I attended a talk by Jaideep Sippy, a chef, courtesy: Friday Funda, India Culture lab, Godrej Industries, and until then, I probably never even thought so much that my food was as bad, as good or as ugly.
The first question that he asked when he began was, who in the room is perfectly healthy. I thought I was…but burdened by the pressure of the room, I was forced to think that so many people think they aren’t healthy?? really??
What does healthy mean to me? If I can run well and if my heart feels fine or, if I am breathing normal climbing up a couple of flights of stairs, I would say I am healthy! Surprisingly to me, and really to my utter surprise, the next question when he asked what would you do if I gave you a week of prefect health, all that people in the room thought about was: “I would eat,eat, and eat!” “I would eat loads of chocolates!” ” I would click a lot of photographs of myself” “I would go to the La tomatino fair with Katrina Kaif!”
I would probably attempt to climb Mt. Everest, or attempt to live in Antarctica, or maybe go on a dare-devil trek with Jackie Chan;P
So,sparing the last one,about Katrina, I was really beginning to feel that people in the room were actually quite unhappy with their food, diet and health in general.
Anyway, Sippy really tried to the flip the world for many people in the room by saying that most of the food we eat is not Protein rich, or carb-rich or any nutrient rich that we thought so. It is highly toxic. The milk that we drink is poorly packaged hence extremely dirty to drink. NO BRAND is really clean and hygienic…(not even amul)so I am wondering now, what might be growing within my cells and bones if I have been eating all of that from my childhood!
Well, coming from a typical Indian mentality, I can talk on behalf of several typical Indians and say: “Arre baba! I can’t see any dirt in my food! I always wash my food properly! I always boil my milk properly and I rarely even fall sick! So I don’t believe you.What can you possibly have up against that?”
“Aaj mere pass gadi, hai bangla, property hai, bank balance, tum hare pass kya hai? Mere pass Ma hai”…hehehe…just kidding.
Seriously, as a typical Indian, who doesn’t care until she/he thinks, I think this is a concern. The unseen can be fearful, if what you are up against is something like Cancer.
The Cancer Express, as written in the HT (http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/India/Cancer-Express/Article1-498286.aspx), is an express train that travels from Bhatinda to Bikaner everyday to carry 70 patients on an average, for cheaper cancer treatment. A farmer quoted there saying he was spending more than a lakh on his treatment in Punjab, while it was for 20,000 in Rajasthan. It is extremely sad, on one hand, that the poor from the most prosperous state in the country have to travel to another state for cheaper treatment.
On the other, toxins traced in the blood of the farmers is what the hype that Jaideep was creating to be cautious about our food intake…Now that is where he started making some sense. Well, he didn’t say stop eating all toxin rich food, because it is literally like you can’t really help it much…Its everywhere, unless its organic. But in India organic is still taking its time.
However, you can do 2 things for sure until them:
1. Drink abundant water: What i liked was that he didnt stress on drinking 2.2 litre, or 3 litres or 5 litres of water everytime. He just gave 5 opportunities to drink water, maybe a glass would be good to start with. He said drink water as soon as you wake up. Drink water before you hit the shower. Drink water before every meal. He reasoned the whole thing around the logic of hydration of the body. Our body is 70% water and we are continuously losing water either by perspiration or urination. Hence unless we replenish it, our body will always be sluggish and out of energy.
2. Eat abundant fibre: This again driven by the logic that the stomach doesnt feel full easily. What fibre does is : It is like a tiny air bag that when reaches the stomach just swells up and that is the reason why we feel full. Notice how when eating a high protein diet like say chicken, or mutton or beef, one can eat a lottt! But eat it with a roti, or bread, or rice, you will feel full faster.
The trick is to basically master these two for a good healthy life. Diabetes, Obesity, lethargy, pimples, every disease will only flee from you!
I neither want to sound very preachy like the health magazines do, nor do I want to say that be ignorant about this. I tried following the water pattern, and trust me, for myself it was difficult. I really had to make a conscious decision to do so, because I was a semi-camel in my immediate past life, so I really don’t feel like drinking too much water.But, I have always had fibre in my food though.
Nonetheless, I tried this today: 500 ml- in the morning, a glass before lunch, maybe around 350ml in the evening, 500 ml -1 hour post dinner and trust me, I was clear: in my bowel content (*hey!the potty talk should not be embarrassing here, it can be a matter of concern for many.*) and no sign of sluggish-ness for the whole day(I swear!ok, maybe not until a while ago, but not bad for starters I feel)
Water and Fibre: can’t be too difficult a step to take..would it?
