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In the final episode of the Friday Food For Thought web series, Dubai nutritionist Rashi Chowdhary talks about our complex relationship with food and busts a few diet-related myths.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Sir Martin Luther King said, if you can't fly, run.
00:07If you can't run, walk.
00:09And if you can't walk, crawl.
00:12But whatever you do, just keep moving.
00:14A little bit of progress every day leads to big results.
00:18Welcome back to Friday Food With Art.
00:28iDubai presents Friday Food With Art in association with Waterfront Market and Al-Adil Trading
00:34Company.
00:35We're back at our favorite Danube home and joining us is our expert, Rashi Chaudhary,
00:40who's going to talk to us about food and nutrition.
00:43Welcome back, Rashi.
00:45Thank you for having me.
00:46Rashi, we're doing the last and final episode of Friday Food With Art.
00:50What have you prepared for us today?
00:52You know, after we posted the first web series, I had so many DMs about this topic called
00:59food psychology.
01:01And I think people resonated a little bit with it, especially the ones who are constantly
01:06on diets, you know, never being able to get off this whole diet rut.
01:10So we're going to talk a lot about that.
01:12And I love that topic as well.
01:13And we're also going to bust some common myths around nutrition because so many people are
01:17so misinformed.
01:18So we're going to bust some myths.
01:19That's a lot of stuff.
01:20So food psychology and busting myths.
01:22Yes.
01:23Let's get straight into it.
01:24What is food psychology?
01:26So basically, I think this is one of the missing pieces.
01:29You know, this is why we have a trillion dollar weight loss industry, because we haven't gone
01:34deep down and understood what is our food psychology.
01:38And that's basically what, you know, the psychology around food, how we think about our food.
01:45Now, you know, it's like if I keep a plate of say, fish and chips, or say, I don't know,
01:52rice, you know, chicken and veggies in front of 10 people, you know, no two people will
01:57have the same response to that food.
01:59Everyone's going to think about that food differently.
02:01An athlete will look at it and say, oh, this is protein, carbs, it's my fuel.
02:06A vegan, I believe you're a vegan.
02:07That would be me.
02:08Yes.
02:09You would probably look at a fish and get repulsed or look at the chicken and feel like
02:13this is not my scene.
02:15Someone who loves food will obviously look at this plate of food with a whole lot of joy.
02:20And I think someone who's on keto will be guilty, right?
02:24Because of the carbs in it.
02:26Absolutely.
02:27So here's the thing, what we now know, and this is interesting, how we metabolize food
02:32depends a lot on how we feel about our food.
02:35So if I'm eating today's Friday, and I'm going to indulge in a nice red chocolate cake.
02:40Oh, yes.
02:41I love that.
02:43Now, if I'm going to sit and eat it with a whole lot of guilt, here's what happens.
02:46There's a hypothalamus in my brain, which is going to pick up on this negative input,
02:50give an inhibitory response to my digestive tract, which means the food will stay there
02:55longer, which means my gut bacteria can't flourish, which means because I've eaten the
02:59food with so much guilt, it's going to stay longer and the way it digests will be affected.
03:05So hang on a second.
03:06So what you're saying is, I've just had a decadent slice of chocolate cake.
03:11And I'm feeling guilty as I'm eating it.
03:13So I'm not able to digest it because of this guilt, it sits longer, and it just makes me
03:18fatter because I'm thinking like that.
03:20I mean, that's a very simplistic way of putting it.
03:21But ask somebody who struggled with emotional eating.
03:24And they will tell you again and again that while I'm eating it, I am so guilty, but I'm
03:28still eating it.
03:29And the next day, I feel like, you know, I don't feel so good about myself.
03:32And obviously, everyone will be slightly high on their weighing scale.
03:36But people who struggle with this weight loss thing, they always check their weight the
03:39next morning, although they know, it's going to be a lot more, it's like a form of punishment,
03:43you know.
03:44But the good thing is that we know this association now, the way we feel about food, says a lot
03:49about how we're going to digest the food.
