Good Food Part-1: Nutrition during COVID-19
Tune in to watch some of the best minds talk about nutrition during COVID-19.
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00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 Hello, everyone.
00:17 Welcome to Outlook Portions of Portion Bharat Campaign.
00:21 Our topic of discussion today is good food.
00:24 COVID-19 has not only sensitized us
00:26 to our environment and our communities,
00:29 but also highlighted the importance of good health.
00:32 And good food, nutritious food, is
00:36 needed for growth and development.
00:38 It acts as an immunity booster.
00:41 It lowers the risk of disease.
00:43 And it makes us more productive.
00:45 We have six experts with us today
00:48 who will be touching upon different aspects of health
00:50 and nutrition and highlighting the need for good food.
00:55 Our panelists comprise Dr. Usha Kiran Sisodia,
00:59 head of Department Diet and Nutrition Nanapati Max
01:02 Superspeciality Hospital; Dr. Gyandev Bhatt,
01:07 Vice President, Head Formulations, Research,
01:09 and Development, ACG Advantage Nutrition;
01:13 Tiana Rodriggs, Nutritionist, Advantage Nutrition;
01:18 Mr. Anurag Chadda, Managing Director and Country Manager
01:21 at Christian Hansen; Chef Kunal Kapoor;
01:25 and Mr. Deepak Arora, Vice President, Public Affairs
01:28 at Narayana Energy.
01:30 Welcome, all of you.
01:31 And thank you for being a part of this conversation.
01:35 Dr. Sisodia, we would like to start with you.
01:39 You experienced everything first start
01:41 in the health care industry, being part of a very--
01:44 a super speciality hospital.
01:47 Would you guide us that how has the diet
01:50 been changed for health care workers and patients
01:52 at this time?
01:54 Because none of us are aware how the health care workers are
01:57 coping up with what kind of food they need,
01:59 because they're putting in long hours and strenuous work
02:02 they're doing.
02:03 Yeah.
02:03 So basically, when first we came to know about the COVID
02:06 situation and we--
02:08 since our hospital declared, we will be dealing
02:11 with all the corona patients.
02:12 So I had developed a menu for them,
02:14 keeping in mind the respiratory--
02:17 like lungs function should get not affected.
02:19 So in that case, I have introduced in the breakfast
02:23 more of a protein-rich and along with the protein-rich,
02:26 the low-carbohydrate diet.
02:28 Means like less of sugar and less of these things,
02:31 simple carbs.
02:32 Because generally, simple carbs, they increase
02:35 the workload of the lungs.
02:37 So what that I kept in mind, and I
02:39 have introduced all the functional food richness.
02:42 Like sesame laddus, I have introduced--
02:45 we have introduced paneer recipes and more
02:47 of leafy vegetables.
02:49 And then for the staff, in between snacks,
02:51 like roasted chana or any roasted snacks that without oil.
02:56 So because we have to take care--
02:59 because they were the patient-- they
03:00 were taking patient from one ward to other ward.
03:03 They were shifting them.
03:04 They were dealing with all the time wearing PPE kit.
03:08 So I really have to hydrate also them very well.
03:12 So we have in between also, we have introduced
03:14 this fresh juice, coconut water, lime juices.
03:16 And even for the throat, we have introduced the kada,
03:20 simple kada, like warm water with the haldi
03:23 and this dried ginger powder.
03:25 And even we have introduced this turmeric milk at the bedtime.
03:30 So there have been different patients,
03:32 patients of all age groups.
03:34 How did you cope with that?
03:35 How did you start changing the menu for them?
03:38 And the pressure was so high.
03:40 The strain on the health industry has been very high.
03:43 Yeah, so for the patient, it always
03:46 depends on the clinical symptoms.
03:48 So when the patient was getting admitted,
03:50 each and every patient we were assessing by phone call
03:53 because that time we had to maintain the social distancing
03:56 and keeping in mind we should not get affected.
03:59 So that's why--
04:00 means we have every patient who was making a call.
04:03 And then on the call, we used to ask them their lives,
04:06 dislike, their allergies, if they have lost their appetite,
04:09 if they don't have taste, their nauseating feeling,
04:12 or any other GI symptoms.
04:14 Maybe means like the constipation, acidity.
04:17 So keeping in mind, we have given a light food,
04:20 easy to digest.
04:21 Like in the morning, breakfast, try to give them oats.
04:25 Then with the oats, we can make simple variation
04:28 like simple idli or simple poha, upma preparation.
04:32 And in the lunch and dinner, like more of khichdi,
04:34 kind of the rice pulse combination, and less of oil,
04:38 less of musk spices because they were not
04:40 having any appetite, many patients.
