Aahaar Kranti is a national movement to raise awareness of the importance of a nutritionally balanced diet in our lives, starting from the Embryonic phase till the End of life (E-to-E) for a healthy long life.
It’s an effort to rouse the people to the value of our traditional diet, that involves eating food as medicine, and combines the healing power of locally grown food items, including fruits and vegetables. It’s also an effort to increase awareness in the relevant bodies to place policies and plans to support the production of food items that are required for consumption in India and reduce the burden of importing them.
Our Ancient Dietary Wisdom
Additionally, the values and benefits hidden in Ayurveda and the practices that our elders follow at home need to be unearthed. With the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the world’s eyes are on India because the severity of its impact has been far less in India compared to most other countries, many of which are economically advanced and developed. (Despite the emergency of the second wave of the pandemic, India had recorded 215 deaths per million population by May 20 as opposed to 2,096 in Brazil, 2,073 in Italy, 1,873 in the UK, 1,815 in the US, 1,659 in France, 1,047 in Germany and 812 in Russia.)
Researchers around the world speculate and attribute this to the immunity that Indians have developed over the years through their lifestyle and diet that consists of varieties of food, spices, and cocktails of herbs known as kashaya, kada, etc.
The most important part in the Ayurveda diet is the understanding of food items and their compatibility with the body, which is significantly lacking in the western diet that most of the world now follows.
Rearranging the Food Pyramid
Added to that, the food pyramid that is widely referred to in the world suggests meat and animal products as the primary sources for protein. However, in India, more than a third of the population is vegetarian and many of their parents and grandparents have lived long, beyond the age of 80 and 90 years, without consuming any meat products. What is their secret and what was the source of protein for them?
People in the world are slowly but surely turning vegan and vegetarian. They make up about 10% of the world population now and this number is anticipated to increase in the coming decades. Therefore, there is an urgent need to construct a food pyramid that includes vegetarian options for protein. The awareness is anticipated to fulfill that requirement for vegetarians all over the world.
An important piece in the puzzle of awareness is also to motivate the research fraternity across the world and generate data by conducting studies, thereby removing any doubts on Ayurvedic principles and help build confidence in its practice in our daily life.\
The combined benefits of Allopathy (allopathic medicine, also known as modern medicine, suppresses the symptoms of any disease by attacking the natural defence of the body) and Homoeopathy (also known as traditional medicine that embraces the natural defence system of the body and helps in curing the root cause of the disease) could be embraced for a healthier and longer life for each individual. If we reach this phase, then there will be no need to pop medicine as food. That will be the success of Aahaar Kranti.
Nutrition is Sacrosanct Even Before Birth
The nutritional needs of a growing embryo is fulfilled by the mother and therefore, it depends on what she eats, how she eats, and how much she eats. In the initial months after the baby’s birth, the newborn is totally dependent on mother’s milk. Traditional knowledge suggests that the mood of the mother also shapes the growth of the to-be-born baby (foetus). It is also recognised that the physical health and the mental wellbeing of the mother helps in delivering a healthy baby with minimal complications, either to the mother or to the baby. Today, researchers through modern scientific equipment and methods are finding evidence in support of the same truth.
Starting from the embryo, it takes about 21 years for the complete growth of the brain and about 24 years for the maturity of brain functioning. Once the child becomes completely non-
dependent on the mother’s milk, more attention needs to be given by the family to ensure that its nutritional needs are completely met. This is because during those years, the child’s physical growth and the development of the brain (source of cognitive skills such as learning and performance) are influenced by the nourishment with nutritionally balanced food items.
To fulfill these needs, an ecosystem should be in place involving mothers, supporting family members, and the society. The responsibility of the society stems from the fact that it needs to support and strengthen the efforts of the mothers and the family
members for fulfilling the needs.
Cognitive skills are the core skills that the brain uses to think, read, learn, remember, reason, and pay attention. Working together, they take incoming information and move it into the bank of knowledge (“learning”) and use it (“performance”) every day at school, at work, and in life. Later in life, such a mind would be able to develop and inculcate skills such as critical and analytical thinking, complex problem solving, leadership and social influence etc.
Growing Dietary Risk
Dietary risk is among the fastest growing factors contributing to disease in India. From about 4.0% in 2014, it had increased to over 10% in 2019, primarily due to cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and kidney diseases (Figure 1). These numbers are further increasing due to increased rates of cancer, tumor, etc. which are due to the increased consumption of ready-to-eat and pre-packed foods with chemical preservatives used for enhancing their shelf life.
Researchers are finding more and more evidence that suggests cancer is a man-made disease, stemming from the fact that we are using more artificial and synthetic chemicals in our food. As we transition to different phases in life (child, teen, youth, adult, and senior citizens) and the longer we indulge in a nutritionally balanced diet, the longer we could live and that too, in good health. If not, the onset of these diseases related to dietary risks could take place earlier, while we are young, and by the time symptoms become prominent and detection is done, it would be somewhat late. A lot of research studies have shown direct evidence in this regard. Awareness of a balanced nutritional diet is the first step and practicing it daily is the secret for a healthy long life.
The Message of Aahaar Kranti
Hunger continues to be a big problem in India, even though studies estimate that India produces four times the calories it
consumes. Yet, many of our people are malnourished. The root cause of this phenomenon is the lack of nutritional awareness in all sections of our society..
To spread the message of the need for nutritionally balanced diet and to understand the importance of economically accessible local fruits and vegetables, Global Indian Scientists’ and Technocrats’ Forum (GIST) and Vijnana Bharati (VIBHA) have come together and launched आहार क्रांती (Aahaar Kranti) with the motto: उत्तम आहार उत्तम विचार (Uttam Aahaar Uttam Vichaar or Best Food for Best Thoughts). The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Pravasi Bharatiya Academic and Science Sampark (PRABHASS), Vigyan Prasar (VP) and many other organisations have come together to participate in this very novel and great initiative that is so critical for New India.
Aahaar Kranti is meant to renew our focus on nutritionally balanced diets — उत्तम एवं संतुलित आहार (uttam aivam santulit aahaar or best and balanced diet) replete with locally sourced fruits and vegetables. It is meant to train our teachers, and through them the multitudes of our students, and through them their families and the society (Figure 2). While Aahaar Kranti is starting in India, it sets a model for the entire world to follow and establish India as a विश्वगुरु (Vishwaguru of guru of the world).
Details about the Aahaar Kranti are available at www.aahaarkranti.org. The United Nations has also declared 2021 as the International Year of Fruits and Vegetables, which make a large part of a balanced diet.
A movement is an idea throbbing in crores of hearts that beat to the same tune and inspires people to work towards a common goal. For Aahaar Kranti, this tune is a clear message made up of scientific nutritional facts. To succeed in this movement will mean working on many dimensions together. We must build an infallible coalition, set high aspirations, and start with small steps. A pictorial depiction of the opportunity and the challenge is given in Figure 3.
Aahaar Kranti was launched on the day of Varsh Pratipada or Vaisakhi, April 13, 2021 by the Minister of Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan, and PRABHASS, and was joined by various central and state government ministries, and government agencies.
Can we request your help and association as we go along in our mission?
*The writer is Convener, Global Indian Scientists and Technocrats (GIST) Forum, USA
