BENGALURU: Following any diet needs certain amount of dedication and commitment. Bengaluru seems to lack that. Many dietitians and nutritionists in the city agree to the study done by the fitness platform Gympik according to which seven out of ten people in Bengaluru do not follow any diet.
The shirkers are usually between 18 and 20 years.
The online survey was done across India. Of the 1.06 million respondents, 45 per cent of them were from Bengaluru. While the city’s record was poor, it was relatively better than other southern cities such as Chennai and Hyderabad.
Most people do not and cannot follow a diet because the idea of a diet is a difficult and short lived concept for them to follow, says Manasa Rajan, Nutritionist at Curefit. Eating sensibly and mindfully shouldn’t be boring as long as you understand your diet and that needs a bit of understanding of your body and knowledge about what goes in your plate.
And here is why we fail to stick to our diet plan, says Sujetha Shetty, Head Nutritionist at Gympik. Sujetha says about 100 to 150 people consult her about dietary plans and only 60 to 70 people are able to follow them strictly.
While Sujetha says the most common reasons given by the people to not to follow a diet are busy work hours, travelling and lack of motivation, Manasa says it's also food addictions - sugar dependence, emotional eating, societal-dietary patterns of family and friends - make it difficult to make changes in the diet. Manasa says, "When people aren’t mindful about their food choices and eat processed, sugary foods or excessive meat, it impacts weight, hormone balance, cholesterol, insulin resistance etc.. basically it has a huge lifestyle impact!"
Diet differs according to body
The understanding that clean eating and regular exercise should be a part of our daily life, is yet to be carved in our minds, says Sujetha. "Most of the populace is stuck with the concept of on-spot cure which leads them to follow fad diets that never bring any positive results. Some are eager to follow celebrity diets without understanding the concept that each body is different and needs customised plan to achieve the long-term success via their nutrition plan. Fad Diets are not sustainable and that's where the major drop offs lie."
Dr Sreemathy Venkataraman, clinical nutritionist and chief dietitian, Brains Hospital agrees with Sujetha. She also adds that people must be able to read nutrition label when they buy food items and not follow what they read on WhatsApp or see on advertisements blindly. "A protein bar, for example, may read that it contains 6g of protein but we often miss that it's 6 g of protein per 100 g of the bar. The ones you buy from stories are usually only 35g," she says.
She sees mostly college students are want to lose weight. "I get 1 in every 3 cases for weight loss. It's mostly, college students who are shifting abroad to study or going to stay in the hostel who are more worried about weight loss," she says. Manasa says, "The other usual concerns are pre diabetes, thyroid issues, PCOD, high cholesterol, lack of energy and skin issues."
'Youth is aware'
Pavithra N Raj, dietitian at Columbia Asia Referal Hospital, Yeshwanthpur disagrees with the findings of the study. She says 70 per cent of the people are health conscious and hence, they work out and follow diets too. "I give talks in corporate about health and nutrition and observed that many are aware. "
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