03:51And that is food psychology.
03:52And it's so interesting, because I see it with so many of my clients, haven't you seen
03:56there are some who are just very easy about their food?
03:58Yeah, they'll just eat it, not feel guilty.
04:00And they feel okay.
04:01And they may even have a little bit of extra weight on it.
04:03But they're not so, their life doesn't depend on it.
04:06You know, their mood doesn't depend on it.
04:09So conversely, you know, some people are on diets, and they have to be, they're forced
04:13into a diet.
04:14Yeah.
04:15And there's a plate of absolutely good food on it.
04:17And you don't feel like eating it.
04:18How's that affecting me?
04:19That again, right?
04:20How long is it sustainable?
04:22When you're eating every single day, you're just going to have a dry piece of chicken
04:25with like veggies.
04:26How long is it going to sustain you?
04:29It's not fun.
04:30And as human beings, we're such emotional beings, you know, we eat for every emotion.
04:35And every time I think that we are not able to handle our internal environment, and we're
04:41not processing our emotions properly, we feel out of control, right?
04:45And automatically, because as humans, we have the need for certainty.
04:49We want to find control outside.
04:51And we do it in so many ways.
04:53Some people control, some people are OCD, you know, some people, they want to control
04:57the environment all the time.
04:58There are some who are just very strict about their timings, they want to control that.
05:02But the easiest thing to control in the external environment is food.
05:07So that you feel better is food.
05:09It's the easiest thing to control because a rich chocolate cake is never going to disappoint
05:12me.
05:13A man might disappoint me, but not rich chocolate cake.
05:16A rich chocolate cake is just life.
05:19Okay, so you were talking about emotions and how you approach food with certain kind of
05:24emotions.
05:25You know, you had a long, stressful day.
05:29And how do you go home and how do you manage that anxiety instead of reaching out for food?
05:33What would your main tip be?
05:35How do we approach?
05:36Yeah, I'm glad you asked.
05:38And I talk about this a lot because so many people come and they're like, you know, fine,
05:41I can follow the diet, but there are days, I'm just feeling anxious or there are days
05:46I'm just bored.
05:47You know, we eat even for boredom.
05:49Sometimes you just eat because we're more relaxed when you're back from work.
05:52So now what's helped me the most is mindfulness.
05:56What is mindfulness according to you?
05:59Mindfulness is being present in that moment and knowing what you're doing?
06:03Absolutely.
06:04Brownie points to it.
06:05Yeah, absolutely.
06:06Right.
06:07It's about being in the moment and coming to that moment.
06:09And most importantly, breaking up with the stories going on in your mind.
06:14Because the minute you do that, suddenly you have your silence in your mind.
06:17If you break up with all those stories and you detach from those stories, that's a better
06:21word.
06:22The minute you do that, you realize there's a pause.
06:24Okay, so let's put this in a proper scenario.
06:26Okay.
06:27I've come back from work.
06:29I've had a really stressful day.
06:30I'm sitting on the couch and I'm feeling really relieved.
06:33I'm happy that my day is over.
06:34And I'm like, you know what, I'm sitting on the couch and watching Netflix.
06:38I want to pick up my phone and order something.
06:41Right.
06:42I'm in that zone.
06:43And I'm feeling these things and I'm like, I just want to order.
06:45Now at this point, if I practice mindfulness, I come to that place of pause, right?
06:51Because I'm disconnected from all the stories in my head.
06:54This pause is where our power lies.
06:57This pause is where we can choose to be actually three things to ourselves.
07:00Are you suggesting that we just sit for a moment and say, what am I feeling right now?
07:04What should I eat?
07:05That would be perfect.
07:06Okay.
07:07But sadly enough, that will not happen if you don't practice it on a daily basis, which
07:12is why on Instagram, I'm always talking about mindfulness, trying to take a sip of water
07:16and remembering to be present with it.
07:18You have to start practicing these things.
