On the occasion of World Nutrition Day, HealthYouOnline focuses on the views of 10 leading doctors from across the country. They voice their concerns about the growing health challenges linked to poor diets, processed foods, and the fading practice of traditional eating habits. From the hidden dangers in everyday meals to the urgent need for greater nutritional awareness, this episode highlights how food is silently shaping our health and well-being.

Dr. Nagarathna Raghuram, Medical Director, S-VYASA, BENGALURU nagarathna raghuram

Today lifestyle has changed so much.  The biggest problem is in our kitchen. We hardly use the kitchen. We started eating out all the time. Homemade, freshly cooked food has become a rarity. And the contents that we use in our kitchen have all become non-organic, with lots of preservatives, insecticides. Apart from this, the biggest issue is we cook a large amount of food, keep it in the fridge, take a small amount out and warm it up in a microwave and eat it. We say that we have very little time. We have no time to cook. We have no time to eat fresh food.

Dr. Devi Shetty, Chairman and Senior Consultant Cardiac Surgeon, Narayana Health, BENGALURU Dr. Devi Shetty

The most important thing is the diet. You are what you eat. Many people with hypertension and high blood pressure can lower their blood pressure to normal simply by losing weight. Patients who are diabetic, or those diagnosed as recently as diabetic, if they just lose 5 to 8 kilos, the sugar level will come down to a virtually normal level. So essentially it is very important for people to resort to medical treatment or intervention to treat their problem. They should go through the natural way of addressing most of their problems, because it will sustain them for a long time. A 30-year-old man who weighs 95 kilos has high blood pressure. If you prescribe medication, he will feel that that is the only way to control the blood pressure. All he has to do is lose weight.

Dr. Lye Wai Choong, Kidney Specialist, Mount Elizabeth Hospital, SINGAPORE

Excessive food becomes a poison. Excessive food is a poison. And patients always laugh at me. Obesity is truly a killer because of excessive food. The way forward is education, awareness, changing food habits, awareness of the types of food, avoiding refined sugar. In short, one needs to steer away from obesity related food.

Prof. Sheffali Gulati, Head Paediatric Neurology, AIIMS, New Delhi Dr Sheffali Gulati

We are exposed to pesticides in a big way in the contaminated foods and vegetables. You know what we are fruits and vegetables we are taking was contaminated. So that is also be shown as, you know, possible associations. We have to keep in mind heavy metals, which are exposure. And we have found in a study lead, mercury, arsenic, and, cadmium and have been shown to have, toxic, levels in higher levels in these, children with autism compared to age and gender match controls is epigenetic because that

Dr. Antraeyee Niharchandra, Functional Medicine Physician, BENGALURU

My major challenge as a doctor in terms of nutrition with children is one there food cycle, where most kids are skipping breakfast and directly having a lunch. Number two is they end up doing a lot of binge eating or snacking at night because they are working till 11-11:32. By the time they are sleeping, they do want to eat something and feel comfortable before they go off to bed. Third is drinking water since they are working throughout the day. It is difficult for them to remember water. 

Now if something has a shelf life, then it does have a good amount of preservative which goes into it. So if you see a product which is going on a discount, especially edible product, then you will see it is six months post its manufacturing or three months or four months where it needs to be consumed faster. 

So our bodies have got used to consuming a lot of preservatives. And this starts from the age group of six months, our bodies have now got adapted to having a lot of genetically modified food. Now, over the period of time, celiac and other gluten intolerance, intolerance, medical conditions are becoming very common. If you have an extremely high sensitive gut or you are putting on a lot of weight, it can be that you are gluten and lactose intolerant. 

Dr. Randeep Guleria, Former Director & CEO, AIIMS, New Delhi

There is a lot of data which suggests that there are pesticides in large part of the food that we eat. Antimicrobial resistance is also. I would say misuse of antibiotics in agriculture and import poultry is high. And this then enters the food chain and causes antimicrobial resistance. There are studies from various institutes which have even looked at newborns and taken cord blood and shown high levels of pesticide in the newborn child or the cord blood of the mother, suggesting that pesticide exposure even occurs in pregnant women. Therefore, there is a need to really see how we can regulate this, because this can also lead to a lot of problems both in the newborn and in later life. 

Dr. Vanita Rahman, Clinic Director at the Physicians Committee for Responsible, Medicine (PCRM), US Vanita Rahman

You know, food serves really two purposes for us physiologically. One, it provides energy. So our body needs the calories to do the work it needs to do. But not all calories are the same. Some nourish us while others don't nourish us. They're just empty calories. So nutrition is consuming food that not only provides us with energy, but also nourishes us. It gives our body the nutrients that it needs to thrive.

At the Physicians Committee, we've created what we call a power plate. And it's made up of four food groups vegetables, fruits, grains and legumes. And I recommend, whenever you put a meal together, use that power plate model to put your meal together. Try to get some element of each of those four food groups in different combinations throughout the day. Get a rainbow of vegetables, a rainbow of fruits, different varieties of whole grains, and all these colorful lentils and pulses that we have in India. Those are the foods that have proven to nourish us and keep us strong.

Dr. Anil Kumar. R, Lead Consultant Cardiologist, Aster Medcity, KOCHi

Which food is good for you? Which oil is good for you? We now realize that there's a lot of illnesses attributed to the modern day fast foods. Most of the western countries and even the eastern side like Japan, are going back to their traditional diets. The concept should be that whatever is geographically grown within your region is good for you. 

Oil of the soil is good for you. For Kerala, coconut oil is used here. It has been used for centuries. A small amount of oil, coconut oil or any other oil is okay for you, but don't go overboard. For Calcutta, mustard oil must be the oil which is good for them. So let us not import artificial foods from other regions. But oil of the soil and food which is geographically grown around you, is best for you. That is what nature intended for you. 

Dr. Shruthi Shivadas, Consultant Gynaecologic Oncologist, Cytecare Hospitals, BENGLURU Shruthi Shivdas

Nutrition is a very important part of cancer, both in terms of therapy as well as in preventing cancers. There are a lot of mutagens in the food that we eat. It is very important that we stick as much as possible to a home based diet, reduce the carbohydrates in your food. There are a lot of data saying no sugar feeds cancer. So let us go for a zero sugar diet. So that is not something we as clinicians encourage, because all the cells in your body need carbohydrate. So even if your immune cells have to fight against the cancer, the cancer fighting cells of your body also need carbohydrate to an extent. So what we tell patients is to, take your carbohydrates, but keep your carbohydrates to only 25 percentage of your diet. 

Increase the antioxidants in a diet in terms of vitamins and minerals, that is, fruits and vegetables. Keep them as your major constituent of your diet and also good amount of proteins as a source of energy. Definitely avoid added sugars so use natural sweeteners for your food.