While we celebrated 78 years of 'Indian' independence, I had to surrender my freedom!

August is the month we hoist our national flag to celebrate independence! Last August, it was a white flag I raised in total surrender! I lost my freedom to eat food*, especially the ones I fancied. (* native English spelling!)

 It was not sudden. It began quietly, rather stealthily. While playing golf I felt tired, resulting in a very sloppy game. My golfing buddies were very understanding when I chose to stop playing midway. But I was not happy! Golf is not like cricket where you walk back to the pavilion if you get out! It is expected that a golfer completes a full round of 18 holes. He owes it to himself and to his fellow golfers!

 Believing I needed more energy, I ate more bananas, like a monkey. Surprisingly it didn’t help! So, I added ragi every day to my breakfast. This was in addition to the usual masala dosa, medhu vada and other popular South Indian dishes. I gave up, rather reluctantly, the special Iyengar biscuits, which are made from maida! I replaced it with ‘whole wheat’ biscuits and rusk. Believed to be a ‘must’ for a healthy diet.

 Meanwhile, a senior caddy did advise me to drink more water, added with electrolytes! Hydrating was the mantra! Golfers keep sipping water consistently while playing! I began to do so, but often forgot! The lame excuse is I didn’t feel thirsty!

  As my tiredness persisted, I went for a medical checkup and was shocked to see the reports which showed I was low on Iron and high on Potassium! Low Iron was fixed with injections, and I was advised to avoid high potassium food! No ragi, no banana and NO potato in masala dosa and the list is long. In short, almost all food I loved, was ‘verboten’! 

Being a foodie, called sapaad rama in our lingo, it was a tough call! It was difficult to accept that food  which were extolled earlier as good nutrients were now bad! A complete reversal! It feels like a betrayal!

  When Rohini heard about my need for a special diet, she suggested 'talk to Jayashree'. Jayashree is a well-qualified and an experienced dietician! She lives and works as a dietician in the USA!  Rohini and Jayashree know each other since their childhood days in Pune. She is the daughter of Lt. Gen Raghunath and Vatsala, our friends for a long time!

I messaged Jayashree asking for help. She was kind to send me a plan for a low Potassium diet!  The low potassium diet helped, though I did lose weight. Initially it was for the good. However, I need to gain weight now! If not, I will have go find a tailor to alter my clothes!

It was clear that I had to live with this new reality!

 Not even a ‘metric passed’, when it concerned food values and diets. I tried to learn about diets recommended for my condition! Not easy!  The information provided on the web is extensive. We need to login to some of the web sites if looking for more information. You need to subscribe and I suppose pay.

 One such website gives access to 500,000 different recipes of food and its nutritional values.  It is not easy to absorb and comprehend the details given! For instance, Cucumber, which for me is mostly water, has many nutrient values.  Milk (milk values.xlsx) is with so many nutrients, it is not surprising that our 'Gomaatha', the sacred cow, is protected!  Milk has 24 types of Vitamins, 28 different nutrients including carbohydrates, fats, protein, sterols and others! It even has ethyl alcohol, caffeine, theobromine and water!

 There are many websites with detailed information, and researched data about Nutrition! The values given in numbers are accurate up to two decimals! Extensive research on vegetables and fruits is made based on their color, size and origin, the way of cooking, whether with oils or butter and the effect of  various ingredients added in small quantities are studied.

 Displaying a chart with nutritional values on the packed food is a legal requirement, especially if sold in shops and malls. Surprisingly only ‘Calories’ and a few other nutrients and their values are shown! There is no mention of either Potassium or Phosphorus! It is like offering prayers to your chosen God and ignoring the others.

 However, nutritional value charts show quantities in many ways: as a serving, half a cup or a full one, as a number and also in grams or ounces! Definitely  convenient!  Measuring in grams is cumbersome for people who are used to ‘a pinch of salt or a handful of peanuts. In Kannada we say ‘Kai alathe or kannu alathe’ (Measure with hands or eyes). 

Information about diets and specially for potassium is  mind boggling! Potassium was ‘sarvavyapi’ (All Pervasive). It is in every kind of food we eat! Not surprising God, in his wisdom, made us into omnivores.

Wonder why these nutrients were not given the status of Gods or ‘devatas’ by our venerable Rishis? How else could we explain the wars between the ingredients? As I understood, Potassium went after Iron in my blood to gradually demolish it. My blood was in trouble as my Kidney was not able to stop the war of Nutrients in my blood. No wonder words ‘रक्त -khoon-blood’ have a huge impact on our psyche!

A chart attached about Apples reminds me of my grandmother. She was very meticulous! She would ask me to peel the apple. She then would cut into small exact pieces, fill a small silver cup, exactly half. The rest of the apple pieces would be for me!

She would have been a good case study on diet discipline. There were many ‘Noes’ in her diet. She would not touch red colored vegetables, and those which grew below the earth’s surface and unpolished rice. I don’t think she ever ate a cake and bought out eats! She ate only home-made food! Frowned upon us if we wanted eat in restaurants

It is fascinating to read about the history of nutrition https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12126291/

A bit embarrassed to admit that random articles or all-knowing influencers ruled instead of depending on doctors and lab reports! Felt less guilty when I learnt that unlike other organs, kidney, like a long-suffering spouse, suffers silently!

In Kannada we are fond of mentioning ‘shesha prashne’ when we get philosophical! It translates to ‘the final question’? This question came up as I spoke to Raghu, as I always do, about my health issues! He heard me first and then took a look at the lab reports, as he was concerned about the drop in the Hemoglobin numbers, and said that I was on the right track to recovery!

He added ‘your good genes have helped you this far!’ And continued ‘I would advise you to enjoy your normal life! Be active, go and play golf! How long do you want to live by following the strict diet you have followed in the last few months? Your diet at best may extend your life by another six months!’

It was a tough question! I really don’t know the answer! It reminded me of Bhishma Pitamaha! He was blessed with the gift of ‘Ichha Marana’,  the  choice to choose the time of his death! 

I don’t think Bhishma asked for it! I found it very difficult to figure him out! Though he is not the only one!

 Wishing you all a Happy Songkran. It is celebrated today, 13th  April in Thailand! We had a wonderful time in Thailand!

"I want to read Nidhi’s original blog please😀😀."..  Rama Gopinath.

 Thanks! Here it is Rama, hope you like it.