Nutrition and Wellness - sharing a new awareness journey

Dear Reader

Let this blog find you experiencing wellness ‘inside out’.

Last few years we have focused more on our health, food & life-style. Especially after witnessing illnesses faced by people around us.

I was proud of my zero medicine bill since last 16 years. I had to let go of that claim in April 2015. My skin showed severe allergy and inflammation. I avoided any medication for 1 week, finally gave up & consulted a renowned skin specialist. It was diagnosed as URTICARIA. I was asked to avoid Bengal Gram (Chana), Besan, Hummus etc. I went through many tests and was put on anti-allergens, Cyclosporin etc. Though the allergies got suppressed in a week, I was told that the medicine will continue for several months. I had to get kidney function tests done every month to reconfirm that the medicine is not adversely affecting the kidney!!

A friend, who cured his Asthma by natural diet and lifestyle, recommended us to THAC team (The Health Awareness Center) at Worli, Mumbai. We visited THAC and met Dr. Vijaya Venkat, the sprightly 78 year old founder & one of the early experts on nutrition in India. Our awareness of the body system has gone through a sea-change since then.

Dr. Venkat explained:

‘The body is million times more intelligent than the mind. A fine balance is needed in the body to keep you alive, be it body temperature, pH balance, hormonal balance, blood clotting, memory, digestion system, breath management and what not. Please let it take its own course. You job is to only remove speed breakers, provide it right material, eliminate actions/food that increase toxicity in the system.

All skin allergies are an indication of excess toxicity in the system that the body is unable to throw out through natural routes. Body is designed to safeguard you and will not allow toxicity in the blood stream.’

Her explanations totally resonated with me. I abruptly stopped my medications and switched to eating plant based whole food – fruits, vegetables, pulses, nuts & dry fruits.

Within 24 hours, all the allergies resurfaced. I remembered a friend telling me that medicine normally suppresses the symptoms for 12-24 hours. Finally it’s the body’s internal intelligence that heals you!

THAC advised me to go off salt & grains and take a lot more rest. And the body did its natural magic & allergies receded!! I no longer avoid bengal gram, chickpeas, hummus, besan, etc.

Since this experience, I have been reading a lot about nutrition and its impact on wellness and health. I am glad that we finally found a team like THAC who has done intense research work on nutrition, impact of various activities & food on the body and how to restore natural wellness.

I found answers to lots of questions that I had. Many of my firm beliefs (though more of hearsay) got shattered & replaced with a resonating logic that ‘rang a bell within’. Some of the questions I had were:

-       What is an ideal quantity of water I should drink?

-       Is whey protein essential for vegetarians? When should I take it? How do I know it is really helping?

-       Does milk really help in adding calcium & proteins to our body?

-       What is the right time to eat what kind of food? Is it okay to eat breakfast like a king?

-       Does meat protein really help?

-       How does sugar impact my body system?

-       What does high cholesterol or high blood pressure indicate?

-       Why is it so hard to reduce body fat?

-       How does (early morning) coffee / tea impact my system?

Some surprising answers I found, I will share in my next blog.

I believed I was following very healthy lifestyle practices. What was my body pointing to via this skin allergy? I found some clues…

There was a growing toxicity in my system because:

-       I was sleeping less than required

-       I had excessive screen exposure (even though I don’t watch TV!!)

Brain & liver are two critical organs in our body. Body can’t give both of them high energy at the same time. As long as lights are on brain is active, liver gets to work only when we sleep.

Liver’s job is to detoxify the blood running through 600,000 km of capillaries in the body every day. We need at least 8 hours of sleep (that too in darkness), for our liver to function at optimum.

I used to believe that my 6 hours of deep sleep is enough. Combined with average 11 hours/day of sitting in front of computer screen with 15 simultaneous hours of smart phone exposure overloaded my system. I’ve realised that being fit externally need not mean internal health. I’m now working at restoring the normal rhythm of the body with more sleep, reduced screen time & plant based food.

If you (or anyone around you) have any persistent symptoms or want to reduce dependence on medication, give THAC a call on +91 22 24980005/6 or mail thacwellness@gmail.com.

Wishing you wellness with lots of smiles.

Rohan Singal