Day 1 :
Keynote Forum
Mahendra Shah
Zen Resort Bali, Indonesia
Keynote: The 21st century obesity imperative for healthy eating and sustainable lifestyles
Time : 09:50-10:50
Biography:
Mahendra Shah has more than 40 years of professional experience in academia at University of Nairobi and University of Cambridge, United Nations organizations and agencies such as FAO, WFP, UNDP, etc. and the World Bank and international scientific and policy research institutes like International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). His professional work is concerned with food security, nutrition and health, sustainable agricultural development and international trade, sustainable development, climate change and international negotiations. In the private sector, since 2004, he is the Founder and President-Director of Zen Resort Bali, where the vision is to create holistic wellness systems where guests experience the knowledge and means to achieving personal harmony with their body, mind and spirit through healthy nutrition and diet in combination with Ayurveda therapy, yoga, meditation, pranayama and holiday recreational activities as well as emotional healing.
Abstract:
In the 21st century, the escalating worldwide adoption of modern lifestyles; often characterized by unhealthy food habits, especially overeating, in combination with inadequate physical, psychological and spiritual balanced exercises, stress at home, stress at work and living in an increasingly polluting environment, is resulting in widespread ailments and diseases, including obesity and diabetes, depression and mental stress, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases and more. The scale of this healthcare burdens is such that we simply may not have the time and resources to confront and overcome this emerging crisis. Whilst philosophically Hippocrates oath of modern medicine and the Ayurveda oath of traditional medicine have much in common, integrating modern and traditional healthcare systems is an imperative to confront the 21st century ailments and diseases of modern lifestyles. The vast knowledge of modern and traditional medicine from around the world needs to be combined, recognizing that a human being is a whole living organism rather than merely a combination of parts, systems and symptoms. The challenge here is to deliver the right mix of preventive, restorative and curative care to enhance and balance body, mind and spiritual health. Recalling, “food is thy medicine, thy medicine is food”, we cannot go on consuming unhealthy food and do too little exercise - physical, mental and spiritually balanced and in doing so hoping to prevent and cure the overeating lifestyle disorders of obesity and diabetes. We will present a brief review of the modern medical approach to treatments of overweight and obesity in the context of the 21st century health challenges as more and more people adopt unhealthy lifestyles, which are the main driver of the doubling of overweight children, adolescents and adults in many countries. We will put into perspective the critical preventive role and relevance of traditional medicine, specifically Ayurveda, yoga, pranayama, meditation and naturopathy in confronting the obesity challenges. We will conclude presenting our experiences of developing practical holistic wellness systems, relevant to the treatment of overweight and obesity through healthy nutrition and diet and detox in combination with integrated Ayurveda, yoga, meditation, pranayama and recreational activities as well as emotional wellbeing. Examples of practical innovations developed at Zen and relevant to treatment of overweight and obesity including dosha balanced food consumption and diet and Zenchi; a physically, mentally and spiritually balanced exercise regime.
Keynote Forum
Ujjwala Baxi
Poshan-Cure thru Diet, Singapore
Keynote: Balanced diet vs. trending fad diets
Time : 11:10-12:10
Biography:
Ujjwala Baxi is a Registered Dietitian and Diabetes Educator, has been in the health industry since 11 years. She has helped thousands of people around the globe achieve optimum health and weight, look younger, feel better and transform their lives through balanced diet and lifestyle management with long term results. She has also healed individuals with varied health complications such as diabetes, renal disorders, cancer, hormonal disorders, etc. in hospitals and clinic. In Singapore, she is a Health Promotion Board Youth Ambassador and an Accredited Nutritionist by Singapore Nutrition and Dietetics Association (SNDA). She actively promotes wellness through her talks, workshops and consultations to name a few.
Abstract:
With the recent trends of high protein, low fat diets or even high fat diets getting popularity among health coaches and dieters to becoming an epidemic, carbohydrates, the once considered prominent feature of a healthy plate, seem to have been losing its importance. Carbohydrates are the body’s main source of energy and restricting them excessively can cause hypoglycemia with impeded brain functioning, loss of coordination, loss of muscle, weakness, fatigue and excessive sweating. Restricting carbohydrates consequently restricts fiber which helps the body digest food, so without it, a person can become constipated and susceptible to infections in the digestive tract. An unhealthy, restrictive diet can also cause deficiencies in calcium, which can lead to loss of bone mass and joint problems. Restrictive dieting can cause adrenal fatigue. The adrenal glands secrete hormones that respond to a person’s emotional, physical and psychological environments. With too much stress from these environments, such as prolonged over-exercising or restrictive and extreme dieting, the adrenals can no longer compensate for the stress and become fatigued. The release of adrenal hormones is decreased, which affects energy levels, mood, cardiovascular systems, sex drive, and metabolism. Stressors of any kind add up and take a major toll on the body’s functioning. A poor diet is a stressor because the body cannot get the proper nutrients it needs to flourish. These kinds of fat diets which emphasize only on certain food groups and promote ditching others, have led to disruption of the healthy pyramid with their sustainability being questionable. As healthcare professionals, it thus becomes our duty to create awareness about the protein sparing action of carbohydrates, the glycemic index and glycemic load of various carbohydrate foods which can aid in obesity management and make it a more sustainable one. More so, emphasizing on the total nutrition profile of a meal rather than just calories as a key.