
Ayurveda helped overweight woman shed the kilos, regain health and balance; a good thing too – researchers link obesity to premature ageing
- Nomita Hathiramani’s weight rose steadily when she was a teen. Years of crash dieting left her weak and ill. Ayurveda restored balance to her diet and her life
- Had it not, she thinks she would have grown bigger and had weight-related health issues – obesity causes early onset of life-altering diseases, a study shows
Nomita Hathiramani was at her heaviest when she was just 17 years old. Hormonal issues and sugar cravings saw her tip the scales at 68kg (150 pounds) and she was convinced she was destined to be a “big girl”.
“Growing up in Hong Kong and going to a British school, I felt pressure to look a certain way, and being overweight didn’t help,” says Hathiramani, who was born in Mumbai, India, and moved to Hong Kong at the age of one.

Hathiramani lost about 20kg in the first year and maintained this weight loss for the next four years. She was no longer a “big girl” – but her health and skin were in bad shape. Then, between the ages of 22 and 23, she slowly regained 10kg.
It didn’t help that she was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS, at the age of 22. “I was told that women with PCOS might have insulin resistance, so their cells can’t respond properly to insulin, which is an important hormone for regulating blood sugar.”
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Her harsh dieting had weakened the agni, or digestive fire, and lessened its ability to detoxify efficiently, which led to the skin breakouts, hormone imbalances and weight gain, her Ayurvedic practitioner said.
“Ayurveda also taught me the importance of balance and that I didn’t have to take drastic measures to lose weight,” she says. She started eating “healing” foods that were full of fibre yet easy to digest, and stopped snacking. “Within four months, I lost weight, my skin cleared up, my gut healed and my hormone levels stabilised.”

Now 39, Hathiramani weighs 52kg (115lb), which falls within the normal body mass index range for her height of 1.67 metres (5 ft 6 inches). She’s stayed at this weight for the past 15 years, and maintained a body fat percentage of around 25 per cent. Gone are the bloat and other digestive discomforts.
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It seems the earlier you lose weight and keep it in check, the better off you’ll be. In a study published in December 2020 in the journal PLOS, researchers at Loughborough University in Britain said that people who were obese for 20 to 30 years had higher blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels than those who had been obese for a shorter period or weren’t obese at all.
Elevated blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels are major risk factors for illnesses such as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.
Dr John Wong, a gastroenterologist and hepatologist in Central on Hong Kong Island, is seeing a rise in obesity in young people that coincides with obesity-related medical conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease in younger populations.

In May, the US Preventive Services Task Force lowered the starting age of colorectal cancer screening from 50 years old to 45 years old for asymptomatic average-risk individuals, he says.
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Managing your calorie intake and eating mostly whole foods that nourish your body is key to controlling your weight, Wong says – along with regular physical activity.
Wong points out that if dietary changes and increased physical activity don’t work, you may want to ask your doctor about taking weight-loss medications.

Hathiramani’s life changed for the better after she got her weight under control and reclaimed her health. Although she wasn’t obese when she was younger, just “very overweight”, she has no doubt that if she hadn’t taken action she would have got bigger and developed weight-related health issues prematurely.
She leads by example, eating a diet of fish, vegetarian protein like lentils, whole grains, vegetables and fruit. She also does yoga every morning and attends low-intensity Barre and Pilates classes three times a week. Besides helping her maintain her weight over the years – and thus lowering her risk of developing serious age-related illnesses – Hathiramani says that her balanced diet and wholesome lifestyle have kept her “young” in other ways.

