Late night snacks, lockdown cravings keep nutritionists busy

Chennai

To give people a better understanding of this, the city’s popular nutritionists have been hosting free online classes on similar topics. And in no time, such classes have become a favourite for many. Sports and preventive health nutritionist with 20 years of experience, Shiny has been hosting online sessions that covers different topics related to health and nutrition. “Since my clinic is shut down because of the lockdown, it was my husband who suggested to make use of social media. I started doing Insta live sessions from April onwards. I have covered a vast variety of topics including diet & well-being, weight loss, eating right, fasting (pros & cons), keto & paleo diets, bodyweight management, food cravings, foods to nourish skin, clean eating with seasonal superfoods and so on. Initially, it was solo sessions where I discuss everything related to food and health. Later, I thought it would be even better if I can get experts from similar fields to join the conversations. It’s a one-hour session - first half-hour, we will be talking about a topic and the next half hour, the viewers can shoot their questions. If any questions aren’t answered, people send me direct messages as soon as the session is over,” says Shiny Surendran.

She points out that usually consulting a nutritionist is an expensive affair and many cannot afford it. “There are a lot of things going in everyone’s life and mind during the lockdown. I wanted my classes to be beneficial and that’s why I am not charging any money. That said, some need handlholding and professional guidelines. One best thing about Insta live is that people from any part of the globe can be part of it. I did a session on food intolerance and suggested some tips on that. A month later, a person from Australia texted me saying he followed the guidelines and his health is better now. As a professional, this is a gratifying experience,” shares the nutritionist.

After getting to know about Shiny’s live sessions, many experts from fitness and wellness fields reached out to her expressing their willingness to be part of the conversation. “This also connects a large network of people. Later, if anyone wants advice on certain topics, they can get in touch with these experts.”

Nutritionist Divya Purushotham observes that the willingness to learn is more now. “I do live sessions on Instagram, Google meet and Zoom. Not only adults, but even students are showing interest to participate and learn about food and health. I even did a one-month long internship programme for some candidates. I have to do a lot of research before presenting any topics,” says Divya.