So I had turned 41 and was not feeling any catharsis, save the intermittent sinking of spirits that's a natural accompaniment to any hospital environs. My mom Sarada had just been diagnosed with diabetes and i faced with the prospect of being one by genetic endowment, if not by habits and lifestyle.
The year was 2011. A short hospital stay and a discharge slip that sent us straight to the nutritionist, was nothing short of life changing. Dr Usha, the nutritionist very sweetly tried to get Amma excited about the one eight of a teaspoon of sugar that she could add to her morning cuppa' . Amma nonchalantly slipped in that she was quite okay with doing away with the sugary routine, her main concern was whether dark chocolate could remain an occasional indulgence. As i shot off our food habits,Usha beamed and then looked on disparagingly. Half an hour later, she put out the doctor's orders. While some solace, they also hurt.
We were by and large eating right, had great control on oil and fat and our vegetable intake was definitely praiseworthy. We ate when we were hungry, a movie or a cricket match could keep us hooked for hours, snacks pandering to hunger pangs and dinner cooked at leisure and sometimes well past midnight ! My life as a freelance writer afforded us all the opportunities to be laidback and undisciplined and there were no rules really. We ate thrice and we ate really hearty and that was an absolute NO,from now on ! The Nair household said bye bye to heartiness and ushered in 'small' and 'frequent'. Our culinary vocabulary and demeanour underwent a magical transformation and its perhaps one that a lot many would have been faced with,given the popularity of diabetes in India.
So it was an overhaul of attitudes, mind blocks and schedules. And in the days ahead, we went from being really merry women to being merrier....and incredibly innovative in the kitchen.
I cannot recall our kitchen being as colourful a space, as it has been the last five years. The rules were now a Bible and we were on a six meal regimen that included fruits, vegetables, whole grains , nuts and seeds, proteins and good fats. Mornings and afternoons were packed with carbohydrates and whole grains while proteins were the mainstay of the evenings. Food from every part of the world enticed our minds and palates and we opened ourselves up to tastes and textures unknown.
My blog will be a journey and a peek into our minds and our kitchen and i will be sharing with you, my experiments with cuisine, food and the palate. And yes.....in nutrition.