04:42 Those like kids.
04:44 We had first patient that was six-year-old kid only.
04:46 And to her, we have tried to give simple sandwiches,
04:50 simple rice and dal preparation, and some fruits
04:53 because many patients, they are comfortable only
04:56 with the fruits.
04:57 So we were giving fruits and more of probiotic food also,
05:00 like curds.
05:01 And many were having myth that we should not
05:03 eat curds in the night.
05:04 So then we were not giving them--
05:06 keeping in mind their point of view,
05:09 we were not giving curd in the bedtime.
05:11 But in the lunch, we were serving curds too.
05:14 So that way, we were making changes
05:16 as per the individual patient.
05:17 Dr. Bhatt, I would like to ask you that a lot of us
05:24 have been hearing about multivitamins being the cure
05:27 and boosting our immune system so that we don't land up
05:31 in a situation where we have to rush to the hospital.
05:34 And Blantige being a company which
05:36 is heavy on formulation, if you could just
05:40 guide us through how useful are these multivitamins?
05:44 OK.
05:45 See, multivitamins and minerals are very
05:47 essential for any individuals.
05:50 And most of that time, it comes from our diet
05:53 and whatever we eat.
05:56 But then nowadays, what has happened
05:58 is this pandemic has created havoc in everyone.
06:03 So now, everybody's scenario is such
06:06 that everybody is rushing for multivitamin supplements.
06:10 Something like multivitamins, BW complex, vitamin C, zinc,
06:18 all these are the ones which people are now rushing for.
06:22 But then it is good because these
06:24 are the ones which supplement the body's need if it is not
06:29 coming from our regular diets.
06:33 Because some point of time, everyone
06:35 has got different diet systems and diet food habits.
06:39 So it happens that we may or may not
06:42 get the right vitamin from our daily food.
06:46 So it is essential that we have to go for the daily multivitamins
06:53 and vitamin C products, especially vitamin B3, Z.
06:58 So these are the ones which usually comes deficiency
07:01 because of our food habits.
07:03 So having said that, it is safe to use.
07:08 There is no harm in using these multivitamins which
07:11 are readily available because this has been actually curated
07:16 based on the RDA limits which individual country has got.
07:22 And when we talk about India, India
07:24 has got specified some RDA limits.
07:27 And most of the products which have been marketed
07:30 complies to these RDA limits.
07:33 Even from the Vantage Nutrition, we look at the RDA limits
07:38 and then curate the product having the label claim which
07:42 complies the RDA limits so that anybody who goes and picks up
07:47 this product from the market without prescription
07:50 will not be harmful to them.
07:54 And moreover, what happens is sometimes
07:57 these are not harmful.
07:59 These are not drugs.
08:00 These are ultimately dietary supplements.
08:02 So taking a little more from what is needed
08:07 may not be so harmful because we know that even if we take
08:13 some ready-made multivitamin products from market,
08:18 our diet also contributes some amount of multivitamins
08:23 and minerals.
08:24 And that is obvious that it will come from diet as well.
08:27 So it's not that harmful.
08:30 And I think in short, if I have to tell you about this,
08:36 yes, these are the essential things.
08:39 And considering the current scenario,
08:41 it is very essential that we supplement this,
08:44 either from the marketed products which
08:46 are readily available, or with our own diet system,
08:52 building all these things as Dr. Sisodia was talking about,
08:57 incorporating probiotics and foods which
09:03 have got more essential nutrients, micronutrients,
09:07 and fruits which is contributing to natural vitamin C, et
09:10 cetera.
09:12 So people have been picking up these multivitamins
09:15 from drugstores because they don't need a prescription.
09:19 Is it OK to take them for a month without prescriptions?
09:22 Or should we get a doctor involved in it?
09:25 See, in Indian scenario, actually, there
09:28 are two types of products which are being marketed.
09:32 One purely comes under the pharmaceutical license.
09:37 And the other one usually comes with the dietary supplements
09:43 market that is under the FSSA.
09:45 So if I have to answer, all the FSSA products or FSSA-labeled
09:51 products, these are very safe because this
09:53 has been designed in such a way that it
10:00 has brought under the ideal limits of the individuals
10:03 and then marketed as per that.
10:05 So that is a strict regulatory guidance.
10:08 And everyone adheres to these guidances
10:11 when it comes under FSSA.
10:13 Similarly, the one which is coming
10:15 under the pharmaceutical, which typically comes as a drug,
10:21 where we can definitely identify this
10:24 as a pharmaceutical product because the food supplements
10:28 and the multivitamins marketed under the FSSA category,
10:34 either it has to have green dot or red dot,
10:36 depending upon the vegetarian source or non-vegetarian
10:41 source, whereas pharmaceutical products do not
10:44 require to have this.
