Nutrition Month 2023:”Bharat should go back to basics for healthy food habits”:Yeloji Rao Mirajkar & Dr Rashmi Kulkarni

As we are celebrating the sixth Poshan Mah (Nutrition Month) 2023, Organiser Representative Deepti J Verma talks to Yeloji Rao Mirajkar, International Convenor, GIST forum and Dr Rashmi Kulkarni, entrepreneur and coordinator of the Aahaar Kranti Mission, on the need for nutrition awareness in India, going back to the basics of our ancestors and Ayurveda

The Aahaar Kranti Mission was launched in 2021 by Dr Harsh Vardhan. Take us through the aim and reach of this programme.

Yeloji Rao Mirajkar: Interestingly in 2021 there was a conversation between the GIST members (Global Indian Scientists and Technocrats forum) on how India wasn’t ready to be a part of the international year of fruits and vegetables (which also happened to fall that year) It was very clear that India in spite producing huge quantity of food items, in fact much more than what we typically consume –we still have malnourishment.

For an economy that’s largely agro-based, and as you said, a country that produces more than twice the number of calories that it can consume, where does the problem of malnutrition arise?

Yeloji Rao Mirajkar: Because neither you nor me or the current generations are studying or understanding anything about nutrition. When you don’t know where you’re going, you don’t know where you’re going to reach. That’s why despite us producing almost three or four times more calories than what we consume, we are still importing. Also, we might know different food groups like protein, carbs etc…..…but how many people understand the importance of gut bacteria? That’s why we end up treating our stomachs, bear with me for the slang, something like a garbage box, leading to lifestyle disorders and non-communicable diseases, like diabetes, cancer and heart problems. The use of chemicals and pesticides is so severe that even a mother’s milk is contaminated with chemicals, with no fault of the fetus, no fault of the growing child. These are the reasons why we felt that India was not ready, to celebrate the year of fruits and vegetables.

“It’s not only about being a “healthy eater”, food in the wrong combinations, in the wrong proportions, and eating at the wrong time can all be extremely toxic and unhealthy”
–Dr Rashmi Kulkarni

You have talked about mother’s milk being contaminated. So, are you going to start from that stage? Is that the main impetus of the programme?

Dr Rashmi Kulkarni: I agree with what Yeloji said about treating our stomachs like a garbage bin. It’s not only about being a “healthy eater”, food in the wrong combinations, in the wrong proportions, and eating at the wrong time can all be extremely toxic and unhealthy. Most people don’t realise these things –creating toxicity in their bodies. They end up with a leaky gut, which leads to the majority of the chronic diseases that we know of. Shockingly, 42 per cent of cancers are caused by poor nutrition—and preventable. People are getting diabetes and hypertension in their thirties; children are getting early puberty and obesity. So, looking at all this, we can say for sure that we are getting the basics wrong. Basic knowledge of food is not there, which is further compounded by too many influencers and bloggers giving one-size-fits-all all kinds of diets and recipes.

Add to that, all day we are killing the good bacteria needed for digestion, by sterilising everything and abusing anti-bacterial products. These micro-organisms might be invisible but they are very important for our overall health. Ignoring this invisible organ is a major cause of many of the diseases that we are talking about. We need to go back not only to the mother’s milk, but the womb, where the mother’s intestinal bacteria give proper nutrition to the embryo. Natural delivery is one of the best ways to strengthen a newborn baby’s immunity for the same reason. or even preconception health, the nutrition of the mother is so important, especially when the baby is in the womb, that the mother’s microorganisms that are present in her intestine, in her gut, in her body, in her womb are all contributing to the growth of the baby. And most people are not aware of this. So it’s not just the food but the germs as well.

India is primarily still a country where three meals are cooked. We did not have a big takeaway culture like in the West, where people grab their breakfast on the go. How important is it to go back to the basics and cook all our food at home? And sticking to local seasonal foods like back in the day.

Dr Rashmi Kulkarni: I would love to address this as a mother. You know, I have done my best or even beyond what I could do for my two children who are, uh, you know, quite young, eight and 14 years old. I have done everything possible to give them homemade healthy food while working and being extremely busy. There are things we can either do ourselves or create community kitchens where we get all of this healthy food delivered to us. Like I used to depend on instant yoghurt, but then I stopped being lazy about it and started making my own. It’s not that complicated and goes a long way.

“Remember the West said that India will be the worst hit by COVID-19 due to its dense population, lack of infrastructure and lack of “immunity”. But India improvised and came out better than most other countries in the world. We just need to work together”
–Yeloji Rao Mirajkar

Even with all these choices, how do we counter the problem of contamination? Is this mission also working on educating the farmers?

Yeloji Rao Mirajkar: I have to connect to what Rashmiji mentioned, specifically about starting at home. So our ancestors have documented many of these things in terms of eating habits. The Western food pyramid has a lot of contradictions. It places a lot of importance on non-vegetarian food as a source of protein. But is it true? If you look around in India today, so many people live beyond 70, 80, or 90 years and they’re all vegetarians. How are they living? And beyond 70 today means it is above the normal average life expectancy, which is 71 years or something like that. So obviously, they are getting their protein somewhere. This myth that vegetarian substitutes are not sufficient sources of protein has to be squashed. Second, in the background of COVID, the whole world recognized the role of spices to boost immunity, which we knew long ago. Again, in the West, “milkshake” is considered as one of the healthiest things whereas according to our ancient wisdom fruit and milk become useless when mixed. Similarly, one needs to understand that the food for food is equally important. A Ferrari is a great car, but if you try and run it on diesel instead of petrol, it will lose all its properties. Similarly, the most nutritious food is useless if it’s ridden with fertilizers and not natural manures. One has to go back to natural farming –which will solve a lot of problems.

How is it being done? How are you targeting  all these heads?

Yeloji Rao Mirajkar: We first started with a common material that can be easily understandable and digestible for the common. Rashmi and her team have developed some awareness material, which will be mainly distributed to teachers and schools. We hope students will take it back to their parents and push them to make better choices at home. Then of course we need to conduct seminars, conferences, symposiums, webinars and whatnot. All these things engage with the research organization, national departments and ministries and others. Also, when you’re developing this material for a country like India, it will have to be very regional and seasonal.

It might take time, but we can do it. Remember the West said that India will be the worst hit by COVID-19 due to its dense population, lack of infrastructure and lack of “immunity”. But India improvised and came out better than most other countries in the world. We just need to work together. We need to see Health and Nutrition as an investment in our future generations. We are not going to make the same mistake with the International Year of Millet 2023 as we did with the International Year of Fruits  and Vegetables.