The truth of planning a no-grain diet in India

Other versions: No-rice, No-wheat, Gluten-free, Low-carb

I wanted to lose weight, and I wanted to be sure I will lose consistently every week. I am a vegetarian, who occasionally eats an egg, so high-protein diets don’t work for me.

So I decided to try the physical truth approach i.e. reduce the mental clutter that comes from words, and focus only on what I can see, touch and feel. Ignore any diet advice or opinions. I stopped reading any words written on food and diet. I observed myself and my own food as a starting point.

I methodically imagined putting all the food I eat in a day on one giant plate. If you need a physical reminder, either put the actual food or use coloured bits of paper to represent different foods. Now, my daily quantity and calories were in front of me.

The truth looked like this pie chart, and I realised that there is no point in tweaking food that forms less than 10% of my diet —e.g. reducing the oil I use, or switching to brown rice, or millet breads, etc. These changes are physically small, not changing the calories nor metabolism significantly, and seemed even smaller when I looked at my weight loss target. No one (including me) would notice any consistent weight loss.

I needed to shake the trunk of the tree. Replace something that is 50–70% of my diet. That stuff was grains. I decided to stop eating them for a month, and see what happens. This seemed like a physical redesign of my daily intake, very different from my earlier diet plans. And it was easy to follow — just a two-word rule — “no grains”.

There are 3 levels of this diet that I tried:

1. No wheat (gluten-free) diet: Stop eating anything that has wheat. This includes roti, bread, cake, dalia, biscuits, puri, paratha, suji, khus khus, upma, etc. Use brown or unpolished rice.
2. No-rice, No-wheat diet: In addition to stopping wheat, stop rice and rice products — idli, dosa, poha, puffed rice (bhel), rice sweets, etc.
3. No grain diet: Stop all grains — rice, wheat, millets (jowar, bajra, bhakri, etc), suji, ragi, oats. Don’t eat quinoa or amaranth or other uncommon grains.

Health-wise, I avoided white/brown sugar. A little honey/jaggery is fine.

My step-wise plan towards a no-grain diet:

1. Week 1 and Week 2: I followed LEVEL 1 (no-wheat) for 2 weeks. I ate a little rice or millets in all 3 meals. It felt great. Some hormonal issues improved. I noticed my weight was slowly auto-correcting. I ate rice and wheat in equal proportions before this diet. But for those who eat very little rice, stopping wheat is a big change in itself.
2. Week 3 and Week 4: I moved to LEVEL 2 (no-rice, and no-wheat). Ate small bowl of millets only once a day. I was happy with this version, and weight was reducing, but I wanted to try the no-grain.
3. Week 5 onwards: Moved to LEVEL 3, a no-grain diet.

These diets require planning at the start. So here’s a list that will help in case you want to try.

First I surveyed my kitchen, and made a list of foods that I can eat, and those I cannot eat.

What I can eat in ALL three levels — eggs, dals, pulses (legumes), beans (rajma/chola/chana/lobia), dry fruits, peanuts, seeds, seasonal fruits, all vegetables, coconut in all forms, oils, spices, butter, ghee, cream, milk, curd (dahi), paneer, cheese, other milk-based products, tea, coffee, etc. If you’re not a vegetarian, you can eat meat as well.

Tips for those who have been on a normal Indian diet:

1. Slowly (one week at a time) reduce the grains you eat, by replacing them with foods in the above list. Focus on replacing, and not on removing. Once you replace, you will not feel hungry.
2. In a regular meal, if you normally ate 2 rotis, you can replace one roti with a small katori of rice/millets, and the second roti with an extra katori of dal/beans/curd or meat. That way you feel full, but you have replaced the rotis.
3. Feel free to use any of these to replace rice/wheat — dals, vegetables, curd, meat, paneer, salads, chutney, etc.
4. Ensure there is enough protein(paneer, beans, curd, dals, eggs, meats) and fat (butter/ghee) in all three meals.
5. If you are a vegetarian, you will need to eat more of beans (rajma, chola, lobia, sprouts, chana, etc). Soak them 8 hours before. Use frozen peas when you forget to soak.
6. If you love dals (lentils), double the quantity of dal you eat to replace the roti/rice. Make thick dal so it can fill your tummy.
7. To ensure proper absorption, less gas, and better nutrition, soak dal (tur, moong, masoor) for 8–12 hours before cooking.
8. Breakfast (for those who can eat eggs): 1–2 eggs are great for breakfast. Add plenty of vegetables, butter or cheese to the eggs to make it a meal.
9. Breakfast (for those who cannot eat eggs): Try some of these for breakfast — home made juice, milk, cheese slice, potatoes, beans, sprouts, curd, fruits, diced coconut. Another breakfast idea is to have beans with curd. When you make beans (rajma, chola) at night for dinner, make a little extra so you can eat them for breakfast too. If you are very hungry, a large bowl of thick sambar with a small idli is okay to have sometimes, since you cannot eat eggs. But be careful, the moment you eat one idli, you will feel like eating many more.
10. Store up on snacks — dry fruits, banana chips (buy a good brand which makes them in coconut oil), makhana, dates, roasted chana, peanuts (roasted or boiled), cheese cubes, diced coconut, apples, guavas, other fruits, tomatoes, cucumbers, energy bars which do not have wheat, tea, coffee, hot chocolate, etc. All of these can be eaten at any time of the day if hungry. Give your body time to adjust to the absence of grains, and feed yourself when hungry.
11. For special occasions, make simple sweets (mithai) at home and add little jaggery when cooking: hung curd (shrikhand), coconut barfi made with cream, anjeer or dates barfi with dry fruits, etc.
12. OPTIONAL — If you love vegetable juices and have time, buy a powerful juicer. A cold-compress slow-juicer is best for vegetable juicing (carrots, beetroots, radish, cucumber, tomatoes, ginger, etc). For those who don’t have time, make buttermilk with 2 spoons of curd, add salt, jeera powder and ginger.

Common issues to watch for:

1. A friend of mine made an honest observation, “You seem hungry all the time.” It happens when I forget to eat enough protein and fat in all three meals. Eat some protein filled snacks when this happens — roasted chana with dry fruits, peanuts with tea/coffee, or an egg.
2. Do not start this diet when you are not well. And please don’t be too ambitious in the first week. Start gradually as described in this post. My sister removed all grains and all sugar on the first day, and ended up with a bad headache. She drank a glass of with milk with sugar, and the headache was gone. The focus should always be on slowly replacing grains, and not on drastic removals.
3. If you’re feeling heavy, you’ve not replaced grains properly. Replace with natural foods that make your body feel light and energetic. Use energy as your metric to tune and adjust the diet.
4. Always carry water and a small box of snack (dry fruits). These are your new personal devices, as important as carrying your phone and wallet.
5. If you want to lose a lot of weight, don’t eat sweet fruits, especially bananas. Among other fruits, eat maximum 2 fruits a day for faster weight loss.
6. Drink plenty of water, and eat enough salt. If possible, drink warm water through the day, especially half a glass before meals and during meals. If you notice you’re feeling moody and irritable, add a little carbohydrates (fruits, dried fruit, potatoes). Typically, those who don’t eat milk-based products have these issues.
7. Remember that any Indian family will find your diet strange. The only reason to continue this diet is if you’re seeing improved health, and feeling overjoyed with the weight loss.
8. Eat at home before stepping out so you can survive food outings with friends and family.

I have experimented with all three levels of the diet over 6 months, and I can assure you that these are worth a try. My migraines reduced, my periods showed up on time which was a miracle for my body, and I lost some of that stubborn belly fat.

If you cannot stop all grains, at least replace half the grains with something else. You will not regret it. You will definitely lose weight on a low-grain diet, even if you have insulin resistance, or a metabolic condition that makes it hard to lose weight.

Most days, I follow Level 1 (no-wheat, only brown/unpolished rice). Long term, I would not recommend Level 2 or 3. It can affect mood and requires planning. Do it for a few months, lose the weight, and review how you feel. Listen to your physical truth and let it guide you. Stay alert to changes in your moods, and don’t become the person who is always picky about food. When in doubt, eat fresh fruits and home-made stuff. You can’t go wrong with these.

Most important, if you’re sincere about following the diet, be sure to plan your next few meals ahead of time. Wishing you the best of health!

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A list of reference books:

Fatty Liver: You can reverse it

The Migraine Miracle

The Insulin Resistance Diet Plan and Cookbook

Grain Brain

Reverse Insulin Resistance Naturally

Gut

P.S. If you have questions or need more information, feel free to send an email to physical.truth.org@gmail.com with your current diet, mentioning everything you eat through the whole day so it’s easier to suggest options.