The right medicine for our body is the right diet, says dietitian Ritu Sharma of ‘Ritu’s Diet’ fame.
What prompted me to write this article is the increase in the number of young people who come to my clinic (Ritu Diet) with numerous diseases. A girl in her teens came in with PCOD, Hyperthyroidism, high triglycerides, and obesity. Later I felt the need to educate children to learn the habit of eating well to strengthen themselves mentally and physically. You can find many such examples, but who is to blame for your suffering? Stress, depression and obesity are also taking a heavy toll on children’s health. Obesity is the most common nutritional disorder and a major health problem worldwide. It puts pressure on the kidneys, liver, heart, and other organs and increases the risk of diabetes, heart problems, cancer, and other life-threatening diseases. About 40 percent of cancers are related to diet, according to the American Institute for Cancer Research.
No two human beings are the same; each has a different size, metabolic makeup, body shape, health issues, genetic makeup, etc. So there can never be one diet that works for everyone. Don’t believe if someone tells you. Our diets have to adapt to the needs of our body. Individual needs for each nutrient are related to a person’s age, gender, level of physical activity, health status, and many other factors. Each nutrient has a particular set of functions. Excess or deficiency of nutrients can lead to disease. For example, selenium (RDA 30-60 mcg), which is required to maintain youth and slow down the aging process, is found primarily in barley and wheat germ. High doses of selenium can result in alopecia (patchy baldness), emotional instability, and deficiency leading to cancer, cardiovascular disease, and premature aging.
Diet therapy is a better option than weight loss for those who have already tried to lose weight in an unhealthy way.
One must understand that the correct way to lose weight is to have a proper personalized diet.
Do you know that we need nutrients in our daily intake? Most foods contain several nutrients, but no food contains all of them. That is why at least once one should have a personalized diet plan. When milk turns into curds, can we turn the curds back into milk? The point is that one should always watch one’s diet and remember that lifestyle diseases like hypertension and diabetes will never go away once they come into one’s life; they can only be controlled. So prevention is better than cure.
Dietitian Ritu Sharma (M.Sc.- Food & Nutrition) has over 14 years of experience in hospitals, gyms, and working with people from all walks of life, including those in the film industry, politics, and sports. . She also works with women and children and currently provides dietary advice from her clinic.
