Diversity is the key to many puzzles

17 April 2023

If there is one thing, I have learnt in the years of managing my health, it’s that dietary diversity is absolutely essential.

Anecdotes are something I pay attention to, because it starts one thinking.

Family members related the story of a neighbor who went on to consume ½ a teaspoon of turmeric every day. He lost dramatic amount of weight in a few weeks but unfortunately ended up in the hospital with very severe body system failures.

Have weak eyes? We get obsessed with Vitamin A and load up on the carrots and pumpkin on a daily basis, along with Vitamin A supplements. One could end up with Vitamin A toxicity. High amounts of Vitamin A in your diet are not good for you.

Common sense is key while starting one’s journey on wellness. Unless you are going to a certified nutritionist or dietician, you next best bet to make sense of all the conflicting information out there is to ensure diversity in your food choices as step one.

You get the drift- buy that variety of vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, grains, spices. This does not mean every meal has to tick mark every colour of the rainbow. All it means is that you work your way through a different vegetable/ fruit/ grain through the week. It also means you consume all food groups and not just vegetables or proteins.

Nature will kick start your wellbeing if you ensure diversity. How?

• You are providing your body access to different nutrients.
• There is nutritional synergy that gets triggered. What this means is that the nutrients in one trigger the absorption of another nutrient. We don’t always need to know the dependencies. Nature takes care of the synergies
• Automatically, different varieties of good gut bacteria will start thriving in your intestines.
• You will feel more satiated as you try different textures and tastes

It’s a straightforward concept. You would think we would get it and be able to practice it easily. But it is amazing to see how many of us don’t actually succeed at it.

That turmeric water daily. The soaked almonds daily. The rainbow salad daily. The same juice daily.

All we need to think of is- almonds on one day, walnuts another day, cashews the next day, pistachios the following day- you get the drift.

Here are a few more examples- potato salad, carrot salad, bell pepper salad, sprouts salad, simple tomato-cucumber salad- that’s great variety.

In grains- rice, wheat, millets of all types, oats- so many options to consider- stick with whole grain and rotate through various types of carb sources.

Why do you think we struggle to achieve this? Habit? Taste preferences? Worry about wasting money?

Let us know and let us collectively address the barriers we face, in ensuring diversity in our diet.

You can drop us a message @info@naturenudge.com anytime and we promise to respond.

Here’s to expanding our collective knowledge. Much brain power and well-being your way.

Bhavani Suryavanshee

Director- Nature Nudge

www.naturenudge.com