FAQ

No, simplicity is the way to the success of the programme. All the ingredients recommended are easily available. I plan a customized diet where understanding your food preference and the availability in your local market is taken care of.

Variety is the key aspect of the diet and there are options galore to suit your taste, fitness level and lifestyle. While focusing on a few basic necessities, the variations in the plan ensure that you will never feel bored or tired of the same old food.

Flexibility is built into the programme, as it recognizes that while discipline and motivation are essential, rigidity is the enemy of perseverance and success. The programme, therefore, provides for alternatives to situations. Proactive and recovery plans are suggested for weddings and family celebrations, vacations tours and business travel.

With the healthy eating programme, you will have enough tasty delicious options and relaxed eating days so your will power won’t be challenged as often as you fear.

My diet has been designed for the modern way of life that involves travel, long hours working away from home, and schedules that can change at a moment’s notice. The diet plans can be modified and changed to suit most situations with a specific recommendation for food that is available in the restaurants.

Genes do play a major role in determining your physical characteristics and your prosperity and tendency to suffer from a particular disease such as diabetics or cardiac disease but so do lifestyle and individual choices. You cannot change your genetic makeup but you can change the choices you make to counteract the impact of your genes on your health.

The diet plans, food and activities are designed to activate your metabolism so you burn more energy than you consume.

Your local kiranawala and bhajiwala are the main source of your food while on this diet. No imported, exotic foods are required. Your grocery list will include Whole grains, pulses, milk, yogurt and plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Far from sagging or dull skin, you will find your face glows with good health, your body will be firmer and more toned up. The food and exercise plans ensure that you lose weight, build muscle and have plenty of energy, which in turn will make you more self-confident and improve your body image. And the compliments will come pouring in.

Weight and risk of type 2 diabetes are clearly linked. The reason for this is principally because the likelihood of having insulin resistance, a major causative factor for type 2 diabetes increases as weight rises. Very physically active individuals who are overweight or obese by usual standards may be at little increased risk due to the protective effect of exercise.

The most important aspect of any diet to prevent type 2 diabetes is its calorie (i.e., energy) content. If calorie intake exceeds calorie usage, then the excess calories will, in the absence of other modifying factors, be directed toward the body’s energy storage compartment, which is, of course, the fat tissue. Therefore, a diet that matches calorie consumption with output is the key to prevention of overweight and obesity and therefore diabetes.

Aside from the direct consequences of high blood sugar itself, which are people with diabetes are at risk of suffering from other associated diseases. In the case of type 1 diabetes, the person is more likely to suffer from adrenal gland damage (Addison’s disease), thyroid gland damage (Graves’ or, much more commonly, Hashimoto’s disease), and several other disorders. In the case of type 2 diabetes, the other diseases appear to be independent, but related. In other words, they and the diabetes arise from a common soil in the affected person’s metabolic makeup. These related diseases include cholesterol and other blood fat abnormalities (dyslipidemia), high blood pressure (hypertension), and gout.

Besides excess weight, hereditary risk, and lack of exercise, another factor that can increase the risk of developing diabetes is the use of certain medications. Among these medications, the type associated most strongly with increased risk are the steroids (also called glucocorticoids), whose members include prednisone, methylprednisolone, hydrocortisone, and dexamethasone.

The frequency with which you should be checked for diabetes depends upon your degree of risk, your age, and lifestyle factors.

If you are young (younger than 30), physically active, and lean, then you are not at high risk and regular screening is not necessary. As you get older, especially if you get more sedentary and gain weight, as most of us do, then regular screening is advisable. Since screening for diabetes with a fasting or random blood glucose measurement is rapid and inexpensive, there is no reason not to perform it at least annually in individuals at high risk and every 2 to 3 years in those at lesser, but still significant, risk. In general, all pregnant women should be screened for gestational diabetes between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy.

This is a partial truth. Type 2 diabetes has a strong genetic link but genes are often dormant (not dominant). They activate only when diet, lifestyle, and Stress switch them on. These genes can be switched off once you change your diet, lifestyle, and stress levels!