10:45 So we can definitely identify either from what we call--
10:50 the way it has been packed because dietary supplements
10:55 usually comes with a bottle pack and pharmaceutical product
10:58 comes with a stick and blister.
11:00 So the one which is coming under the pharmaceutical
11:03 usually have higher amount of multivitamins and/or minerals
11:08 because that has been given for treatment, more of a treatment
11:12 rather than the preventive.
11:14 So such kind of products has to be
11:17 under the prescription of the doctor.
11:18 But otherwise, all the products which
11:21 are available as FSSA products, definitely people
11:25 can pick it up from the market and use it.
11:28 So Tiana, I would like to know from you
11:31 that there are people who don't have access to these supplements
11:33 or because they get short in the market
11:35 now since everybody's rushing for them.
11:37 And there's a lot of narrowness in our movement
11:39 because we move only between certain limits now.
11:42 So what kind of local and seasonal foods
11:45 do you recommend that we look at?
11:47 Also, another important thing that I've noticed
11:49 is when people buy their veggies and fruits from the market,
11:53 they tend to wash it with vinegar.
11:55 Some even are washing with detergent and water.
11:58 What is the correct way to get them home, to wash them
12:02 and store them?
12:03 Thank you, Ambika, for your question.
12:05 And thank you, Mr. Bhatt, for already setting the premise
12:08 for me to explain and elaborate more on this.
12:11 So like sir already said, the Indian Council
12:14 of Medical Research establishes an RD,
12:17 a Recommended Dietary Allowance, which is approved by FSSAI.
12:22 Now, what is that?
12:23 It is for you and me.
12:24 A healthy person can have this much on a daily basis
12:28 to prevent falling sick.
12:31 So that's your Recommended Dietary Allowance.
12:34 Now, when I say that, for something like vitamin C,
12:37 as for the 2010 RDA, it is just 40 mg.
12:41 And as for the latest guidelines, it's gone up to 80 mg.
12:44 Now, this I can easily achieve from my kitchen.
12:47 If I have, say, around seven to eight amlas,
12:51 if I have two oranges, four limes in the day.
12:55 But the problem is, how many of us
12:57 have these things every single day
12:59 and need it through our diet?
13:01 That is the question.
13:02 So vitamin C, yes, you can get it from your diet.
13:05 Zinc through nuts, through your dairy products,
13:08 through your green leafy vegetables, pulses,
13:11 magnesium too from the same sources.
13:13 But now when I look at vitamin D,
13:16 there are very limited sources of vitamin D.
13:18 It will be an egg yolk.
13:20 Going out in the sun, people have a myth
13:22 that it will give them enough of vitamin D,
13:24 but there's a big question mark on it.
13:26 It depends on your skin color.
13:28 It depends on so many other factors
13:30 that is actually involved into converting vitamin D
13:33 to its active form.
13:35 So with supplements for vitamin D is best suited.
13:39 You might not be able to meet it just through your diet.
13:42 So if I had to break this down for you,
13:44 there are certain foods, vitamins or minerals,
13:48 which you can get through your diet,
13:49 like vitamin C, zinc, yes, you can meet.
13:52 Magnesium, iron.
13:55 Iron, you make it more bioavailable from your foods
13:57 by germinating pulses, adding lime just before you have it
14:02 so that vitamin C helps in the iron absorption.
14:04 These are techniques you improve the bioavailability
14:07 of nutrients from food.
14:09 But then there is this category, which is your vitamin D,
14:13 which is your omega-3, which are also very, very important
14:17 for your overall good health and fighting inflammation.
14:20 In an Indian diet, typically,
14:22 the omega-6 to omega-3 ratio is highly skewed
14:26 and it's almost impossible.
14:29 I think Dr. Sisodia will agree with me.
14:31 It's almost impossible through diet
14:33 to meet an omega-3 requirement.
14:35 So in that case, yes, for fat-soluble vitamins,
14:39 you do need a supplement,
14:40 but you should not go overboard on them
14:42 because they are stored in the body.
14:43 Water-soluble vitamins like B-complex, et cetera,
14:47 even if you're a vegetarian deficient,
14:50 not having enough of dairy or meat products
14:52 and hence not meeting your requirements,
14:55 you can take in supplements.
14:57 The dangers or the adverse effects of taking too many of them
15:02 is not so much seen because they're water-soluble
15:04 and they get flushed out if you're having sufficient water.
15:08 Coming back to the next part of your question,
15:12 which is how do we take care of the hygiene?
