As a gastroenterologist, here's what I eat in a day to boost my gut health
As you formulate your own plan, remember that eating a variety of fibre sources – colourful fruits and vegetables, nuts, beans and whole grains – is the best path to a healthy microbiome and overall wellbeing. And choose wisely: Watermelon and iceberg lettuce are cool and hydrating but have hardly any fibre, so try pairing them with higher-fibre fruits and vegetables such as kiwis and peas. Look up the nutrition facts of foods you eat regularly and see where you can optimise the math, such as by adding hummus to your favourite sandwich.
I also use fibre supplements every day: I mix psyllium husk powder into my coffee – and if I'm making pancakes for the family on the weekend, I mix one or two tablespoons of ground flax seeds and ½ cup of rolled oats into the batch. No one notices, and it's a no-brainer way to boost your fibre intake.
Breakfast
I like making overnight oats that I can grab on my way out the door and eat at work. But I don't always remember to prepare them the night before. On those days, I eat a high-fibre cereal (I buy ones with less than 5g to 6g of added sugar). I use oat milk mainly because it stays fresh in the fridge longer than cow's milk, so it's one less thing I have to deal with mentally.
High-fibre cereal is a good breakfast option. Photo / 123RF
Bowl of cereal: 8g of fibre
- 1 cup high-fibre cereal: 6g
- 1 cup oat milk: 2g
Overnight oats. Photo / 123RF
Overnight oats: 8.5g of fibre
- Half a cup rolled oats: 4.5g
- 1 cup oat milk: 2g
- Quarter cup dried cranberries: 2g
Lunch
I tend to eat Indian food that I've cooked for dinners earlier in the week and saved the leftovers for myself. That means lentils, which are loaded with fibre, or saag paneer, which also packs a punch from the spinach. The yumminess of lentils cooked with an appropriately deeply browned onion is very underappreciated. Try my favourite recipe from Madhur Jaffrey for moong dal. Other days, I buy my favourite spicy cashew crispy rice salad.
Brown rice is a good source of fibre. Photo / 123RF
Lentils and brown rice: 7g of fibre
- ½ cup cooked lentils: 5g
- ½ cup cooked brown rice: 2g
Snack
I don't keep chips or crackers in my office – just a big container of roasted cashews. I make it easy for myself because I do genuinely love cashews and not having another option available makes it the only choice if I feel hungry.
Coffee and cashews. Photo / 123rf
Coffee and cashews: 11g of fibre
- 1 cup brewed coffee with 2 teaspoons psyllium husk powder: 9g
- ½ cup cashews: 2g
Dinner
Dinner with my toddlers has to be quick, easy and something we're all going to enjoy because my husband and I don't have time to make everyone separate meals. Luckily, everyone loves pasta. Some days, we use whole wheat or lentil pasta – but not always. Assuming we're just going with refined wheat pasta, here's how the fibre math breaks down for my family favourites.
Spaghetti and Chicken Meatballs. Photo / 123RF
Spaghetti and chicken meatballs: 8.5g of fibre.
- 1 cup refined wheat spaghetti: 2.5g
- ½ cup marinara sauce: 2g
- Chicken meatballs: 0g
- ½ cup peas: 4g
One-skillet gnocchi and Brussels sprouts: 5.5g of fibre
- 1 cup gnocchi: 2g
- 1 cup Brussels sprouts: 3.5g
Dessert
After dinner, we have a tradition where my toddlers use tiny cookie cutters to make fun shapes out of fruit. Usually it's kiwis (which as a gastroenterologist, I'm obsessed with for many reasons) or pears (they use a bear-shaped cookie cutter, and we call them 'bear pears').
Kiwifruit are a great high-fibre fruit. Photo / 123RF
- 2 kiwis: 6g
- 1 pear: 6g
This adds up to around 40G-42g of fibre a day. Even if I skip the occasional extra like psyllium, a snack or dessert – or eat white rice instead of brown rice – I still clock in well above my target of 25g per day.
What I want my patients to know
Suddenly ramping up fibre intake when you're not used to it can sometimes cause an upset stomach or bloating. Go gently and give your body time to adapt – but stick with it! The long-term payoff for your health is worth it.
