South Asians - Eat Less

A very interesting conversation with my friend Dr.Roy who told me that the South Asian has been on the starvation mode for centuries. The lands have been ravaged by famines since time immemorial and this has forced people to consume less and hoard grains for the lean season. As a group we have got accustomed to frugal diet for generations with the result that our pancreas secrete minimal insulin to maintain blood sugar levels. But in the last two or three generations the dietary habits of the population has undergone a radical change as the threat of famine receded. South Asians have become gluttonous, consuming large quantities of food as compared to earlier generations. Today their bodies do not secrete enough insulin to maintain normal glucose levels. Combined with the sedentary lives most of them lead, diabetes has assumed the proportions of a pandemic both in South Asia and particularly among the expatriate community living in Europe and US. It would be ideal for the South Asian to return to the frugal dietary habits of his ancestors.