From French fries and coke to salads and soups, Bangaloreans have started to become more health conscious. Eating right and exercise have become a way of life for many people.
“I have started to eat Barley and salads ,” says Vidhya Milay, an employee of Dell. “Most of my colleagues don’t get it, but I think it’s important to eat right.”
Rishab Kapoor, a student at Christ Junior College values healthy eating. He eats ragi, along with sambar and curd, every alternate day, with wheat pastas and brown bread on other days. According to him, even though this diet doesn’t taste as good as “normal food”, he needs to stay fit and this diet is necessary for that.
While Milay and Kapoor feel it is important to include healthy food in their diet, Anushka Rao, a homemaker feels differently. “I don’t think I need to eat food I dislike, to stay healthy and fit. My metabolism rate is high anyway, so I eat cheese and cutlets all the time.”
But nowadays, a lot of restaurants are trying to maintain a balance so their customers stay healthy, while the food remains tasty. Chefs have started to include fat-free items in their menus, reduce amounts of oil and take steps to eliminate maida and MSG. One such restaurant is Sattvam , in Sadashivanagar, which only serves Sattvic food. It is purely vegetarian and Jain friendly, as the chefs do not add any onions, garlic or mushrooms in their food. “I believe the food we make is healthy, as we add less oil and ghee and the food is light as well. We do not serve carbonated drinks, and serve pure drinking water,” says Chef Tej Shing. “The owners envisage the restaurant as a place where one could not only get vegetarian food, but food was healthy and we have managed to do justice ,” added another employee .
This trend is not only developing in people’s homes and restaurants, but is catching on in workplaces as well.
Arogya World is a global health non-profit organization working to prevent non-communicable diseases, through health education and lifestyle change. They have awarded companies like iGate, GE Healthcare, and Myntra Designs , for being Healthy Workspaces. In addition, Arogya World also offers Healthy Workplaces innovative mHealth and diabetes prevention programmes .
Arogya World is now collaborating with i-Tiffin ,a company that sells nutritious and balanced meals, to expand their reach into the corporate world and serve their employees nutritious food.
“We started the initiative to prevent chronic diseases, by leveraging the workplace where people spend so much of their day. We can influence the way people eat by influencing the meals that are available to them in the workplace. It is a good platform to influence good eating behaviour. The collaboration with i-Tiffin is very important ,” says Nalini Saligram, CEO and Founder of Arogya World. “80 percent of heart disease cases, 80 percent of diabetics cases and 40 percent of cancer is preventable with three lifestyle changes- avoiding tobacco, eating healthy food and increase of physical activity, according to WHO. That’s at the core of what we’re trying to do, because all these diseases are preventable with lifestyle changes.”
With all of these steps being taken by the people, one can truly say, our city is on its way to a healthier, fitter and better life.
