7 Wellness Tips from India for Every Day People

Madelin Snyder
Sep 2, 2018 · 7 min read

These will help a little.

Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash

I once offhandedly told a stranger at my local co-op that I was vegan. It just popped right out. There was a brief sense of kinship between us, and for a moment I even felt healthier. I’m surprised I didn’t sneakily point at the guy holding real butter in his cart and roll my eyes to my new friend. That would have been too much.

Because, I am not a vegan.

I sped-walk out of the store and stared at my bag full of pea-milk and veggie dogs; foods that make me feel like i’m doing something right, but that I’d desperately like to avoid putting into my body. The likelihood of me ordering korma and drinking a bourbon instead of consuming any of my mostly-soy groceries was quite high.

There is so much shame around health, at least in my experience as a woman. We make lists and write down new recipes and click on every click-bait about how X celebrity eats fucking shark eggs and now the whites of her eyes are whiter.

The marketing telling us how to be healthy isn’t helping. In fact, it’s making it worse. It seems to pull us away from the most basic (not to mention cheap, and easy) health principles. The sea of “dos & don’ts” make me feel like leaping into a bed of cream cheese.

Traveling to India has been a great source of health for me. Over these 10 years, I come home each time with clear skin and a slimmer face. I feel energized, lighter, focused, even more flexible.

Indians don’t give a flying fuck about health trends. They’ve been doing what they’ve been doing for too long . If I told them that bananas actually cause belly fat, they’d ignore me with glee and then matter-of-factly comment how strange white people are after I left.

Every Indian has a health regimen that they adamantly believe in. Whether it’s been passed down through their family, or an Ayurvedic tradition; it’s likely been proven to work for many years.

“You have such long hair. You must eat a lot of fruit.”

“Drinking fresh coconut water will ensure you never get cancer.”

“Put urine on your face — any skin irritation will surely go away!”

“Your knee hurts because you don’t eat enough ghee.”

“Drinking from copper containers actually cleans your liver.”

“Eat the raisins baba, they purify your blood.”

Aside from being a bit hyperbolic, most of these have a lot of truth to them.

I’ve chosen some of my favorite learnings from this tried-and-true culture. The tips below work on tight budgets and busy lifestyles. Do they fix everything? Certainly not. But they’re easy and might make you feel a little better, even if you sometimes live on bourbon and take-out.

1. Wake up to warm water.

Your digestion working properly keeps your mind sharp and your anxiety down.

Waking up first thing and drinking about 1–2 liters of warm, almost hot water, jump starts the motion in your body and aids your digestion throughout the day.

2. Speaking of water — keep it separate.

Following this tip has totally changed how I feel before and I after I eat.

Try to drink larger amounts of water (1/2 a glass or more) about 1hour before or after you eat a meal. You’ll be less fatigued after eating, and less bloated.

Apparently, your body uses a different kind of saliva to break down food than it does to digest water. Drinking too much water while eating can also mess with your stomach acid, making it harder for your body to digest the food and pull the nutrients it needs.

3. Your Friendly Neighborhood Oil.

Avocado oil, coconut oil, mustard seed oil, ghee, olive oil…every other day there’s another oil we should either be using, or vehemently staying away from.

Here’s what i’ve learned: it’s different dependent on where you live.

Coconut oil is used in many parts of India, and sourced from here. Food grown nearby is an indication that it compliments your human system in the current climate, too. Coconut is a cooling food. Meaning, eating it helps to cool our system.

Whenever i’ve seen coconut oil in an Indian cupboard, it’s completely liquid. When I’ve seen it in my cupboards back home in Minnesota most months, it’s like wax. This is part of what happens inside of our bodies if we’re using this cooling oil in a cool climate. It’s not good for our health in that condition.

Eat whatever is grown in the closest climate to you. Sunflower for us Minnesotans may be the closest bet. I’ve been told Olive Oil is good for cooler climates too.

4. Serving sizes

At least in the West, serving sizes are completely bonkers. I often walk away from meals either way over-stuffed or still hungry.

As a general rule of thumb, each meal should be about the size of our fist. A little more or less here and there is just fine, but near a fist size is a good marker to keep us away from gaining too much weight, and ensure we’re eating enough. This also means you should eat 3–4 times a day, assuming your fist-sized meal is balanced and not a wad of chocolate, or a gigantic meatball.

Even if it’s at odd times because of a busy schedule, try to keep eating times consistent. You’ll crave things less, and eat more moderate amounts.

5. Turmeric is your friend.

Turmeric has endless health benefits. It’s good for your bones, brain, and the effects of aging. It’s even been shown to degenerate cancer cells.

It’s most potent when prepared by mixing into a warm liquid, instead of it being heated. So for example, throw a spoonful in your tea after the water has boiled.

It’s cheap to buy, and doesn’t taste like much. Worth a try.

6. Breathe.

We’re aware now of the importance of drinking enough water each day. We hear less about how much air your body needs.

Our brain needs us to breathe. If you can find 15 minutes a day to breathe deeply, filling your belly and lungs, you’ll notice a difference. There are simple mediative breathing exercises that even target each part of your brain.

To keep it simple, just gather as much air as you can into your body, and breathe it out slowly through your nose for at least 5 minutes. Your brain will reward you.

7. Self-Awareness.

Listening to your body seems simple enough, but I don’t think it comes naturally to many of us. If you’re feeling lousy, bloated, unattractive, fatigued; it’s probably not because your tofu isn’t 100% organic.

Often times one of your basic needs is not getting met. Have you been sleeping? Did you move your body recently? How much water have you drank? Are you eating regularly? Are you happy today? How do you feel?

Asking yourself these questions will likely lead to another positive activity, like taking a walk. Or resting if you’re tired. Our body knows what it needs.

Listening to yourself is a skill to be acquired, just like anything else.


A few months ago I was at Planned Parenthood (shout out to PP). My heart was racing from drinking coffee and thinking about my 10 meetings I had the rest of the day. I smelled like cigarettes and had only eaten 1/2 of a protein bar. I felt much like a child at the Dentist who hadn’t brushed his teeth that day.

As I waited, I flicked through the pamphlets about things that can go wrong with your body.

By the time the Doctor came in, I looked up at her, my eyes to the brim with tears. I was certain that I had cancer, brain tumors, and some other undetectable and permanent disease.

I wept to the Doctor before she could introduce herself.

“Something is surely wrong with me! I don’t exercise enough, I don’t eat right, there’s so much more to do at work, I can’t sleep. It feels like I don’t have time. I haven’t returned my moms phone calls in almost two weeks! How does everyone else do it?”

I had flashes of the women walking about my neighborhood, carrying their yoga mats and drinking smoothies. I bet they didn’t smoke. I bet they went for a run before working 12 hour days. I bet they were real vegans.

The Doctor sighed, removed her glasses and touched my hand.

“Everyone thinks everyone else has their shit together. No body knows what they’re doing. Someone is no doubt looking at you and thinking, ‘how does she do it?’ Make some small adjustments. You are just fine.”

I left that day, disease free, and sat silently outside with a bottle of water. I drank it and breathed. Instead of driving, I walked to work the next day.

Change your habits slowly, observe your own body, and try to shut out the noise that says you’re not doing it right. It’s not helping.

Or, cry and hug your Doctor. Either way, being healthier is closer than you think.

Madelin Snyder

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living at the intersection of art + tech.

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