Hyderabad-based Shailaja Menon was diagnosed with early CKD & her husband was on 7 diabetes medicines.

Shailaja Menon, a professor of language and literacy, was diagnosed with early CKD. No one, not even her nephrologist expected the amazing results she experienced with SHARAN.

“In mid-2016, I came across the ground-breaking book by Dr Colin Campbell, ‘The China Study’. Inspired by its arguments against animal protein in the human diet, I became vegan for a year. During this time, I found myself under a lot of social pressure to consume dairy, even from my regular doctor who felt that a woman of my age needed dairy to meet her daily calcium requirements. After one year of trying veganism, I reverted to an omnivorous diet by mid-2017.

However, in early 2018, I was diagnosed with early stage Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), marked by protein in the urine, slightly decreased kidney functioning, and elevated creatinine levels in the blood. My BP was pushing the upper limits of normal (130/90). My nephrologist advised me to lose 5 kgs to better manage my blood pressure without medications.

Western medicine has no cure for this progressive disease. So, I did my own research, and came across Dr Nandita Shah’s work. I contacted her, and by the end of February 2018, I was on a whole foods plant-based diet. To my joy, my husband, who has been a diabetic for over 10 years, decided to join me on the diet, giving me support within the family. At that time, he was taking a cocktail of seven tablets per day for his diabetes, and his sugar was still not under control. He was planning to speak to his doctor about reviewing and increasing his medications.

Our medical problems started resolving in front of our eyes within a matter of weeks of starting the new diet. Every morning, my husband would report that his sugar was lower than it had been the day before! In coordination with his doctor, he started lowering his medications, until they were down to two minimal dosages a day. Within two-three weeks of starting the diet, there was no protein in my urine, and within five-six weeks, creatinine levels had normalised, and kidney functioning had become not just normal, but fairly excellent. My BP stabilised. Weight started melting off both our bodies, such that we lost over 8 kgs each in under three months. When I went to see my nephrologist (a highly qualified professional) for my three-monthly check-up, his jaw literally dropped in amazement. He said that he had never seen such dramatic BP changes (without medication) in such a short period of time. And while he could understand that the disease had not progressed, he had not expected to see my kidney functioning getting better over time. He asked me what I had done to effect the change, and promised to inform other patients of the same.

I should mention that this was an entirely different experience for me than my earlier year of veganism. At that point, being ‘vegan’ meant eliminating meat and dairy from my diet. It was defined by what not to eat. But the new diet was all about what to eat, rather than what not to eat. Yes, of course, meat and dairy were eliminated. But, in its place came a wonderful emphasis on delicious whole foods, plant-based nutrition. I found that I took naturally to the green smoothies, salads and whole grains, and felt nourished and sustained by my new diet. The food was actually delicious. This, along with our medical test results, helped me withstand the larger social pressure (at work and within the extended family) that viewed our diet as restrictive and radical. We would point out that it was more radical to undergo procedures like amputating limbs (due to diabetes) or undergo dialysis than to eat as we were eating, that it was more radical to eat ‘food-like’ substances at fast food chains than to eat ‘real’ food that is actually meant to be eaten.

Today, I would wholeheartedly recommend this approach to any person seeking to live a healthy/ethical/environmentally conscious lifestyle. Even as you regain your health on this diet, your perspective about what is ‘normal’ will shift – this has been a huge gain for me on my journey with SHARAN!” – Shailaja Menon, Hyderabad

Dairy & sugar are highly detrimental to our health; however, we needn’t miss our favourites. All we need to do is work on replacements. So we are not stopping milk and sugar, we are replacing them with healthier options. Try out this delicious recipe and you will surely bless us:)

Ingredients

• ½ cup raw whole unpolished rice
• 1 cup grated coconut or 10 cashew nuts/ almonds, soaked for 8 hours
• 10-12 seeded black dates
• 3 cups water, as needed
• ¼ tsp green cardamom (elaichi) powder
• 8-10 almonds, slivered

Method

Cook the rice with double the amount of water in a pressure cooker for 1 whistle and 10 minutes on simmer. Grind one cup grated coconut or almonds and 10 dates into a smooth paste with 2 cups water. In a heavy bottomed deep pan, add the paste and rice and mix well. Add remaining water and boil to a liquid form. Add cardamom powder. Cook for about five minutes. Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with slivered almonds.

Serves 6

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