Alumni Author: Ease: How to Lose Weight, Heal, Prevent and Reverse Disease – Dr. Mythri Shankar, MPWE 2013

Dr. Shankar is a nuclear medicine specialist in Bangalore with more than 25 years of experience in her specialised area in both the United States and India. The role of Dr. Shankar is multifaceted. Her accomplishments include being a national-award-winning organic gardener, a TEDx speaker, and an author. She aspires to practice evidence-based medicine both in the diagnostic and therapeutic arenas of modern medicine. She is a prominent women’s health activist, entrepreneur, and IIMB alumna. She has raised awareness about bone health and introduced newer equipment and treatments for osteoporosis, body fat, and bone density tests in India as Founder Trustee of the Osteoporosis Foundation, India.

As a physician, she has always emphasized continued education and the constant pursuit of excellence. With her patient-friendly approach to healthcare, she believes that every person has a chance at disease reversal or mitigation through a multifaceted approach that includes food as medicine, among other things. Her recent book Ease: How to Lose Weight, Heal, Prevent and Reverse Disease, has become an instant bestseller that reflects the dire need for good content in the field of nutrition and wellness.

The information in the book is supported by research-based facts and Dr. Mythri’s own experiences, making it a total game changer. The book also covers how to reverse existing health issues, not simply how to prevent lifestyle diseases.

In this interview, Dr. Mythri shares her insights, experiences and more..

Can you tell us about your book – Ease: How to Lose Weight, Heal, Prevent and Reverse Disease?

When I was given a diabetes diagnosis, I started looking for ways to change my diet, lifestyle, and habits so that I might get healthier and become medicine free. I have written this book to make the information I’ve learned through years of research accessible to others seeking ways to improve their lives.

The information in the book enables you to comprehend how to fuel your body with nutrients, adore your lifestyles with happiness and thankfulness, and prosper without falling to the dangers of typical contemporary lifestyle sicknesses (excess weight, diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, heart disease, inflammation, memory loss, disorders of the gut and bones). You may modify how you cook, eat, exercise, handle stress and relationships amicably, sleep better, etc. by developing the skills needed to identify grassroots effective answers with “Ease.”

Whether you are a patient, a doctor or other healthcare professional, a nutritionist, or a health coach, this book is for you. It contains useful advice and tools, instances from actual cases, and examples with supporting evidence.

What inspired you to write this book?

I have worked in the healthcare industry for the past 27–28 years in both the US and India. Regarding the information available, I had two impressions: first, that it was inaccurate; second, that it was insufficient. Even the information that is readily available serves to advertise a company, a product, or a service rather than serve the interests of those seeking treatment or answers. Additionally, even when pertinent information is available, it is heavily Western-centric, which does not convert into solutions that are useful for our community or nation. Due to the differences in our cultures, eating habits, and geographic location, we need information and expertise that we can quickly put to use by utilising the resources in our immediate environment. For instance, most books include foods like kale and broccoli, which are difficult to find and expensive, making them difficult to incorporate into our daily life. I discuss 20–30 readily accessible local greens in my book that help the body repair and prevent cancer.

I began taking notes on the issue and gathering it for myself and my friends, so it only seemed logical to turn it into a book to make all of this information accessible to my patients and anybody else who wants to benefit from this knowledge.

In your book, you discuss illness reversal in addition to healing and prevention. Can you please elaborate?

When we talk about reversal, the concept has to be clearly understood. For example, if we talk about diabetes reversal, we are talking about the parameters on which it is measured. We are essentially talking about reducing these parameters and bringing them into the range which is considered normal. Furthermore, it also depends on the kind of diabetes one has – Type 1 or Type 2, and there are many kinds in both these types as well. We have to understand what we are dealing with, before finding effective solutions for them. The good news is that recent medical studies and leading organisations, have substantiated that modifications in lifestyle and food habits can reverse lifestyle disorders.

What kind of readership will benefit most from this book?

Before writing the book, I spent about three years conducting research and reading between 300 and 400 books by eminent experts, medical professionals, and nutritionists. I have practised using all the information that was pertinent to my research. Due to Covid, I was able to experiment and learn what works and what doesn’t. It was simple for me to substitute one dish for another because I had now spent half of my life in India and half in the US.

Everyone and everybody who is interested in maintaining excellent health, staying well, and preventing illnesses should read this book. It can be for the reader personally or for a close family/ friend. Simply said, this book is written for me, you, and everyone.

I’m glad that Padma Shree Padma Vibhushan Dr. Devi Shetty, Dr. Gopinath, and Dr. Amrish Mittal, three of the world’s foremost authorities from their domains, have also evaluated the book. Many other experts from the US, UK, Australia, and Canada have also given their opinions, which are included on the book’s back page. My belief in compiling this book is greatly reinforced by this.

Your book has an interesting title – “Ease”. How did you come up with this?

We had a few ideas in mind, something which could be similar to healing or helping correct diseases, prevent diseases and something which could be very easily understood and easily read. Additionally, I wanted to exclude the disease component from the title, so EASE just seemed to blend in well and make the ideal title. It is a beautiful word in the sense, you can make your body disease free with ease.

What writing-related experience stands out?

It matters less how many books you sell than how many people you can influence and transform, how many lives you can touch. A medical student in Chattisgarh, a place I have never gone to, sent me a message. She wrote to me that she had purchased three of my books to present as gifts to her loved ones. After reading the book, she has developed a strong interest in ayurvedic diet, lifestyle modifications, and how to be a better doctor for her patients. This incident deeply touched me.

Given your busy schedule, how do you manage time juggling so many roles?

If you are enthusiastic about anything, time naturally becomes manageable, in my opinion. Prioritizing is all there is to it, and then everything else just happens. For instance, my interest in organic gardening was sparked by my frequent encounters with cancer patients. When we moved into a new home, I started my search for organic gardening and bought some saplings. After receiving a diabetes diagnosis, I began investigating the topic and eventually wrote the book. My positions have therefore been a byproduct of my passionately pursued pursuits.