Doctors gather in Chennai for a plant-based dinner to emphasise healthy living

Most conferences end with dinner. Appropriately enough, when doctors from the Indian Society for Lifestyle Medicine recently gathered for an annual conference in Chennai, their dinner was whole-food, plant-based, seasonal and organic. In short, the dinner was the message.

The two-day conference focused on creating awareness on the role of lifestyle medicine in preventing, managing and reversing chronic non-communicable diseases. “The executive committee and organising secretaries of the Indian Society of Lifestyle Medicine (ISLM) and a whole lot of physicians from across the globe and India, participated in the various discussions and workshops and presentations at this virtual conference,” says Dr Sheela Nambiar, president, ISLM.

It culminated with a whole food plant based dinner buffet, especially put together for the event at the Leela Palace. Neelima Sriram, city-based food consultant, who specialises in plant based food collaborated with the chefs to create the buffet spread, prepared without oil, sugar, refined and processed products.

“Plant based whole food is loaded with nutrition,” says Neelima, adding that they focused on sourcing local and seasonal fruits and vegetables and organic products to create the menu. which included continental, South and North Indian cuisine. The buffet aimed to prove that food can be imaginative and tasty even without refined, processed and animal sourced products.

“Today we physicians are dealing with a significant rise in non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and cardiac diseases and stroke. When the population is affected, it directly affects the country’s economy and its growth. ISLM’s agenda is to create awareness to the public about the importance of lifestyle changes from the grassroots levels,“ says Dr. Lakshmi.

“Ours is an evidence-based approach, where we work along with our patients, creating a ‘therapeutic alliance’ to prevent, manage and in most cases, reverse non-communicable diseases and promote health-span and not just lifespan,” says Dr Sheela. She adds, “As lifestyle medicine physicians, we are actively engaged in inculcating positive lifestyle behaviours, where food is also medicine.”