15:15 Vinegar and other forms,
15:18 they have been used since a lot of time,
15:20 mostly for fermentation, preservation,
15:24 making pickles and all these things.
15:26 Definitely it helps if you like the taste of it,
15:30 but in terms of scientific evidence on this matter,
15:33 vinegar only helps with certain forms of pathogens.
15:37 So an E. coli, a salmonella,
15:39 it helps prevent these infections.
15:41 It's not going to help you from a virus, a coronavirus.
15:46 So what you really need to do for your fruits and vegetables
15:49 is get them and wash them really well.
15:53 Don't fuss too much about using soap and detergent.
15:56 Why?
15:57 Because your vegetables and fruits are porous in nature
16:00 and you don't want that soap going inside your fruit
16:04 or vegetable, right?
16:05 So once it's in, it's gonna cause nausea, stomach upset,
16:09 and various other symptoms that will tell you,
16:12 "Hey, look, it's not good."
16:14 So I would suggest, most importantly,
16:17 practice personal hygiene.
16:19 Wash your hands very well
16:20 before cutting fruits and vegetables.
16:23 Wash your fruits and vegetables,
16:24 green leafy vegetables or a cauliflower, blanch them.
16:27 Put them in hot water and then cold water.
16:30 And very importantly, after washing them,
16:34 use a clean board.
16:35 If you've used a board to separate them out,
16:37 spread them out, then again, wash that out,
16:41 use it to chop, et cetera.
16:43 While chopping, for fruits and vegetables that have a peel,
16:47 make sure you don't use the knife
16:48 to cut right through the peel to the inside
16:50 because then you're putting the germs,
16:52 which are probably on the outside, still inside.
16:54 So make sure you de-peel them.
16:56 Remove the peels first and then consume or cut the fruit
17:00 or the vegetables separately.
17:01 Most vegetables, I wouldn't be concerned
17:04 because they are cooked.
17:05 And cooked foods do not have a chance
17:08 of spreading that much of infection.
17:10 But whenever you are consuming something raw,
17:13 try steaming it.
17:14 Salads and all, well and good.
17:17 Avoid it from outside, have it at home, steam it a little.
17:20 Most importantly, if you want,
17:22 or if you are prone to infections
17:25 or you have a low immunity,
17:26 I would suggest stick to fruits
17:28 that have a thick peel outside,
17:30 like an orange, a pomegranate,
17:31 where you can remove the peel
17:33 and have the fruit from inside
17:34 rather than scrubbing it with soap.
17:36 So those would be my takeaways for you.
17:39 - Okay, another thing we find is that in the local shops,
17:43 we tend to have open spices in open bags.
17:47 So what if people are buying spices from open bags?
17:50 How they should store them once they bring them home?
17:54 - All right, so our spices have,
17:56 and we use them for the aroma and flavor,
17:59 and that's gonna go significantly if they're kept open.
18:03 So in a container that is opaque,
18:05 not exposed to too much light or moisture,
18:08 it would definitely help preserve them.
18:11 Again, there are mixed reports
18:13 whether the virus really spreads
18:15 through any form of packaged foods or food in general,
18:20 because it's more believed to be spreading by human contact.
18:24 So in this case, what I would suggest is
18:28 when you bring it home at least,
18:30 yes, what happens outside you are not aware of,
18:32 but when you bring it home,
18:34 preserve it in an opaque container away from light,
18:37 away from direct moisture or too much heat,
18:40 and use them in cooking methods to enhance flavors.
18:43 Don't use them raw.
18:45 That would be another precautionary measure.
18:47 - Mr. Chadha, Dr. Sisodia mentioned
18:51 that they were giving probiotics
18:53 to COVID patients in the hospital.
18:55 Would you please explain probiotics to a layperson?
18:58 Because a lot of the people don't understand
19:01 the real significance of probiotics.
19:04 - Thanks, Ambika.
19:06 Thanks for asking the question
19:08 and thanks for inviting Christian Hansen
19:11 on the program of Outlook.
19:13 The probiotics are nothing but live bacteria
19:18 which are part of the human microbiome
19:22 and they can give a lot of health benefits
19:25 for the individual, for the human beings.
19:28 So the FDA definition of the probiotics goes as these,
19:32 they are live microorganisms.
19:34 When they are administered in an adequate quantity
19:39 in the humans, then they can give some health benefits.
19:43 Usually these health benefits are in the areas of immunity
19:48 and also the digestive health.
19:52 Now, I think the bigger question is that
19:54 what is human microbiome?
19:57 And the interesting part is that the human body
20:00 is comprising of 47% of the human cells
20:06 and 53% of the bacterial cells.
