Indian cuisine is known for its use of fatty dairy products—milk, ghee, and various cheeses. And now the country’s National Dairy Development Board is launching Mission Milk. It wants to double India's milk production over the next decade. That means more obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. But PCRM’s Kickstart India that begins June 4 can reverse the ravages of dairy, meat, and Western fast food.
Mission Milk isn’t the only attempt to wreck India’s health. Restaurants serving high-fat, high-cholesterol Western meals are rapidly taking over. Yum Restaurants India—which owns KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell—plans to more than double its restaurants from 400 to 1,000 by 2015. And Wendy’s, Arby’s, Carvel Ice Cream, Dunkin Donuts, Applebee’s, Moe's Southwest Grill, and Starbucks all have plans to open in India.
This Westernization of Indian diets wreaks havoc on the country’s health. The Indian Heart Watch (IHW) study recently found that the risk for heart disease is now higher in India than in the United States. Why? The study found that 51 percent of men and 48 percent of women have high-fat diets. Sixty percent of men and 57 percent of women have a low intake of fruit and vegetables. Forty-one percent of men and 45 percent of women are overweight or obese.
Kickstart India can help reverse this trend. It enables participants to “test-drive” a healthy vegan diet for 21 days and experience significant health benefits, including lowered blood pressure, improved cholesterol, weight loss, and in some cases, elimination of chronic pain.
Our next Kickstart begins June 4 and will attract thousands of participants in both India and the United States with healthy, low-fat versions of popular Indian recipes. Best of all, Kickstarters get nutrition tips from doctors, dietitians, and a galaxy of Bollywood and Hollywood movie stars, including Mallika Sherawat, Alicia Silverstone, Jackie Shroff, Amala Akkineni, and Celina Jaitley.
Kickstarters receive 21 days of online support, menus, recipes, shopping guides, expert advice, and celebrity tips and encouragement, as well as discussion boards and opportunities to connect with physicians and registered dietitians.
To start receiving your daily Kickstart e-mail messages on June 4, register at 21DayKickstartIndia.org. And please be sure to share this link with anyone you know in India.
