These are the basics, set out plainly. None of it is exotic and all of it matters more than the exotic things do.
Protein builds and repairs everything structural — muscle, enzymes, antibodies, hair, skin. Most adults need roughly 0.8 to 1 gram per kilogram of body weight per day, more if you are elderly, recovering from illness, or doing heavy physical work. Vegetarian sources: dal, rajma, chana, soya, paneer, curd, milk, peanuts, almonds, sesame, pumpkin seeds. Combining cereals with pulses across the day — the ordinary Indian pattern of dal and rice — supplies the full range of amino acids.
The body's main fuel. What matters is the form. Whole grains, millets, pulses, vegetables and fruit release their energy slowly and bring fibre with them. Refined flour, polished rice and sugar release it fast and bring nothing. India has a very high burden of type 2 diabetes, and the shift from millets and whole grains to refined carbohydrate is part of that story. Bringing back jowar, bajra, ragi and whole wheat is one of the most useful single changes available.
Fat is necessary — for cell membranes, hormones, and for absorbing vitamins A, D, E and K. Cold-pressed groundnut, mustard, sesame and coconut oil are traditional and sound. Nuts and seeds are excellent. Ghee in moderation has a long place in Indian cooking and does not deserve its recent reputation. What is genuinely worth avoiding is repeatedly reheated frying oil and industrially hydrogenated fat.
Best obtained from a varied diet rather than a bottle. The ones worth attention in India: vitamin D, where deficiency is remarkably widespread despite the sunshine, largely because people avoid the sun; B12, essential for vegetarians as described above; and vitamin A, abundant in the orange and dark green vegetables that are cheap and everywhere.
Calcium for bone, from milk, curd, sesame, ragi and green leaves. Iron for blood, from green leafy vegetables, jaggery, dates and pulses — taken with something sour. Iodine, which is why iodised salt matters. Magnesium, potassium and zinc from whole foods generally. Anaemia is very common among Indian women and is worth testing for rather than guessing at.
Fibre feeds the gut and keeps elimination regular. Fruit is best eaten whole rather than juiced — juicing removes the fibre and leaves the sugar. Local and seasonal fruit is better and cheaper than imported: guava, papaya, amla, banana, jamun, ber, mango in season.
This site is a personal account and a record of traditional practice, shared for information. It is not medical advice, not a diagnosis, and not a treatment for any disease. I am not a doctor.
If you are unwell — and especially if you have a serious illness such as cancer, diabetes or heart disease — please stay under the care of a qualified physician. Nothing here should replace or delay that care.