20:10 And there are some 5,000 species
20:12 which are there in the human body.
20:14 97% of them are part of the GI tract, the gut primarily.
20:19 And there are certain strains which have been identified.
20:25 And if they are consumed on a regular basis
20:28 for a little prolonged period of time,
20:31 then these strains can start giving health benefits
20:34 in the individuals.
20:36 And those strains are identified as probiotics primarily.
20:41 These strains generally come from two large species
20:44 of bacteria.
20:46 One is Bifidobacterium and another is Lactobacilli.
20:49 So that's how I would like to put it
20:52 in the most simplistic term of probiotics.
20:55 - So which products are easily available now?
21:00 Because in the lockdown,
21:02 a lot of things have got disrupted.
21:04 So which products are easily available
21:07 and which can be consumed on a long-term, as you mentioned?
21:10 And long-term means how long term?
21:12 Three months, six months without any problems?
21:16 - Yeah, so I think I'll take your second question first.
21:20 How long can you consume probiotics?
21:22 You can actually consume probiotics lifelong.
21:25 The human microbiome,
21:28 it develops through the life stages of an individual,
21:32 from an infant, young children, to an adult,
21:35 and to an elderly.
21:37 It is already developing.
21:38 And if you are able to build it properly
21:40 and give it more boost, then it is the best thing.
21:44 So they can be consumed lifelong without any problem.
21:46 However, I think the cautious thing
21:49 is to get the right benefits from the probiotics,
21:51 you have to consume it regularly.
21:54 If you start taking breaks,
21:56 then it does not give you the health benefits
21:58 what you are aspiring for.
22:00 The products which are available today in the market,
22:03 they are more in the field of dairy.
22:06 You've got yogurts, you've got drinking yogurts,
22:08 you've got buttermilk, you've got chas,
22:11 which are coming up with,
22:12 which are actually infusing the probiotics
22:15 into their products.
22:16 It doesn't affect the taste at all.
22:17 It just enhances the health aspect of the product.
22:21 These are available in the market.
22:22 A lot of companies are putting it
22:24 and the individuals can consume it very regularly.
22:27 - So chef, we finally get all the food nutrients
22:32 and we bring it to the kitchen.
22:34 So what is the best way to cook
22:37 so that none of the nutrients get lost?
22:40 And now that we are seeing so many people in quarantine
22:44 and they're not able to kind of do the kind of food
22:47 that they would be doing on a normal routine basis,
22:50 what kind of meals do you suggest for them?
22:52 - Okay, so clearly there are two questions.
22:56 So the first one is what is the best way of cooking?
22:58 I think it's difficult to kind of define
23:01 what is the best way of cooking
23:03 because it may not give you the desired results every time.
23:07 So, one way to simply put it is steaming food
23:10 is the best way, but is it desirable?
23:12 Is it sustainable?
23:14 No.
23:14 So, because, you know,
23:16 plus you cannot steam every food and eat it.
23:18 It's impossible.
23:20 Nobody's going to follow that.
23:21 So I think the best way of cooking any dish
23:24 in a layman's term, if I have to put,
23:25 is to be conscious of what you are putting,
23:28 what you are adding.
23:29 And more or less, we have a certain level of knowledge.
23:33 Everybody knows what is good and what is bad.
23:37 You don't need to be a doctor to understand
23:40 that if you eat fried food all the time,
23:42 or if you're eating charred food or grilled food all the time,
23:46 that is going to be healthy for you.
23:47 So there is a certain basic knowledge
23:49 and understanding we all possess.
23:51 When we put that butter on the bread,
23:53 or when we add that extra dollop of cream
23:55 on your favorite palak paneer,
23:57 or when we order that extra cheese pizza,
24:00 we already know that we are eating,
24:03 let's say in this particular three cases, excess fat.
24:05 Similarly, there could be excess carbs.
24:07 There could be excessive eating.
24:09 So method of cooking is not the culprit, I always say.
24:14 And also, we have this tendency as individuals,
24:17 not as doctors, but as individuals
24:20 to define food as healthy and unhealthy.
24:23 I personally feel that there is no such food
24:26 which is unhealthy at all.
24:28 It is our intake.
24:30 It is our lifestyle that makes it unhealthy for us.
24:34 So where if I am used to working out,
24:36 or if I'm a very active person,
24:39 I can take enough of, let's say, for example, ghee.
24:44 And I'm keeping other parameters as okay,
24:48 where I don't have a certain condition,
24:50 or I'm not allergic to certain things.
24:52 So it is not unhealthy for me
24:54 because I'm able to burn it out.
