HYDERABAD: While most people, who go on diets, have a weekly cheat day, filmmaker Mani Shankar is firmly against the concept. “I have sensible eating habits and I see no reason to cheat. I would rather say, I was an idiot before, and I am not anymore when it comes to my food habits,” he says while speaking to CE about the ill-effects of refined foods.
The filmmaker relies on a strict paleo diet which allows him to eat only those foods that the early humans ate when they first roamed the planet about 2.5 million years ago. The diet comprises grains, fruits and meat.
Mani Shankar consciously avoids all refined food products. “I don’t eat white rice, flour of any kind or wheat. I only depend on ragi, black rice, jowar and millets, besides plenty of fruits and vegetables,” he says. He stays away from refined oils too. “I don’t eat out because even all the five and seven-star hotels use refined oils. I only stick to cold-pressed oils, it can make an unbelievable difference to one’s health.”
When we eat simple carbs such as white rice, it gets broken down into glucose within minutes. But, black rice, on the other hand, has carbohydrates in complex forms. Therefore, it does not release glucose immediately and the blood sugar levels come down. “Unnatural sugar is poison. Anything refined is poison,” he says.
The human body needs not only carbs, proteins and fats, it also needs a lot of micronutrients, and insoluble and soluble fibre. Commercial food is unhealthy as the manufacturing process strips the food of all its essential nutrients. The bran and fibre are removed, only carbs, sugar, salt and fat are sold as these have a longer shelf life, he says.
By eating right Mani Shankar has also managed to keep chronic inflammation at bay. “Refined oil is nothing but hydrogenated vegetable oil, which does not have the balance of omega three and six. This causes an imbalance which leads to chronic inflammation -- an epidemic today. It starts with low-grade inflammation and is a precursor to many modern-day diseases,” he says. He has resorted to his grandfather’s diet. Back then, he recalls, they were allowed to indulge on sweets only during Dasara and Diwali. “The processed foods that we get today are full of chemicals, which induce cravings and make you want to eat more.
This does not happen with natural food. This is what food engineering is all about,” Mani Shankar, who is also a chemical engineer, says. Sugar, fast carbohydrates and nature-identical flavouring chemicals create a dopamine surge and an irresistible craving. “To get more dopamine we need to consume more. To continue to feel good, we continue to eat more,” he says, adding that the body has an enormous capacity to restore itself. “We just have to make the right food choices.”