07:20Otherwise, in that moment, when I am feeling hungry, bored, edgy, tired, anxious, I'm going
07:26to pick up the phone and order what I want to order.
07:28But yeah, coming back to that place of pause is your power.
07:32And that's where you get to choose who you want to be.
07:35And here's what I do, right?
07:36So I either choose to be a parent to myself, a child or an adult.
07:40That sounds like transactional analysis.
07:42Yeah.
07:43But you know what, it really works.
07:44I'll tell you how.
07:45So if I'm being a parent to myself, you know, I've taken that pause and I'm like, I want
07:48to be that parent, which is by the way, just 5% of the times I'm not able to do this yet.
07:53I will be like, you know what, I'm just bored.
07:56This cake is not helping me.
07:57I'm going to feel good for a while.
07:59But then what?
08:00I'm going to be bored again, right?
08:01Because I'm using an external thing to make myself feel better inside, never works.
08:05So I'll be the parent to myself, pick up the phone, call up my friend, chat to her, call
08:10up my dad, speak to him, go for a run, do these things to sort of divert my attention,
08:17but also use it productively.
08:19That's being a parent.
08:20Okay.
08:21Sometimes, and I think 20% I'm here, I become a child.
08:25I want to order everything.
08:27I'm going to order the chips and the cake and the this and that, and eat it like a child,
08:31which means eat it without guilt.
08:33Kids are never guilty when they eat whatever they eat, right?
08:36They just eat and they're happy about it.
08:38So that's what I be.
08:39And then most of the times, here's where I am, I become an adult to myself.
08:46What's the difference between being a parent and an adult?
08:49So I think, think about it, right?
08:51As an adult, I can make responsible decisions.
08:53I know exactly what I'm supposed to do as an adult.
08:56So what I would do is if I'm feeling this craving and I've taken this pause, I've come
09:00to the moment, then as an adult, I would be like, you know what?
09:03I'll pop in a truffle because I know exactly what's in it.
09:06I know how healthy it is.
09:07I know it loves me back.
09:08So I'd pop in a truffle.
09:10If not, then, because sometimes even a truffle doesn't do it, right?
09:14Then I would be like, you know, order a healthier dessert, like a vegan brownie.
09:18I know exactly where to get it from.
09:20And it does the trick for me.
09:21Okay.
09:22I have a question for you.
09:23So let's assume that we're looking at a donut.
09:25Yeah.
09:26Okay.
09:27And I know how much you like donuts.
09:28Imagine the same scenario.
09:29There's a donut.
09:30How would a parent approach that donut, a child and an adult approach that donut?
09:36So a parent would keep it away.
09:38No sugar.
09:39Yeah.
09:40A parent would keep it away.
09:42A child would eat it all up, but eat it without guilt, which is so cute.
09:46You can totally eat it without guilt.
09:47It's fine.
09:48If that's how, that's where you are.
09:51And an adult, most of the times what I do, I have half.
09:54I have three bites.
09:55I leave it for later on.
09:56I share it with someone.
09:57So would you say that we need to be an adult more often or a child more often?
10:01I think in all of our, I feel at least, in all of our entire life, once we, you know,
10:07are past, I think, what, 25, being an adult, more of an adult to yourself always helps.
10:13Because as a parent, you'll still, you know how parents are.
10:17They're just so, they're extremely strict.
10:20Yeah.
10:21And most of the parents are coming from fear.
10:22They don't want us to be happy as much as they want us to be safe.
10:26You know what I mean?
10:27Parents are always operating from fear.
10:28But as an adult, you're operating more from a place of love, I think, you know, at least
10:33most of us try.
10:34Or we're more aware of that.
10:36So I like this.
10:37I like doing this.
10:38I like that too.
10:39I'll use that tip.
10:40So which brings us to the second section of today's episode, and we are going to bust
10:44some nutrition myths.
10:45Are you ready?
10:46Yes.
10:47So these are some of the myths that our viewers have sent us.
10:51Yeah.
