SATURDAY, MAY 11, 2024
Kamlesh Vora
It is a well-known fact that India is on the way to becoming the diabetes capital of the world if it is already not there. The government and other healthcare agencies are doing their best to control this epidemic in more than many ways. While the causes of diabetes are many, obesity is one of them. The lethal combination of diabetes and obesity then gives rise to many other critical and fatal diseases related to the heart, kidneys and many other organs. There are many ways to control diabetes and obesity like medicines and exercise but let's take here a discussion on lifestyle change. The major change the diabetologists suggest is the food habits, what to eat when to eat how much to eat, etc.
A major change suggested by nutritionists is related to proportion and type of constituents in a way that balance carbohydrates, protein, and fat with more fibre content, with food low in glycemic index, etc. These may involve increasing Millet (Jowar, Bajara, Ragi, Nachni) instead of wheat, plain rice instead of jeera rice and pulav (Brown rice maybe even better) in daily food content. In vegetables, potatoes are less preferred by diabetes patients than say lady fingers, pumpkins or bitter gourds (karela). Similarly, there may be umpteen options in desserts besides fruits with less sugar and cream which may have some protein to balance the sugar.
All concerned persons/patients will certainly implement such suggestions as therapy when at home, however, in today's world, it is required that we have to eat out by compulsion, by necessity and sometimes by choice. It is here that difficulties come to maintain the diet plan. Be it at a wedding or birthday party, casual meet, eating at the workplace, or just eating out at a restaurant, one does not get many options for diabetes-friendly food.
On all these occasions what one is served is fancy food, highly rich in calories, ignoring the good food choices. Once in front of the eye, one gets tempted to eat such food ignoring their diet regime. It is here that restaurants, catering contractors, and canteen operators can chip in. They should come out with healthy options for diabetes and obese patients. They should be so attractive and highly nutritive that even normal persons may be tempted to have a go at it. Such items could be chapatti made of Bajara, Jowar, or Ragi and lady finger, pumpkin or karela (bitter guard), leafy vegetables etc in vegetable options.
Even government, which spends a huge amount on health care, should cajole, convince, force or mandate that at least 10-15% of the items served should meet such criteria as worked out by an expert committee. Public organisations/NGOs or housing societies, and even kitty parties should organise demonstrations/competitions of such food items.
The menace of bad food eating starts at a very young age. Here schools and colleges should highlight the importance of healthy food and its effects on the body processed food in more many ways like asking students to speak in assemblies, calling expert doctors to speak, using a topic in debates and essays etc. Unless action to control diabetes and obesity are not taken now we will see a nation that consumes more drugs than food.
