The weight loss journey is unique for everyone and dietary preference plays a significant role. As a practising Dietitian, over the years I have seen global trends like the Mediterranean diet, ketogenic diet, intermittent fasting, and plant-based eating have gained popularity due to their effectiveness in weight loss and overall health. 

Many Indians struggle to adopt popular international dietary habits due to cultural preferences, availability of ingredients and traditional cooking methods. In this blog, I will help you incorporate a global diet into Indian cuisine to achieve effective weight loss. 

Let us start by understanding the Indian cuisine.

The traditional Indian diet is rich in whole grains, legumes, vegetables, and spices. However modern Indian cooking often relies heavily on refined carbohydrates, excessive oil, and sugar. 

Sweet, astringent, spicy, salty, bitter, and sour are six tastes that create a balance in the Indian diet. Every Indian region has a staple food that is distinct from the others, such as wheat from the north and rice from the south. All of this variety aids in providing our bodies with the essential vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants they require.  

It is important to find a balance between traditional cooking and contemporary cooking. 

Mediterranean Diet

The traditional Mediterranean diet mainly emphasises on eating plant-based food like whole grains, nuts, seeds, and healthy fats such as olive oil. It focuses on balanced eating rather than restricting any food group. Many studies have shown that following a Mediterranean diet helps reduce the risk of developing coronary artery disease. Few tips to adapt it to Indian cuisine. 

• Include local and seasonal vegetables like bottle gourd, bitter gourd, and ladies’ fingers. You can replace kale with spinach or amaranth leaves. 
• Include cold-pressed mustard oil or sesame oil in place of olive oil. They are too rich in mono-unsaturated fatty acids. 
• Nuts like almonds and peanuts can be included in the diet. 
• Include millets like jowar, bajra, red rice or unpolished rice as a substitute for quinoa, they are complex carbohydrates and good sources of protein too. 
• Indian staple lentils like masoor dal, rajma, and moong dal can be used instead of beans. 
• You can also include paneer and tofu in the diet to increase your protein intake if you are a vegetarian. Lean meat like chicken, fish and eggs can be included in grilled or boiled form. 
• To make the diet more flavourful and palatable add Indian herbs and spices like cumin, coriander, turmeric, and mint. They have many health-benefiting properties.   
  
  

Ketogenic Diet

This diet restricts the consumption of carbohydrates. The diet consists of high fat, moderate protein and low carb. In a ketogenic diet, the body promotes fat-burning through ketosis and uses fat as its source of energy. 

Following a ketogenic diet in Indian cuisine can be challenging as carbohydrates are a staple nutrient. Don’t worry, there are easy food swaps that you can do:

• Take chapati made of rice flour instead of whole wheat flour. 
• If your staple food is rice, you can switch to cauliflower rice as they are low in carb and calorie.
• Use high-fat food like paneer, coconut oil, ghee, and butter. You can add coconut milk, and coconut milk cream in curries which will give good flavour and taste. 
• For protein-rich, you can include grilled chicken, eggs, seafood, paneer, tofu and soy chunks. 
• Low-calorie zucchini noodles are a great option. 
• Include a lot of vegetables like spinach, broccoli, capsicums, and bean varieties, they are keto-friendly. 
  
  

Intermittent Fasting 

A very popular diet is intermittent fasting with few variations. It follows a cyclic eating and fasting period. It aligns well with our Indian traditions as periodic fasting is already part of our culture.  

To help sustain energy and improve adherence you can follow the:

• Include slow-digesting foods like overnight-soaked oats, sprouts, and chickpeas for sustained energy. You can take buttermilk as it will hydrate you well. 
• Break the fast with easily digestible food like light lentil soup followed by a balanced meal like rice or roti, vegetables and sabzi. 
• Drink plenty of water. You can also drink mint, lemon or cucumber-infused water to have an extra flavour. 
  
  

Plant-based Indian meals

Diet solely focuses on plant-based options and excludes animal products. 

• Includes dals, chana, rajma and sprouted beans, it can be added to dishes like sambar, rasam, sabzi or even snacks like bhel puri and other chaat items. 
• Flours made from millet enhance nutritional value. It can be incorporated in rotis, dosa, idli and even in making pizza base and pasta. 
• Plant-based milk like oats, almonds, coconuts and soy can be used in caries and adds flavours too. 
• Replace fried snacks with roasted gram, spiced makhanas, or fruit-based snacks. 
• You can make colourful salads using vegetables like cucumber, carrots, and seasonal greens. You can also add chaat masala and other spices. 
  
  

Anti-inflammatory diet

The recently popularised diet is the anti-inflammatory diet that focuses on eliminating and reducing the inflammation in the body caused by exposure to environmental toxins, viral infection, unhealthy dietary habits and ageing or chronic stress. 

Indian cuisine has many foods that have anti-inflammatory properties, they are often referred to as superfoods.  

Food rich in omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin C, polyphenols, probiotics, and antioxidants helps in reducing inflammation. 

Common ingredients that are easily available in your kitchen like turmeric, ginger, garlic, green leafy vegetables and herbal teas have many anti-inflammatory effects on the body. 

But, remember..

Adopting different diet trends is not just about food choices but also how you eat. Serve small portions using small ladles. Be mindful of what you are eating and chew well to aid digestion and promote satiety. Make sure you have a proper eating schedule with natural circadian rhythms to maximise digestion and metabolism. 

Following different diet trends can also be expensive, opt for affordable, local and seasonal foods. To make your food more palatable use Indian spices and condiments. Also, it is important to personalise diet plans based on your needs, health conditions, activity level and preferences. Some diets may work and some may not. 

To have sustainable weight loss for the long term, get help from a professional dietitian who can tailor your meals to your unique requirements while ensuring sustainability. The key to success lies in consistency, portion control, and a holistic lifestyle approach that includes regular physical activity and stress management. 


Kripa N
Senior Clinical Dietitian, Simplyweight