24:55 But at the same time, if I'm sedentary,
24:57 and if I'm somebody who is unable to move around,
25:00 whether it's for old age or some incapacity,
25:02 I need to reduce my certain foods.
25:04 That's all.
25:05 So no food is unhealthy.
25:07 Every food gives you nutrition.
25:09 The art of balancing nutrition from every meal,
25:13 every ingredient is what we need to focus.
25:17 And that's where we learn, not necessarily from chefs,
25:21 but from nutritionists, from doctors
25:23 who kind of recommend certain things to eat,
25:26 and in proportion.
25:27 And like I said, everybody has a basic knowledge
25:30 of what is right and what is wrong.
25:32 And when you get interested about such things,
25:34 the information is right there.
25:36 Somebody who's listening to or watching us now,
25:39 there's a whole lot of information
25:40 that from Dr. Sisodia to Mr. Chadha to Tiana,
25:45 everybody has already shared.
25:47 So it's all about implementing, keeping that, and moving on.
25:51 Now, talking about certain foods
25:53 that one can have while they are on,
25:58 let's say, a certain recovery,
26:00 whether it's from COVID or not.
26:01 And also personally, let's say,
26:03 if somebody is trying to rebuild,
26:06 whether he was suffering from COVID or not,
26:08 or kind of getting onto a recovery road,
26:10 I think there are certain parameters
26:12 from what I understand as a chef, I can share.
26:15 One is definitely proteins,
26:17 because those are your building blocks in your body.
26:20 So whether it's a plant-based protein,
26:22 or if it's an animal-based protein, that is important.
26:26 Then it comes to fats.
26:27 Fats are very important, but the good fats.
26:31 Let's say if you're taking fats in terms of eating almonds
26:34 or eating different kinds of nuts.
26:36 So this is a good source of fat.
26:38 Similarly, there are certain healthy oils as well.
26:42 So you cannot have a fat-free diet.
26:46 It's not good for our own body.
26:48 Similarly, limiting your carbs
26:49 or taking carbs in the form of carbs coming from,
26:54 let's say, a whole wheat or a whole meal
26:56 or a mixed grain meal,
26:57 rather than a very super refined flour, for example.
27:02 So there are these subtle things.
27:04 At the same time, somebody who's recovering,
27:06 I think fresh food, freshly prepared, helps a lot.
27:09 When I say fresh food,
27:11 it should be seasonally available fresh fruits
27:15 and vegetables, something that you can eat raw,
27:18 something which requires minimalistic cooking.
27:21 For example, if you want to eat chaat, right?
27:26 So you can always add a whole lot of sprouts to your chaat
27:29 to make it more healthy.
27:30 Like someone was talking that the moment you sprout
27:33 a dal, you are increasing the iron absorption
27:37 or the iron or the nutrients,
27:39 jab wo sprout banta hai, it kind of increases.
27:41 In fact, sometime back, two, three years back,
27:43 I had this entire craze about doing micro,
27:46 these small little micros that you can grow from seeds,
27:52 different seeds at home.
27:53 All you need is a little small bowl
27:55 and with a cotton pad, add some water,
27:57 add some, let's say, throw in mustard seeds
27:59 and you get those small little shoots
28:01 and you cut them and you eat them
28:03 and they don't taste much, they're not mouthful,
28:06 but they're very nutritious.
28:07 So these are the few things that I can put forward.
28:11 And I mean, the list is endless.
28:13 There are so many other things that you can kind of eat
28:16 while you're on the road to recovery.
28:20 And one of the important things is that to not overindulge
28:25 because the moment you are into that recovery mode,
28:28 you start feeling hungry, you tend to go back
28:30 to the same old habits, (speaking in foreign language)
28:34 I can eat, I need nutrition, baba.
28:36 That story and that thought in the head,
28:39 you really have to fight it
28:40 and kind of pace out your meals.
28:42 I've been somebody on to a very high side of weight
28:48 and kind of reduced it over a period of time.
28:51 I've realized one of the things that works for me
28:54 is portioning at the same time,
28:57 having the right time to eat.
28:59 So I try and limit my dinners.
29:03 There are a handful of days that I actually indulge
29:07 in a nice good meal and then go off to bed.
29:10 Otherwise, I usually try and finish my light meal by 7, 7.30.
29:14 So that has really helped me.
29:16 Somebody will ask me, how did you do it?
29:17 What are you eating?
29:18 What is your diet plan?
29:19 I said, you know what?
29:20 I've just had like liquid dinner,
29:22 literally maybe a glass of milk or a fruit
29:25 or maybe a small bun.
29:26 But the rest of the day I've been eating.
29:29 So that really helps.