10:52I'm going to start with the first one, which is on everyone's mind.
10:54Eggs raise your cholesterol level.
10:56Okay.
10:57What do you think?
10:58Okay.
10:59I'm really confused now because I know there's good cholesterol and bad cholesterol.
11:02So I don't know.
11:03I'll just pass that question.
11:04Okay.
11:05Let me simplify it.
11:06All right.
11:07So the dietary cholesterol, which means the cholesterol that we get from our food and
11:12the cholesterol in our blood are two different things.
11:14Wait, wait, wait.
11:15Say that again.
11:16So the dietary cholesterol, the cholesterol that we get from the food like eggs and shrimp
11:20and ghee and coconut oil, all of this is very different from the cholesterol that our body
11:25makes.
11:26Okay.
11:27It's logical to think that what I eat, if I eat cholesterol, my cholesterol will be
11:30high.
11:31But that's far away from the truth because our body self-regulates cholesterol.
11:36So you can eat your eggs, and in fact, you must eat your eggs because that cholesterol
11:40does not raise your cholesterol inside.
11:43There are, however, 40% of people, just because of their genetic makeup, their cholesterol,
11:48especially LDL or total cholesterol does go high sometimes, especially when they start
11:52coconut oil and stuff.
11:54But that raise in LDL, which is actually the bad cholesterol, it does not have an impact
11:59on heart diseases.
12:01These people are called hyper responders.
12:03So what I want to actually say to anyone who's watching, please don't get paranoid when you
12:07see a lipid profile and if your total cholesterol is high, that's fine.
12:11Go straight to the ratio.
12:13See the ratio of your total cholesterol and LDL to HDL.
12:15HDL is the good cholesterol.
12:17A lot of doctors sometimes, and this is in no means to try and attack any doctors, but
12:23honestly, that ratio is important.
12:26So a lot of doctors don't even recommend that, you know.
12:28So the ratio is important, plus, if your ratio is slightly off, I would highly recommend
12:33that people do an NMR profile or a cardio IQ test because this is the future of cholesterol.
12:38It's not the basic testing that we do.
12:41It's really not.
12:42It's just something that you have to ask your doctor for.
12:46Okay.
12:47So the answer to that question is not a straightforward one.
12:49Eggs are amazing.
12:50Eat your yolk.
12:51Don't throw it away.
12:52It's got vitamin A, D, E, K, and a lot of omega-3.
12:55You know, we see omega-3 eggs, and then we eat the white, we throw the yellow.
12:59The yellow is the omega-3.
13:01So what is this, you know?
13:03Okay, awesome.
13:04Next question I have for you is about fruits.
13:07Fruits have natural sugars that make you fat, true or false?
13:10I'm going to ask you this again.
13:12What do you think?
13:13Yes, it has natural sugars.
13:15Does it make you fat?
13:16I suppose how your body metabolizes it, everybody's different now.
13:20I think let's agree on one thing, right?
13:22No one thing can make us fat.
13:24I think we can agree on that.
13:25Of course, if I have, say, a handful of almonds and I have, I don't know, a banana, obviously
13:30my sugar level is going to go up really quickly with the banana.
13:33The faster it goes up, the faster it's going to drop.
13:35The faster it drops, I'm going to feel more hungry, edgy, tired, I want more carbs.
13:39When I eat a handful of almonds, it fills you up more, it will keep you long, 100%.
13:45Because your sugar level has a steady rise.
13:48Having said that, kiwis, papayas, berries, apples, oranges, these are all good fruits.
13:54And that doesn't mean mango and banana are bad.
13:57But what I'm not happy with is how a lot of people do fruits all day, like a GM diet.
14:02There's a fruitarian, I know people who are fruitarians.
14:05Look, there's a whole different concept.
14:07And I've done a lot of research on this.
14:11There are people who reverse their diabetes having just fruits and vegetables.
14:15And that's the most we've done.
14:16But we can't talk about that.
14:17I mean, that's a whole different topic.
