Diabetes is one of the most common disease that has been affecting the young and old.  To mark the occasion of World Diabetes Day, Apollo Sugar Clinics organized Bangalore’s first ever ‘Diabetes Friendly Food Mela’ in the city 13^th Nov’16. As part of its activities, a special recipe book for diabetics was unveiled by the chief guest Mr. Ramalinga Reddy, Minister of Transport, Government of Karnataka.  It was a packed event with parallel live cooking and tasting sessions, health and lifestyle talks by the doctors and a free health check – up camp. This initiative was organized across major cities in India by Apollo Sugar under a national campaign called ‘Eyes on Diabetes’ which is in line with International Diabetes Federation’s initiative to create more awareness on World Diabetes Day every year.

The history of this disease was first captured by Egyptians in early 1500 BCE mentioning ‘too great emptying of the urine’.  The term ‘Diabetes’ was probably coined by Apollonius of Memphis around 250 BC. Diabetes is first recorded in English, in the form diabete, in a medical text written around 1425.  It was in 1675 that Thomas Willis added the word ‘Mellitus’ to the word diabetes. This was because of the sweet taste of the urine, which had been noticed by the ancient Greeks, Chinese, Egyptians, Indians, and Persians as is evident from their literature.  It was not until late 1910, Sir Edward Albert Sharpey-Schafer found that diabetes resulted from lack of insulin.  People with diabetes have high blood glucose, also called high blood sugar or hyperglycaemia.  Starvation was one the most treatment was one of the treatment suggests for people suffering.  Only in 1982 the first biosynthetic human insulin – Humulin – that is identical in chemical structure to human insulin and can be mass produced was approved to market.

During the event, Chef’s from Calorie Kitchen demonstrated some diabetes friendly recipes to audience.  The menu was also demonstrated and recipe book was unveiled which is carefully crafted by team of Apollo Sugar dietitians. The recipes are simple and easy to prepare with a healthy mix of nutrients essential for diabetics and covers light meals and snacks options.

The name of the booked released was ‘D for Delicious – Snack Recipe for Diabetics’.  A special note on the love of food from the book.

“Just like love, food also has universal appeal.  Food bridges distances, wins hearts, creates bonds.  It is a symbol of celebration and happiness.  It is a love strengthens with time and is passed on to generations.”

 They also talk about how little changes in the recipe and ingredients, people with diabetes can continue to enjoy their favourite dishes.  The book is dedicated to all food connoisseurs who are diabetics and non-diabetics.

There are nearly 15 recipes of Veg and Non-Veg that have been captured.  Some of the dishes captured includes – Veg Rolls, Ginger Rice, Ragi Java, Instance min pizza, Green Roti, Steamed Veg Pizza, Seekh Kebab and Chicken Triangles.  Some of the names mentioned above look quite fancy but being a diabetic, people would not able to think of consuming.  But they can follow the recipe to prepare these dishes and relish.

The event had many more activities apart from the unveiling of the book.  People could take free tests followed by food mela.  Some of the tests that were there for people included.

The tests mentioned above are quite critical but people avoid taking them due to lack of awareness or purely due to negligence.  Taking up the tests, lets oneself plan the future going forward and stay healthy.

Apollo Sugar, the centre of excellence for diabetes and endocrine care has 51 clinics located across India and has the largest network of doctors and over 150 dietitians who have successfully catered to over 2 lakh happy and healthy customers. Apollo Sugar focuses on three pillars of holistic care that includes clinical research, technology support and lifestyle modification.

On this occasion Mr. Gagan Bhalla, CEO, Apollo Sagar said, “Apollo Sugar focuses on preventive healthcare. We aim to provide world class diabetes & endocrine care at affordable prices across tier I and tier II cities with our flagship annual program called Sugar 360. As, diabetes is a lifestyle disease, maintaining quality of life is essential and food constitutes a major part in the lives of Indians. As per a recent clinical research conducted by Apollo Sugar, it was found that 65% patients who were enrolled on Sugar 360 could manage their diabetes by taking small and frequent meals and by following diet prescribed by our dietitian.  Therefore, with an intention to create more awareness, we have launched the campaign ‘Eyes on Diabetes’ as part of which we are conducting diabetes food festival across all major cities.  We are thankful to our team of dieticians and associated chefs for putting in their efforts to make this food mela a success.”

Apollo Sugar, Apollo Hospital Group’s flagship chain of innovative single speciality clinics in collaboration with Sanofi, is committed solely to providing world class care for diabetics in India. Apollo Sugar was formally announced on September 30th 2014, by the group. It envisages to be a nationwide movement and one that brings together the government, industry, doctors and consumers in joining hands in the crusade against diabetes. Today, Apollo Sugar has brought in technological advancement by investing in the best-in-class equipment to cater to diagnosing and better managing diabetes and related complications. As an integral part of the Apollo Group that has a thirty years’ legacy of progressing healthcare in India, Apollo Sugar makes unrelenting efforts to transform lives through treatment, empowerment and Tender Loving Care, a hallmark of the Group.

I think this is one of the best initiative taken up by a premium hospital, Apollo Sagar.  The idea of making changes to the existing food-eating habits, with Diabetes seems quite tough.  But try out the recipes mentioned in the book, they would feel a lot happier.  The management of the Apollo Sagar seems to be so much more focussed on ‘Preventive Healthcare’.  Many of the guests also got opportunity to go through some tests, know the current body condition and take preventive action going forward.  I am sure this is an initiative that every other hospital will take.