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As a gastroenterologist, here's what I eat in a day to boost my gut health
So I'm going to walk you through a typical weekday of food for me, offering two options for meals and snacks. (Keep in mind that these fibre estimates can vary depending on the kinds and sizes of the specific foods you choose.) As you formulate your own plan, remember that eating a variety of fibre sources – colourful fruits and vegetables, nuts, beans and whole grains – is the best path to a healthy microbiome and overall wellbeing. And choose wisely: Watermelon and iceberg lettuce are cool and hydrating but have hardly any fibre, so try pairing them with higher-fibre fruits and vegetables such as kiwis and peas. Look up the nutrition facts of foods you eat regularly and see where you can optimise the math, such as by adding hummus to your favourite sandwich. I also use fibre supplements every day: I mix psyllium husk powder into my coffee – and if I'm making pancakes for the family on the weekend, I mix one or two tablespoons of ground flax seeds and ½ cup of rolled oats into the batch. No one notices, and it's a no-brainer way to boost your fibre intake. Breakfast I like making overnight oats that I can grab on my way out the door and eat at work. But I don't always remember to prepare them the night before. On those days, I eat a high-fibre cereal (I buy ones with less than 5g to 6g of added sugar). I use oat milk mainly because it stays fresh in the fridge longer than cow's milk, so it's one less thing I have to deal with mentally. High-fibre cereal is a good breakfast option. Photo / 123RF Bowl of cereal: 8g of fibre - 1 cup high-fibre cereal: 6g - 1 cup oat milk: 2g Overnight oats. Photo / 123RF Overnight oats: 8.5g of fibre - Half a cup rolled oats: 4.5g - 1 cup oat milk: 2g - Quarter cup dried cranberries: 2g Lunch I tend to eat Indian food that I've cooked for dinners earlier in the week and saved the leftovers for myself. That means lentils, which are loaded with fibre, or saag paneer, which also packs a punch from the spinach. The yumminess of lentils cooked with an appropriately deeply browned onion is very underappreciated. Try my favourite recipe from Madhur Jaffrey for moong dal. Other days, I buy my favourite spicy cashew crispy rice salad. Brown rice is a good source of fibre. Photo / 123RF Lentils and brown rice: 7g of fibre - ½ cup cooked lentils: 5g - ½ cup cooked brown rice: 2g Snack I don't keep chips or crackers in my office – just a big container of roasted cashews. I make it easy for myself because I do genuinely love cashews and not having another option available makes it the only choice if I feel hungry. Coffee and cashews. Photo / 123rf Coffee and cashews: 11g of fibre - 1 cup brewed coffee with 2 teaspoons psyllium husk powder: 9g - ½ cup cashews: 2g Dinner Dinner with my toddlers has to be quick, easy and something we're all going to enjoy because my husband and I don't have time to make everyone separate meals. Luckily, everyone loves pasta. Some days, we use whole wheat or lentil pasta – but not always. Assuming we're just going with refined wheat pasta, here's how the fibre math breaks down for my family favourites. Spaghetti and Chicken Meatballs. Photo / 123RF Spaghetti and chicken meatballs: 8.5g of fibre. - 1 cup refined wheat spaghetti: 2.5g - ½ cup marinara sauce: 2g - Chicken meatballs: 0g - ½ cup peas: 4g One-skillet gnocchi and Brussels sprouts: 5.5g of fibre - 1 cup gnocchi: 2g - 1 cup Brussels sprouts: 3.5g Dessert After dinner, we have a tradition where my toddlers use tiny cookie cutters to make fun shapes out of fruit. Usually it's kiwis (which as a gastroenterologist, I'm obsessed with for many reasons) or pears (they use a bear-shaped cookie cutter, and we call them 'bear pears'). Kiwifruit are a great high-fibre fruit. Photo / 123RF - 2 kiwis: 6g - 1 pear: 6g This adds up to around 40G-42g of fibre a day. Even if I skip the occasional extra like psyllium, a snack or dessert – or eat white rice instead of brown rice – I still clock in well above my target of 25g per day. What I want my patients to know Suddenly ramping up fibre intake when you're not used to it can sometimes cause an upset stomach or bloating. Go gently and give your body time to adapt – but stick with it! The long-term payoff for your health is worth it.
