“Our grandparents called it food. Corporates now sell it back to us as superfood”

In just 50–60 years, India’s food habits have been reshaped — not by health, but by corporate marketing. A country which had thrived on local healthy food has been forced to move to unhealthy and often expensive substitutes by marketing it as healthy.

🔸 Cooking oils: Cold-pressed mustard, groundnut, sesame, and coconut oils — rich in natural nutrients — were replaced by refined oils and vanaspati (Dalda). Refining strips oils of antioxidants, and vanaspati introduced harmful trans fats linked to heart disease.

🔸 Ghee challenged: Once central to Indian diets, ghee was marketed as “old-fashioned” and replaced by cheaper hydrogenated substitutes.

🔸 Grains: Millets and unpolished rice gave way to polished rice and refined wheat.
🔸 Packaged foods: Traditional breakfasts like poha or idli were sidelined by sugary cereals (often 30–40% sugar) backed by heavy advertising.

What’s the outcome?
• India now has 100+ million diabetics (IDF 2023).
• Childhood obesity is growing at 8–10% annually.
• By 2030, lifestyle diseases will cause 3 out of 4 deaths in India (WHO).

The irony? What our grandparents ate — ghee, cold-pressed oils, millets, fermented foods — is being rebranded today as “superfoods.”

🌱 The revival has begun: the UN declared 2023 the International Year of Millets, organic and cold-pressed oils are back in demand, and awareness of traditional diets is rising.

Reclaiming India’s food wisdom isn’t nostalgia — it’s a public health necessity.