14:18But the point is that when it comes to fruit, don't start eating too much fruit because
14:22it is going to raise your sugar levels.
14:23If you're sensitive in terms of insulin, if you're sensitive about, if you have PCOS,
14:27all of that, you've got to be really careful of how much fruit you're taking in.
14:31What is a problem is fruit milkshakes, fruit yogurts, because that's sweet fat.
14:37And I picked up this from Dr. Mark Hyman.
14:39He talks about sweet fat, where we mix a whole lot of bad fat from dairy, and we combine
14:47it with sugar from fruit, and most often it's fruit concentrate.
14:50And this together, in fact, goes to the first myth, this raises your cholesterol.
14:55Sweet fat, too much sugar, too much carbs together, raise your cholesterol and not really
15:01fruits.
15:02So everything in moderation.
15:03There's just so much I want to say about that, but I'm going to go to the next one.
15:11Yes.
15:12Okay.
15:13This is something we grew up listening to.
15:14Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
15:16Well, I disagree.
15:18I think we have to work with our appetite, not against it.
15:21You'll notice a lot of people just don't feel the need to have breakfast.
15:24You know, they just feel like, no, I don't feel like having breakfast.
15:27And that's okay.
15:28But it doesn't mean you make your dinner the biggest meal, because we want to go by the
15:32circadian rhythm.
15:33We have a body clock inside, we want to go by the sun and moon cycle.
15:37After 6.30, 7 o'clock, your body wants to secrete melatonin.
15:40But if I'm going to eat a big dinner, just because I haven't had breakfast or to compensate
15:45or because I'm doing an intermittent fast or whatever, because some people now eat at
15:492 o'clock, you know, and they'll go up to 10.
15:52It's not the best thing because you're going against your circadian rhythm, you know, that's
15:55the time your body wants to rest, relax, you know, be in that digest mode.
15:59So what is a good time to have breakfast?
16:01Is whenever you're feeling hungry?
16:02Whenever you're feeling hungry, but just make sure that you stop eating early.
16:06And just because you've had skipped breakfast, don't have a big dinner.
16:08It'll interfere with the melatonin production.
16:10Okay, so it's not like you have a big breakfast, a small lunch and an even smaller dinner or
16:15does that work?
16:16No, yeah, a smaller dinner is great.
16:18A smaller dinner would be great.
16:19And yeah, you can have big breakfast or again, go by appetite.
16:22Some people, I generally have butter coffee.
16:25And then I pick up a handful of nuts, I'll pick up three truffles, I will just pick up
16:28a banana some days with a few nuts, or just two eggs, you know, keep it light if that's
16:32what you want.
16:34But don't again, don't skip breakfast because you want to lose weight.
16:36What is your intention behind skipping breakfast?
16:38Keep that in mind.
16:39If it is to go off and flow with what your body wants and your body wisdom, go for it.
16:45I've got two more for you.
16:46Go ahead.
16:47This one is got to do with bread.
16:49Our most favorite food, multigrain bread is healthier than white bread.
16:54It's like choosing between two evils.
16:56It's like asking me is diet coke better or regular coke?
16:58You know,
16:59Multigrain bread is not good then?
17:02I mean, again, because of the gluten bit, and we've spoken a lot about this in the past,
17:07you got to be a little careful.
17:08Most of us are gluten sensitive, or over time will become because our gut just can't handle
17:13gluten anymore.
17:15So I would say when it comes to bread, go for sourdough bread, because that's 97% gluten
17:19free.
17:20It's pre digested gluten better on your gut.
17:22Go for those paleo breads, which are made from almond flour.
17:24But aren't they like super thick?
17:26Yes, they're super thick, they're super dense.
17:28So you can have a little bit and you'll be full.
17:30Plus, you won't get that surge that you get with regular bread, you know.
17:34So multigrain bread definitely sort of better than white bread.
17:37What I do want to add is that brown bread is a complete no no.
17:40Is that just color added to it?
