Background The global obesity crisis has traditionally been focused on body weight and body mass index (aka BMI) rather than body shape and composition. Weight and BMI are blunt tools that can identify more obvious health risks, but unfortunately they miss the more subtle manifestations of dangerous and often hidden visceral adipose tissue (aka “VAT”). VAT, unlike subcutaneous adipose tissue (aka “SAT”), is actually quite hidden in particular ethnic groups like South Asians/Indians and East Asians. These are typically folks who come into our clinic looking quite slender with a normal or even low BMI, but metabolic testing typically reveals signs of hidden VAT such as high triglycerides, low HDL (good cholesterol), elevated liver function tests (sign of fatty liver), and elevated inflammatory markers like hsCRP (highly sensitive C-reactive protein). They typically have slender arms and legs and a slight to moderate protrusion in the belly region. Family members and…
Read MoreA Condensed Guide to My Book for Those With Little Time
FEEDBACK SO FAR I’ve had overwhelming feedback so far from book readers globally about the remarkable improvements in health they have experienced and how they have been inspired by the case studies which they connected with. Despite the title, folks from all ethnic backgrounds (South Asian, East Asian, Western, etc.) have found the content useful. My goal was not just to overwhelm readers with scientific and nutrition information, but to also tell stories that readers could connect to and gain inspiration from. I’ve had physicians successfully use the principles in the book as well to make game-changing improvements in the lives of their patients. A CONDENSED GUIDE TO MY BOOK One challenge some patients and readers have echoed is the length of my book and how they wish they could get their friend, spouse, etc. to consume key content and benefit immediately. The good news is I’m working on that…
Read MoreDon’t Neglect Your Kidneys!
I’ve lectured and written a lot about the heart and the brain over the years, but I regret that I haven’t focused enough attention on the kidneys. In honor of March being National Kidney month, I joined up with the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) to contribute this post. Among the various patients I see in my practice, those with chronic kidney disease are some of the sickest, most debilitated patients who require high levels of intensive care and monitoring. Often family members have to regularly take time off work to transport kidney patients for procedures like dialysis or for frequent blood tests. The tragedy is that most of these cases could have been prevented. Let’s first gain a better understanding of what the kidneys do and how we can screen for problems, and then we’ll discuss why kidney disease is so common in South Asians. KIDNEY 101 Where are your…
Read MoreThe Book Is Finally Here!
After what seems like an eternity, my book has finally arrived! Check out the video below and read the book summary so you get a good idea of what this book covers. It feels so rewarding to share all of the experience and success stories from my consult practice and corporate health education and wellness programs in one book. This information is geared both for readers who are struggling to achieve optimal health and body composition, and for physicians and health/fitness professionals who are having difficulty getting their patients from diverse cultural backgrounds to reduce risk through lifestyle changes. The South Asian Health Solution is the first book to provide an ancestral health-based wellness plan culturally tailored for those of South Asian ancestry living in India, the United States and across the world – a population identified as being at the highest risk for heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and…
Read MoreMetabolic Syndrome: What Cholesterol Guidelines Should Really Focus on
Background I recently had the opportunity to meet a medical hero of mine at the Stanford University faculty club. Gerald “Jerry” Reaven is the renown endocrinologist and researcher (pictured with me) who coined the term metabolic syndrome and is author of Syndrome X: The Silent Killer. I owe him my life given that his metabolic syndrome criteria helped identify my own underlying risk for heart disease and chronic disease. Something the cholesterol guidelines and archaic Framingham risk calculator (old version and newer version) would have missed. See my prior post on the new guidelines. His research has also inspired me to devote my medical practice to the care of high risk Asian Indians and now even East Asians who are plagued by an epidemic of insulin resistance characterized by metabolic syndrome. Global heart disease is predominantly driven by metabolic syndrome, an insulin resistant condition which has nothing to do with the LDL result you…
Read MoreInsulin: The Primary Reason South Asians Are High Risk
Introduction If someone were to ask me to answer in one word the primary reason South Asians have a high risk of heart disease, diabetes, excess body fat, fatigue, and a number of other health conditions…my answer would be insulin. Insulin is the hormone wreaking havoc on my South Asian patients. In fact if there is one critical scientific concept I would want you to take away from reading this blog or my book, it would be the role of insulin in your body. I’m going to explain insulin at the most basic level since the majority of my patients and lecture attendees are not familiar with this. For those of you who find this information too basic, I assure you that future posts will expand on insulin in more detail so you will soon become an expert in this area. Understanding insulin will help explain why the rice or…
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