Nutrition

In the ever-evolving world of diets, the carnivore diet has been making a splash. 

An honest comment: Diets for weight loss and diabetes management have almost become 'cults'. Popularized by the likes of Paul Saladino and Jordan Peterson, Carnivore diet has gained quite the traction in recent times.

Each diet and its followers blindly advocating for themselves. We should never forget that our top priority and goal should be human health, nothing else.

The carnivore diet is focused solely on meat, fish, and sometimes eggs. It promises:

1. rapid weight loss, and,
2. improved health.

The internet is buzzing with an endless stream of new diets, each promising to be the magic bullet to weight loss. With so many dietary trends emerging, it's important to be aware of their potential benefits and drawbacks.

I will often have clients join my program who tell me that their doctor has aske them to follow the ADA diet for diabetes management. They would have tried to do so themselves and even decipher the eating pattern based on web research, but with little success. 

The ADA (American Diabetes Association) is a leading non-profit in the US dedicated to everything related to diabetes.

You probably already know about it. 

During a conversation with a patient, I sensed they had made peace with their diabetes. 

So I asked them a question. ‘Have you heard about the Mediterranean diet?’

They told me that the Mediterranean diet is a traditional diet that involves eating organic, natural foods, mostly plants. When I told them that traditionally, the Mediterranean's never had diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, or any such disease, they were amazed. 

The theory is that diabetes is a disease of excess glucose (sugar) in your body. And sugar is a breakdown product of carbs. Cut carbs, to not allow the sugar to form, to manage diabetes. 

Welll.... Let's Explore. 

The current statistics for the diabetes population in India is expected to rise to over 134 million by 2045 and the reason for this is the increasing prevalence of obesity. Obesity is a huge causative factor for diabetes.

In 2016 Tamil Nadu was considered to have the highest prevalence of diabetes among other states. As per recent data from the National Family Health Survey, diabetes in the rural areas of Tamil Nadu has increased from 3% to 8% and in the urban areas it rose from 6% to almost 14% in the last two decades.

When it comes to nutrition alone, you do not have to eat fancy food for diabetes management, Indian cuisine itself can be your medication.

South Indian cuisine, specifically, is considered to be wholesome and nutrient-rich. However, with modernised cooking techniques, we are using more fats, such as oil's and ghee than ever before. We have also moved away from traditional whole grain's such as millets and red rice to white rice and other processed grains. This posses an additional risk for diabetes.