Have you ever wondered why potbelly is so common in India? Food has always been an important part of Indians’ lives. Ancient Indian meal was filled with natural, homemade meals filled with nutrition and antioxidants. Then what happened that our waistlines are expanding, leading us towards diseases!
The history of hunger
India’s history is wounded with food scarcity. Events like the Bengal Famine of 1943 led to widespread starvation and malnutrition. Food during that time was not about balance or nutrition but about survival. Children grew up with limited nutrition and a diet lacking essential nutrients. The prolonged undernutrition state didn’t just affect growth nut it also shaped how their body would respond to food for the rest of their life.
Thrifty Phenotype Hypothesis.
When the human body experiences such prolonged undernutrition, it adapts. The body becomes efficient at conserving energy and storing fat quickly when food is available for emergencies.
This adaptation was a lifesaver once, but now it has become a hidden risk for us.
The Turning Point
With the green revolution, food deficiency decreased, hunger reduces but it came with a shift.
- The diet became heavily dependent on rice and wheat.
- Traditional foods like millets and diverse grains declined.
- Meals became more carbohydrate-dense and less nutritionally balanced.
From an active life to a sedentary lifestyle
Modernized India has also become sedentary India. Reduced physical labor, increased processed food, and the enhancement of desk jobs have created the mismatch of our high-calorie diet and low physical activity. For the Indian population, who are already biologically adapted to store fat, this created the perfect condition for abdominal fat accumulation.
We have moved forward from empty plates to a full one, but not necessarily a healthier one. Our ancestors had less, but were healthier. Adding to our current lifestyles, to our wounded, traumatic past of survival, our bodies, which would have recovered by that trauma is buried under a plate full of carbohydrates. We once starved and learned to store; now we are learning how not to store.
Share your views on this: Do you think our history of hunger is still shaping us?
Read more about Thrifty Gene Hypothesis: Thrifty Gene Hypothesis - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics
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