29:30 And again, it's very dependent upon body to body,
29:34 type to type.
29:35 And that's where doctors and nutritionists come into play
29:38 who give you a certain,
29:39 who identify you as a body type
29:41 and then kind of suggest you
29:42 or recommend you a certain diet to follow.
29:45 And that's where the chefs come in to make it,
29:48 make sure that it's nutritious.
29:49 At the same time, it's tasty.
29:51 - So chef, a few years back,
29:54 there was an event at the New Zealand Embassy
29:56 and you had made a very tasty litti chokha with avocado.
30:01 I wonder if you remember that.
30:04 So could you share with us something as tasty
30:07 and as quick to make,
30:08 maybe not an avocado,
30:09 but a more easily available ingredient
30:13 that we could all put together in a jiffy
30:15 and feel good about it?
30:16 - There are quite a bit, in fact,
30:22 and we don't have to really stretch ourselves too far.
30:26 I think local berries are fabulous.
30:30 They're full of antioxidants.
30:32 They're small.
30:33 They don't fill you up as much,
30:34 but yet they give you a whole lot of nutritional benefit.
30:37 So, you know, every state,
30:39 I've been doing a bit of research.
30:40 I'm trying to put a book together
30:42 on local ingredients.
30:43 So I've been researching that every state has a certain berry
30:47 that comes in a certain season.
30:48 For example, I'm in Delhi right now.
30:50 Delhi UP belt has this falsa that comes in.
30:53 And I was just reading about it,
30:55 that it is high on,
30:56 now it's all Google information.
30:58 So I can't vouch for it,
31:00 but that's what it says.
31:01 And somebody who over here,
31:03 if you can kind of enlighten,
31:05 that'll be great.
31:05 But it is full of vitamin C.
31:07 It is full of antioxidants.
31:08 It's a small berry.
31:09 It is, you can just keep snacking on it.
31:11 So rather than replacing your,
31:14 sorry, trying to go on a crash diet,
31:16 replace your butter popcorn
31:18 while you're watching your Amazon or Netflix
31:20 with a healthier berry.
31:22 Similarly, if you go in towards the Northern Indian belt,
31:26 (speaking in foreign language)
31:27 Kilmore is a tiny little yellow colored raspberry,
31:31 which is very, very indigenous to this entire belt.
31:34 And it's a brilliant, very tasty, very elusive.
31:37 If you're in somebody who's staying in the hills,
31:39 you really don't have to make an effort
31:40 because (speaking in foreign language)
31:45 So I think a simple thing like going out and researching
31:50 which fruit belongs to which season
31:54 and pick that up as a snack is one of the wonderful things.
31:57 Other thing, I think another thing
31:59 which is really coming up is chia seeds.
32:02 Now chia seeds is a simple seed,
32:04 which are basically,
32:05 they belong to the same as the mint family.
32:08 Though they don't taste like mint,
32:10 they actually taste like nothing
32:13 because it doesn't have any taste.
32:14 It's more playful.
32:16 It looks like that (speaking in foreign language)
32:19 More like what sub size, which is basil seeds.
32:21 (speaking in foreign language)
32:22 Very similar looking.
32:23 They kind of pop up.
32:24 They give a lot of nutrition.
32:26 They give a lot of fiber
32:27 and they naturally curb your hunger.
32:30 So somebody who was planning to kind of start reducing
32:33 because (speaking in foreign language)
32:36 Under nutrition is not the only problem.
32:39 (speaking in foreign language)
32:43 We have gained a lot of weight
32:45 and gaining weight is the biggest disease I think.
32:48 You keep that complicates everything in your system.
32:50 So we need to address under nutrition
32:53 whereas we also need to address over nutrition
32:55 because (speaking in foreign language)
33:00 because everybody is just sitting and eating.
33:04 So I think chia seeds or (speaking in foreign language)
33:11 they bloom, they soak up a lot of water.
33:13 And once you consume it, it naturally curbs your hunger.
33:17 You start eating less.
33:18 Plus they give you nutrition.
33:20 (speaking in foreign language)
33:22 - So Mr. Arora, you've been dealing
33:26 with a lot of communities
33:27 and Nara works in a lot of rural communities in Gujarat.
33:32 And you also have a very important project
33:36 running there called Project Sushti.
33:38 Would you tell us about that?
33:40 How you've been looking at nutrition care kits
33:44 and working on nutrition for these communities?
33:48 - Part of our work that we do with the communities,
33:50 we are highly focused in Gujarat.
33:52 And I think I can relate to a lot of things
33:54 that were spoken about earlier by my previous speakers.
