The key contributors to the unhealthy Indian food trends are (1) too much fat, too much salt and too much sugar. (2) Eating out (3) eating fast food (4) introducing non-vegetarian food to your stomach and (5) forgetting the traditional recipes which focused on retaining the nutritional value of the food and mixing the right food types

Indian food has tended to contain too much fat, sugar and salt. Deep-fried food – all snacks and savories, samosas, puris are examples of fatty food which log your arteries. Use of too much oil in cooking, especially oils like coconut oil, take away the good benefits of the vegetables. Sugar-rich Mithai – almost all types – pedas, barfis, gulab jamuns etc are perfect examples of high fat and high sugar foods. High salt preparations, especially all the pickles (used as a preservative) make for unhealthy food choices. Most Indian food also tends to have higher level of salt than any other nation’s food.

In most urban areas and western nations, more and more Moms are working and there is a big trend of eating out. When you want to eat out, in most case, you select delicious, mouth-watering North Indian dishes which are rich in all things unhealthy. Use of ghee, cream, oil, deep-frying, over-cooking are good examples. To add this, we have added the problem of fast-food and obesity amongst our urban kids. Fast food, without any argument, is unhealthy – too many chemicals, preservatives, hormones etc are added to the food which cannot be good for you.

Our heritage called for vegetarian eating. Introduction of meat eating has also contributed to the unhealthy trends. Our genetics do not support meat-eating. Our teeth, our digestive system, our body constitution does not support eating non-vegetarian food. The Higher Taste written by Swami Praphupada reveals how modern medical research has shown links between meat-eating and killer diseases. The anatomical structure of the human (all humans, not just Indian) are not conducive for meat-eating – starting from nails (not claws) to not having sharp front teeth and flat rear molars (unlike animals who eat other animals), long intestinal tracts (versus shorter ones for meat-eaters so that rapidly decaying meat can pass out quickly) and acid not strong enough in our stomachs to digest meat.

Finally, especially in the urban areas where we just do not have time, we tend to shy away from balanced meals and tend to have more TV-dinners and micro-waved food which does not have balanced nutrition at all. Also, we tend to over-cook (though under-cooking can save some time too), and kill the vitamins and mineral contents of the vegetables.

Traditional recipes and Ayurveda has prescribed balance nutrition from fruits, vegetables, grains, pulses, milk products, herbs and spices. Some even suggest a diet of only fruits and vegetables. Medicinal and healing spices like turmeric, ginger, garlic (though Tamsik), chillies (not in excess) are commonly used ingredients which not only removes blandness from our cuisine, but also adds healing powers.

A noted nutritionist and food writer, Ruth Davidar, has written a great article on how some of the traditional Indian combinations of food varieties derived in all the regions of India. Gujaratis have their ‘daal-bhaat-shak-rotli’. Tamilians have idlis, sambhars and dosais, Kashmiris has roti and rajma and in general the ‘daal-chawal-roti-subji’ routine. These are in fact clever combinations of food types practiced for generations to ensure that cereals and pulses are combined to get both proteins and amino acids – which helps in the absorption of plant proteins. So, when we are on the move, and do not want to miss the TV serial episode of Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin, then we just eliminate one food type, and lose the balance in our food.

There are many example of clever combination of food types in our recipes which we must continue to follow. Alu-palak ki bhaaji contains iron from the spinach which is released by the Vitamin C in the potatoes. Palak-paneer additional has calcium in the paneer (cottage cheese) which is readily and easily absorbed. Using yoghurt in our thali is also good. Yoghurt contains lactic acid which is an effective antiseptic when heated. Sprouted pulses are full of vitamins and iron. Commonplace aspects of Indian cooking like roasting spices and condiments and preparing spice mixes like garam masala, panch phoron or sambhar podi have great nutritional value. For example, Acetylcholine, which assists in the transmission of nerve impulses in the body, is developed only when coriander, cumin, black pepper, cardamom etc are gently roasted. Tempering (vagaar or tadka) with only a little oil – give the essential fatty acids, releases the healing power of the spices (like carotene from curry leaves), or add carminative properties to gas-forming pulses. Kashmiri food makes abundant use of fresh and dried ginger – which is very helpful in the cold winters. Punjabis eat onions with rotis to prevent sun-stroke.

Going back to sattvik food, regular spiritual fasting, and re-educating yourself on Ayurvedic cooking principles will go a long way in removing the notion of unhealthy Indian food. Avoid extremes, focus on balance and re-discover the joy of cooking at home!