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Count your calories
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It nearly killed Bill Clinton and it could get you. HEMANGINI GUPTA looks at how corporate heavyweights and party animals cope with the onslaught of junk food
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Calorie-laden Indian food can also be as damaging.
ACCESS TO the best health care in the world didn't help. A South Beach diet didn't help. Regular jogs didn't help. And being an ex-U.S. President didn't help 58-year-old Bill Clinton. His arteries were still 90 per cent clogged before he underwent a quadruple bypass after complaining of tightness in the chest and shortness of breath. Just in time, said doctors. If he'd ignored those crucial symptoms, the results could have been catastrophic. Years of indulging a celebrated soft spot for classic junk food — burgers and fries, combined with a hereditary heart condition and famously stressful situations, weighed the odds against him. Accusing fingers point at the deep-fried, cholesterol rich, insta-harmful "convenience" food. Ah, you say. That junk food. All those fast food outlets, all those takeaways... This would never happen here. Or would it?
Indian killers
Indian food isn't always better than burgers and fries. "Red meat is high in cholesterol," says dietician Lisa Sarah John, "followed by cream of milk, butter, ghee, and coconut." Vegetarians might think they're playing it safe by staying off meat, but eating mithai (with proud announcements that it's made with pure ghee) after the meal could be as harmful as a Big Mac meal. Exercise helps, but not if you're not eating right, says Lisa. (Mr. Clinton often confided to his friends that the driving force behind his fitness regimen was just so he could indulge in junk food.) No point if there's no diet control, says Lisa. She points out that one samosa could carry up to 200 calories and walking 20 minutes burns about 100 calories; so you'd really have to walk 40 minutes over what you're already walking to burn one samosa. (More on lisamiraclediet.com.) And that's just the beginning. There are also chips and other snacks rich in oil, besides pickles and fried papads, nuts and mixtures. Quick lesson: party food can kill! On a party night, people tend to cut down on the food they eat through the day, says Lisa. By the time they get to the party, they're so hungry they make straight for the starters. "It's better to eat all day and then have a bowl of curd and salad or a fruit before you head out," she says.
So how do people who party many nights a week cope? Photographer Waseem Khan says he makes it a point not to eat out. "I eat at home by 7:30 p.m., a habit I picked up in Singapore and Australia. You can stay healthy by adhering to a simple philosophy," he says. "If there is a dinner or restaurant opening with a whole lot of items, I might try just one, but for me to eat after 7, it would have to be really fantastic food." And all he drinks is hot water, he says. "People laugh at me, or think I mean whisky, but I really mean just hot water which is the hardest to get at a party." And Waseem says he's increasingly turning towards vegetarianism.
Junk food is often just the most easily available food for busy jet-setting corporate types. Harish Bijoor, CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc., spends a large part of each month travelling and says it's hard to regulate what you eat on travel. "It's the worst in the U.S.," he says. "Afternoon meals at work: everyone invariably says `Let's order pizzas and burgers,' but I try to order yoghurt and plain rice... a combination I've tried to promote in the West. These attempts to popularise thayir saadam are a joke in my London offices now."
He admits though that it is hard to eat healthy on busy working days, and lunch is often replaced by a sandwich/soup/ snack in the evening and it's coffee that keeps him going. "I do sometimes eat junk food because ... it's convenient and not elaborate, so I eat it when I'm eating just to eat; to serve a functional purpose." Lunch breaks are fading out as allotted times for complete meals as corporate managers and other busy professionals work through the day, plodding through meetings and keeping on top of work, pausing to grab a bite only when their stomachs send out desperate SOSs.
Bharathwaj V., Assistant VP, at the BPO 24/7 says: "It's a question of eating at proper times. You tend to get sucked into work, especially when something exciting is happening... you just think you'll have a bite later." He used to do this till his system bore the brunt and now he's trying to carry food from home and makes sure he eats at proper times and eats fruit at night. It was the bout of food-related illness that jolted him into looking carefully at what he ate though, and he agrees that there is a trend toward eating quick junk food, especially when people work hours such as his: 12-14 hours a day.
Food deserts
In the West, the term `food desert' was coined to describe areas with limited access to fresh food. Indian metropolises may not yet be McDonaldised enough to complain about superfluity of burgers and fries — but certainly, junk food is more easily available now than it has ever been before. In fact obesity, largely caused by eating junk food, is a serious public health issue: it has been termed an epidemic by the WHO, and is the main cause for heart disease and a risk factor for diabetes.
If Mr. Bill Clinton, with access to high level healthcare (even his hospital pavilion was one "where patients enjoy carpeted suites and sitting rooms, along with complimentary high tea, food prepared by a gourmet chef and concierge service") was left susceptible to heart disease for so long, less important people may have to watch out that much more to keep themselves safe.
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