33:59 Yes, there is a lot of traditional knowledge
34:01 that one finds in the rural areas,
34:03 which I think as we grow in urban areas,
34:06 having stayed in Mumbai and Delhi,
34:08 both the places having a very urbanized experience.
34:11 Sometimes those traditional knowledge
34:13 looks very, frivolous is a wrong word,
34:18 but that's how it appears to us.
34:20 The fact of life is that there is a lot of depth
34:23 and a lot of profundity in that information
34:25 and that knowledge.
34:27 And I think the reason why we thought of looking
34:30 at nutrition as one of the key areas
34:32 of intervention in that area.
34:33 So Dwarka is the place where we are.
34:35 Debumi Dwarka is the name of the district.
34:38 While it is the Nagri of the Lord Krishna,
34:42 it is among the bottom quartile
34:44 when it comes to nutrition indicators in the country.
34:46 And you look at any parameter,
34:48 you will find it in the bottom nutrition,
34:49 not bottom quartile.
34:50 Now, there is a paradox over here
34:53 because Gujarat per se is a comparatively
34:55 much more wealthier state.
34:57 So one really wonders that if there is wealth available,
35:01 if there is money with the people,
35:02 if there is affordability with the people,
35:05 then why are we really struggling
35:07 on something like nutrition?
35:09 So I think as Chef rightly said,
35:10 it is no food is, every food is good.
35:13 It's more how you consume it and the habit that you have.
35:17 So the habit, typically what we found
35:19 in the very initial rapid survey work
35:21 that there is a habit of snacking.
35:22 Now, I don't say snacking is bad,
35:25 but snacking has become bad
35:29 because the rural communities are now transitioning
35:32 from good rural communities to bad urban communities like us
35:37 which are more snacking chips and things like that.
35:39 So that was one significant reason that we found
35:43 and it was quite surprising for us.
35:45 So then if you teach a community
35:48 which is wanting to become modern by eating chips
35:51 and you start telling them,
35:52 "No, no, no, your own traditional foods are good
35:55 and you must go back to your roots."
35:57 I can tell you from personal experience,
35:58 it can be very challenging.
36:01 It is somehow related to modernity and I don't know why.
36:04 So what we essentially did is that we took around
36:07 ecosystem-based approach
36:09 because there are farming communities around us as well.
36:12 So we did two things.
36:13 One, we had a project which is purely on agriculture,
36:16 again, with two strands,
36:17 one obviously generating additional incomes
36:20 from agriculture, but at the same time,
36:22 one strand looking at the nutritional dimension of it.
36:25 Now, kitchen gardens, nutrition gardens,
36:27 one may give any names,
36:29 but that was one clearly one key initiative that we took
36:33 and we worked with almost 15,000 farmers
36:35 in the last few years.
36:37 We ensured that there are kitchen gardens available
36:39 in every household, every school backyard, every farm,
36:42 sufficient for their own consumption.
36:45 Now, you can, again, seasons vary,
36:47 so you have to give different kinds of seeds
36:49 at different point in times,
36:50 but largely relying on the traditional knowledge
36:54 of what is already there and what people know.
36:57 But that is only one strand of the overall large gamut
37:00 of things that we look at.
37:01 As again, was spoken by my far more knowledgeable
37:06 previous speakers,
37:07 food is generally insufficient
37:12 because of the limitations of the way we cook
37:14 and the way we have our food.
37:16 So in that sense, a focused approach on enhancing nutrition
37:20 by introducing supplements is not something that we did,
37:24 but high nutrition foods.
37:27 So very small things like making recipe books were there,
37:31 small videos on how to make good recipes,
37:36 not my forte, I am only a good eater,
37:38 but those are some things that we really picked up.
37:40 And I think the largest part or the largest input was,
37:45 I would say, pushing the community
37:48 into the mode of unlearning,
37:52 of seeing eating and snacking with modernity and good food.
37:57 So that unlearning of what was thought as,
38:00 oh, I am now becoming more modern,
38:03 that interrelationship, that push
38:06 was probably the most difficult part for us.
38:08 It took us a lot of time.
38:11 I can't say that we are there
38:13 because Debu Dwarka still remains among the bottom quartile.
38:18 It is still five to six years away
38:20 from where we can say that safely
38:22 it is among the top quartile,
38:23 we are still far away from that.
38:24 But largely it's an integrated approach
38:27 on nutrition on one side,
38:29 agri and income on the other side,
38:30 and then piecing the two together.
38:32 So that's what we've been essentially doing.
38:34 - Thank you everyone for sharing the best practices
38:38 and supporting the Supportions Bharat campaign.
38:41 It's been a pleasure to have you on this panel with us.
38:44 (upbeat music)