special dieticians to write columns and host programs on weight loss and answer queries.

You must have good communication skills and a lot of patience if you want to be a dietician. A lot of cajoling and convincing is required to motivate obese people to follow dietary restrictions. Also you must make sure you are fit and healthy as patients will look for practice and prescribe.

The majority of diets available are built for the western world. These have to monitored and customized for the Indian. Also most Indians are vegetarians and hence they demand a unique diet to suit their body and life style. Hence as an Indian dietician you will have to be willing to try different approaches and experiment.

For several years it has been recognized that south Asians have certain unique clinical and biochemical characteristics that make them susceptible to obesity .These are collectively referred to as the South Asian Phenotype. Asians have a unique body phenotype with relatively lower BMI but increased abdominal adiposity and body fat particularly visceral fat.

The Asian Indian race both native and migrant has extra body fat in its composition which has now been nicknamed “The Thin Fat Indian”. We have more fat and less muscle and have the best brains but do not make the best athletes. Possibly we have world chess champions and are the software outsource capital of the world but we lack woefully in Olympic sports.

The traditional India diet is very healthy and balanced. Indians get their proteins from lamb, fish, chicken, bean and pulses.

The carbohydrates come from rice, wheat and bread. Due to climatic differences across India, rice is popular among south Indians while wheat is preferred by north Indians.

The cooking oils, nuts, ghee and butter used in Indian diets serve as source of fats. The type of oils used in different parts of India is different for example groundnut oil is largely used in eastern India and coconut oil in south India.

The various mixes of vegetables and fruits used provide all the essential minerals and vitamins. Fruits like guavas, mangoes, grapes, melons, oranges, apples etc are widely grown and consumed in all parts of India.
The majority of Indians are vegetarians and hence it comes as no surprise that their diet is nearly entirely comprised of vegetables.

Dairy products form a major part of the Indian diet. A large number of Indian savories are made from curd or milk. Yogurt is used in curries, milk in sweets and porridge, deserts etc. curd is used in a variety of sauces in Indian gravies and in chat items like Chat Paapad. Butter milk is a part of the staple Indian diet in most parts of India.

It is not surprising that spices form the core of the Indian diet. Most of these spices are used not only for their smells and exotic flavors but also for their medicinal properties. Turmeric is a well known anti septic and is also proven to prevent Alzheimer’s disease. Ginger has cold relieving properties. Other spices like cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, garlic and chilies are other commonly used spices.

Obesity rates are at its peak in India. Nearly one out of every ten in India is obese. This has lead to the sudden popularity of crash diets and gyms. But the weight loss regimes like the Atkins, The general motors, Liquid diets all prove of no use to Indians.

Many Indians follow the western diet plans for months and still bear no results. This can be extremely frustrating and nearly all of them lose motivation. Also most diet plans available online are extremely complicated to understand. They do not incorporate Indian dishes and this trouble many an Indian taste buds.  Also most Indians are vegetarians and their preferences are mostly not accommodated in diets.

An Indian weight loss diet has to be customized of the average Indian. It will be vastly different from a western weight loss diet because of the different cuisines in India. Also they will have to accommodate the variety in different states of India. For example the north Indians eat a lot of chapattis (wheat) which is much healthier than the south Indian counterpart, rice. But at the same time, south Indians eat a lot of gravies and vegetables whereas north Indian cuisines contain a lot of fats and butter.
Hence an Indian weight loss diet must be able to satisfy Indians from different states.

A traditional Indian meal in itself is extremely healthy. While we have the same rice and wheat for carbohydrates like the bread, pasta and cakes in the western world, we have more vegetables, fruits, pulses (dal) incorporated into our daily meals. The main reason for obesity is the leaning toward junk food popularized by the Americans and the increase in portion sizes.
The most popular of all weight loss diets are Low Carbohydrate Diets. It is impossible to avoid carbohydrates in an Indian meal. Our meals are filled with items like Idli ,Dosas, Upma, Poha, Dhoklas, Parathas, chapattis etc. but you don’t have to cut out these items because unlike their western counterparts , these are not processed and are hence filled with plenty of vitamins, minerals and fiber.

Here is a typical Indian Weight Loss Diet Plan.

Breakfast: 2 Dosas/ 2 idlis/ one bowl poha/ one bowl upma/ 2 chappatis

Coffee/ tea with low fat milk
Lunch: One Bowl Rice/ 3 chappatis with vegetables

One serving meat (30 g)

Sprouts salads

Dinner: 2 chappatis with sabji / 2 dosas/ 2 idlis

Indians follow the western diet plans like atkins diet, the south beach diet and the cabbage soup diet, without considering that they all are based on the US food plan system where as the Indian food pyramid is very different…

Check out the complete article here: Indian Weight Loss Diet

People think menopause generally occurs in older women above the age of 50. But in recent years, early or premature menopause is more common and affects about 4% of women between the ages of 29-34 years. A recent study revealed a shocking fact that Indian Women are attaining menopause at the age of 30…

Check out the complete article here: Premature Menopause in Indian Women