Emulate this baby elephant diet for a super healthy life (Book Review)

Book: The Baby Elephant Diet; Author: Ravi Mantha; Publisher: Rupa; Pages: 188; Price: Rs.195

Does the thought of going healthy and shedding extra fat come with shunning your favourite dishes? Or does going healthy make you feel that you should restrict yourself, limit your choices or be austere? Not any more.

Author and health guru Ravi Mantha unlocks many of the modern myths and misconceptions surrounding food and diet and introduces the new concept of healthy life in this book: Eat more.

Mantha emphasises on "Eating Right" instead of starvation or bland food and on quality food rather than the quantity of food.

For him, a healthy lifestyle involves actually eating a lot - with lots of fibre, non- processed and vegetarian food, like a baby elephant that has a lifespan similar to humans.

"One-size-fits-all approach like 'eat a big breakfast' or 'eat six meals a day' are not meant for all as we are not all made the same way," says Mantha, emulating Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar who does not follow any dieting or exercise books and rather has his own set of rules for a healthy life.

The conventional mantra of drinking eight glasses of water a day is another contradiction, he says.

"Listen to your body and drink water when you are thirsty; so do not force yourself to drink water when you are showing no signs of thirst as over-hydration is not good either," he advises.

He comes with new concepts and tips on healthy living which might surprise you or might seem unbelievable to you.

The satiation for your sweet tooth is a poison to your healthy body, the simple truth being "sugar is poison." It can develop diseases like diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, thyroid problems and cancer.

The two-word mantra "avoid sugar" is the topmost secret of achieving good health.

If you can change your diet to avoid sugar in all its myriad forms, ranging from ice-cream to sodas, rice, pasta, wheat, bread, cereals, fruit juices and sweet fruits, you will live a long and healthy life.

"The most important skill for success is self-control, an independent skill that once acquired, translates into every part of lives, not just food," he notes.

This is the right book if you are looking for answers to your health problems like why some people are skinny and others are fat, why some people are able to eat copious amounts of food without any impact on their weight or health, or why exercise makes a significant difference in some people while it does not seem to work at all in others.

Since the baby elephant eats lots and lots of fibre, start your day with a good dose of fibre.

"Food is meant not just for the body, it also nourishes the soul," says the author.

Get to eat when you want and as much you want. You have to be in control of your body and mind and retain the choice to eat even bad foods - although once in a while.

Once you are through with the reading, I believe that you will acquire insights enough to not only enjoy your favourite food but also improve daily food habits.

(Gajal Gupta can be contacted at gajal.g@ians.in <mailto:gajal.g@ians.in>)