Reinventing India’s carb-heavy diet with protein, indigenous foods

From upma and poha to idlis, parathas and puris, meals across India comprise carbohydrate-rich food, each with its ritual and regional identity. In the northern states wheat is the staple cereal, while the southern and northeastern states prefer rice. India’s food is inextricably intertwined with the cultural and the nutritional.

But increasingly, evidence indicates that these food habits have trapped Indians in a cycle of poor health. The Indian Council of Medical Research-India Diabetes study, published in Nature Medicine in October, quantifies how India’s diets are dangerously imbalanced: across states, over 60% of calories come from carbohydrates, mostly refined rice and wheat, while protein and healthy fats make up only a fraction of the intake about 12%, and animal protein just about 1% of total caloric intake, far below recommended levels.

The conventional food that most Indians eat broadly consisting of refined cereals like white rice and wheat, along with potatoes and added sugars in the form of roti, upma, puri, parathas with vegetables and dal is stripped of diversity that is undermining public health.

This carbohydrate overload correlates strongly with the increase in non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity. The Nature Medicine study found that those consuming the highest proportion of refined carbohydrates had markedly higher odds of developing type...

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