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News reports of 1980s show that he was actively campaigning amongst sex workers to encourage them on protecting themselves from sexually transmitted infections including HIV. Noted filmstar Sunit Dutt and several other known personalities had also joined his crusade. Noted journalists Jayashree Shetty and Gopal Shetty have co-authored a 2023 book: "The Blunting Of An Epidemic: A Courageous War On AIDS" chronicling Dr Gilada's tireless and courageous crusade against AIDS for over four decades. First three HIV infections were in sex workers from Mumbai's Kamathipura in 1985 Dr Gilada said: "We were doing active disease surveillance in Mumbai's sex work area, Kamathipura. In December 1985, three of the blood samples drawn from sex workers tested positive for HIV. One of them was a transgender person. I tested them at the Skin and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) Department, JJ Hospital on kits donated by Abbott Laboratories in December 1985. 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In clinical practice, Dr Gilada's first clinical HIV case was of a German national who was referred to him from Goa Medical College in July 1987. He recollects the first Indian national with HIV who came to his clinic - a former sex worker who had stopped sex work in 1979. She was under his medical care but despite best of efforts, she could not be saved and died of AIDS in JJ Hospital. Her postmortem examination confirmed she had HIV and abdominal TB. This was also the first postmortem examination in India of a person positive for HIV. It was done by Dr DN Lanjewar in 1988. Flashback: When first HIV cases were diagnosed in Thailand "I was accidentally involved in HIV/AIDS arena. I am not an infectious disease doctor, but an allergist and clinical immunologist trained in USA. The first patient, an American gay man living in Thailand, was referred to me at King Chulalongkorn Hospital in October 1984 to investigate the cause of his recurrent muco-cutaneous infection. Immunologic investigations revealed that his T-helper cell numbers and T-cell functions were moderately low, but no diagnosis was made. In February 1985 the patient was admitted into the hospital with confirmed diagnosis of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) and his T-cell numbers and functions were further deteriorated. With the diagnosis of PCP and severe T-cell defect, AIDS was diagnosed at that time," said Dr Praphan Phanuphak, a living legend who helped shape Thailand's HIV response since the first few AIDS cases got diagnosed in the land of smiles in 1985. Dr Praphan Phanuphak is a distinguished Professor Emeritus of the Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand. Together with late Professors Joep Lange and David Cooper, Prof Praphan co-founded HIV-NAT (the HIV Netherlands, Australia, Thailand Research Collaboration), Asia's first HIV clinical trials centre in Bangkok in 1996. 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These are the first 3 HIV/AIDS cases diagnosed in Thailand, all in February 1985. With the increasing availability of HIV test in Thailand, more and more patients were diagnosed. This accidentally drove me deeper and deeper into the HIV field, coupled with the fact that there were not very many infectious disease doctors in the early days who were willing to see HIV patients." Way forward towards ending AIDS Dr Phanuphak's and Dr Gilada's lifetime contribution and continuing guidance to shaping HIV responses is commendable. Governments have promised to end AIDS by 2030. Ending AIDS means that all people living with HIV should have viral load undetectable (so that they can live normal healthy lives and there is zero risk of any infection spread from them as per the WHO). In addition, all people in all their diversities, must have access to full range of science-based HIV combination prevention options in a person-centred and rights-based manner. But global AIDS response is slipping and is off the mark. With recent funding cuts, it becomes even more challenging to ensure that HIV response gets on track to end AIDS. But if we are to deliver on the promises enshrined in SDGs and #HealthForAll, then ending AIDS is clearly a human rights imperative. Shobha Shukla – CNS (Citizen News Service) (Shobha Shukla is the award-winning founding Managing Editor and Executive Director of CNS (Citizen News Service) and is a feminist, health and development justice advocate. She is a former senior Physics faculty of prestigious Loreto Convent College and current Coordinator of Asia Pacific Regional Media Alliance for Health and Development (APCAT Media) and Chairperson of Global AMR Media Alliance (GAMA received AMR One Health Emerging Leaders and Outstanding Talents Award 2024). She also coordinates SHE & Rights initiative (Sexual health with equity & rights). Follow her on Twitter @shobha1shukla or read her writings here
