Blast from the past

Tamannaah Bhatia

When a celebrity looks as good as Tamannaah Bhatia, with her alabaster-like skin and lithe body, we all presume her health is pristine. But as the Baahubali actress tells us, that till a few years ago, she was chronically constipated, had no clue that she was gluten and dairy intolerant and suffered from insomnia. "I had healthy eating habits, but because of my overworked state and high pressure life, I had health problems I couldn't explain."

Bhatia admits she has been continuously working since she was 13. She was first discovered at her school, Maneckji Cooper's annual day function. Since then, she has acted in 65 films across three languages. If she hopes to keep up the manic pace, she would have to revisit her lifestyle. A meeting with holistic health coach Luke Coutinho made a difference. Bhatia traces the transformation in the just-launched title she has co-authored with him, Back to the Roots. The pair turns to Indian traditional wellness practices to promote overall well-being with their readers, sharing hacks that help tackle chronic conditions like acidity, constipation, even fever. "I have learnt over time that nothing short-term works - everything takes time, and it all has to be sustainable [to be successful]. We have to reach the root cause."

Tamannaah Bhatia

Bhatia is honest when she admits that her role in the launch of the book was to bring her experiences to the table because she "doesn't have the education that goes into talking about fitness". She left that to Courinho. What she did do was share how age-old practices worked for her through trial and error, while offering a peek into her life, that of a young girl from Mumbai's Sindhi family, who found fame in the Telugu film industry. You know the actress likes her food when she calls Sindhi speciality Alu tuk (double fried potato fries) "life changing". With irresistible culinary recipes in the Indian kitchen also lie healing ideas that offer solutions to health woes without making life too complicated. "I think it was last year, as the Coronavirus pandemic spread, that the average Indian woke up to importance of haldi. I have also discovered that amla suits most of us. Instead of supplements, I have noni juice [from the Morinda citrifolia tree] for my iron deficiency, and lime to make my body alkaline. It's all inexpensive and all already within our reach."

But one of the game-changing practices, she says, was oil pulling - swishing oil in your mouth to remove bacteria and promote oral hygiene. It's usually done with cold pressed organic coconut oil. Bhatia says it's an easy way to rid your body daily of toxins. "Now, people say how can you do that for eight minutes! Do what I do: pour the oil in your mouth before you go for a shower, and swish it around for the duration you take a bath. You won't even realise it, and the work will be done." To combat acidity, she drinks cucumber juice three times a day and to correct her sleep cycle, she drinks a concoction of haldi, almond milk and star anise. "This kind of living won't come with pill you pop. It will take a few months to get used to and for you to notice the positive changes that it brings."

Ask her if Indian practices are any different from Western hacks, and she says that mostly the difference lies in the fact that Indians are naturally exposed to super foods in everyday life, like the treasure of spices we use in ghar ka khana. "We might not take [ancient Indian wisdom] seriously because it's everyday and mundane for us. We think that it has to be complicated for it to work. But, sometimes the easiest route is the most sustainable."

As far as mental health is concerned, Bhatia recommends that we all spend some time with ourselves after we wake up in the morning, and be kind to ourselves. "I have been an over-achiever, someone who tells myself, do this, do that. But you can't abuse your body during this process. We can't all have the perfect life every day - things will happen that will derail us. But by making tiny changes, like simply sitting peacefully to have lunch minus distractions, can help. We are living through uncertain times, and tiny changes could gives our lives stability."