India’s status as the diabetes capital of the world is compounded further by a dire lack of awareness and flagrant misconceptions regarding diabetes and its management. Acknowledging this, Kiara Powar – a fearless diabetes spokesperson and the youngest sportscaster in the country – has launched a brand-new series that focuses on separating fact from fiction. To do so, she has joined hands with Luke Coutinho Holistic Healing Systems (LCHHS), an ecosystem of highly trained and registered clinical dieticians and certified nutritionists that has been founded by Luke Coutinho, India’s most recognised integrative health and lifestyle medicine specialist.

Kiara was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the tender age of 2 and draws on her own experiences and of those she has encountered along her diabetes journey to pose insightful questions to specialised nutritionists. Accordingly, the series has been named ‘Ask a Nutritionist’, emphasising the importance of seeking pertinent and scientifically sound advice from experts for effective prevention and management of diabetes rather than relying on unverified sources. The first season of this series features Shimpli Patil, head of training, head nutritionist and lifestyle expert at LCHHS.

“Ever since I began to share my own experiences with diabetes, whether on social media or in the real world, I would invariably receive comments, questions and unsolicited advice from people who were very poorly informed or misinformed about the reality of diabetes and, especially, the nutritional aspect of living with diabetes. It occurred to me that this is a reality for so many others like me and can often cause delays in diagnosis and complications in diabetes management. This inspired me to begin this series. I’ve had so many fellow diabetics reach out to me with their own doubts and concerns, and I’ve tried to address their queries as well,” shared Kiara Powar.

“Getting access to the right information about nutrition remains a challenge and a pressing concern for many families battling diabetes, whether in India or across the world. Kiara’s advocacy for an informed approach to diabetes management and her openness in speaking about her own condition really resonated with us. We wanted to support her efforts to spread the right information in an easily understandable format. We are certain that her continued efforts will help so many families to better understand and support those dealing with diabetes,” said Natashya Phillips Coutinho, managing director and co-founder of LCHHS.

“Nutrition plays a crucial role in the prevention and management of diabetes, as do other lifestyle modifications. From understanding the role of stress management and sleep, to ensuring that you are measuring the right nutrient markers – carbohydrates, not sugar – empowering yourself with a thorough awareness of the lifestyle measures that are a part of effective diabetes management is critical. So much of what most people know about diabetes is based on assumptions or misunderstandings. This series attempts to address some of those misconceptions and offer a more holistic understanding of cellular nutrition and nutritional interventions vis-à-vis their role in diabetes management,” added Shimpli Patil.