17:42It's just caramelized sugar added and it's brown.
17:44It just makes no sense.
17:46So if you really must choose between multigrain and white, of course, pick multigrain.
17:51Like if you really had to choose between diet coke and regular, I'd pick regular.
17:55Yeah, yeah, exactly.
17:57Yeah.
17:58Okay, so that brings us to the last one, which is kind of related to our current scenario.
18:02Having vitamin C boosts your immunity.
18:05Yeah.
18:06I know people on a heavy orange and lemon diet at the moment.
18:10Oh my god, I'm busting that right now, let me tell you.
18:12So basically, again, no one thing can help your immunity.
18:15All right, we know that.
18:18Vitamin C has proven to heal us faster during an illness or a cold or flu, but not prevent
18:25it, not necessarily prevent it.
18:27Now I give my clients about 2000 milligrams, that's two grams of vitamin C every single
18:32day.
18:33It's a must added in your diet just as a, you know, one orange has 50 mg of vitamin
18:40C.
18:41So I need 20 oranges a day to get one gram of vitamin C.
18:46Like people are drinking orange juice, they don't realize how much sugar is going in.
18:51It's going to go and bring your immunity down.
18:53So the best way to get vitamin C is either through, you know, the right supplement.
19:00And there's a whole different deal on what is the right supplement as well.
19:02That's questionable.
19:04But if you can afford it, I'd say do an IV at the clinic.
19:07Inject it into your system?
19:09Intravenously, yeah.
19:10Oh gosh.
19:11Vitamin C is so popular now.
19:12More and more people are understanding it.
19:13That's an effective way to do it.
19:15If you can't, then please don't depend just on vitamin C.
19:18There are a couple of other things which I do want to, you know, people are taking notes
19:21like they should just take notes and put this down.
19:22What about akinesia?
19:23No.
19:24So, no.
19:25So there are three more which are amazing for your immunity.
19:28Add a vitamin D3.
19:30If you're doing fat first and, you know, having a tablespoon of fat every morning, have your
19:33D3 with that.
19:34The absorption is much better.
19:355000 IU is good.
19:37Just make sure D is always in the D3 form, not D2.
19:42Then there is glutathione, but the reduced form, which is really good.
19:44It's a beautiful antioxidant, very powerful antioxidant, does more than what vitamin C
19:49can do.
19:50So you get them in capsules?
19:51In capsules.
19:52Again, you can take it intravenously, but capsules are fine.
19:53If you are worried about your liver and stuff, then start with 250 mg in the reduced form
19:57and that's good.
19:58And then there is zinc 50 mg, which you can also take.
20:01Four of these together, along with making sure you're adding turmeric, cinnamon, pepper,
20:05these kind of things.
20:06Sleeping well.
20:07Again, I'm going to go back to the Web Series 1.
20:10Making sure those five principles are kept in mind and balanced.
20:12It's almost a refresher now.
20:13Yeah.
20:14A course going back to what we learnt in the past.
20:15Yeah, when it comes to immunity, it's a lot of things together.
20:17So those five principles have to come together.
20:19That's a complex lot of information that you so simplified for our listeners.
20:24So thank you so much, Rashi, for such an amazing episode.
20:27Thank you for having me.
20:28But this is not the end, because I know a lot of you have questions to ask.
20:31So keep those questions rolling.
20:33Do follow Rashi on Instagram.
20:35Her handle is at Rashichaudhuri.
20:37She also writes a column for Friday.
20:39So do follow that.
20:41And we will be back for more such things.
20:43We'll hopefully see you again on another show.
20:45I'd love to.
20:46For the very last time, My Dubai presents Friday Food for Thought in association with
20:51Waterfront Market and Al-Adil Trading Company.
20:54Massive thanks to our partner who's hosted us for the last four episodes, Danny Home.
20:58We couldn't have done it without you.
21:00We hope you've enjoyed these episodes.
21:02Do write to us and let us know.
21:04Until next time, stay healthy and stay hydrated.
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