Eatlessness: eating everything but a bit lesser!

The Indian Medical Association (IMA), a body of over 300,000 doctors, wants to sensitise the public to the hazards of sugar, salt and oil, and motivate them to reduce the intake by one spoon of each ingredient, per person per day.

Excessive consumption of salt, sugar and oil has been linked to several life-threatening lifestyle diseases such as obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease.

Nearly 40% of CKD patients are diabetics, while 60% of them have both BP and diabetes, conditions where salt and sugar intake plays a big role.

Oil intake too has been linked to obesity, which in turn could lead to BP and diabetes.

The three ingredients are linked to nearly every major lifestyle disease.

The World Health Organisation prescribes one teaspoon of salt, six to eight teaspoons of sugar, and four teaspoons of oil per person per day. However, the IMA said, the average Indian consumption is a worrisome two to three teaspoons of salt, 16 to 20 teaspoons of sugar, and eight teaspoons of oil per person per day.

Eat all foods but in lesser amounts – the author calls it eatlessness!