Indian food with reduced carb and ketogenic therapies

by Cecile Seth · Published March 8, 2022 · Updated August 13, 2022

Indian spices — Image by Hans Braxmeier from Pixabay

Yes, you can reduce carbohydrates while eating Indian cuisines! We share our round up of who’s who and what’s what for reducing carbohydrates while eating Indian food.

Guides to reducing carbohydrates in Indian food

KnowDiabetes.org.UK – “get local” for “our communities” delivers outstanding culturally-specific resources
- South Asian Communities – Diabetes / sick day guidance in Bengali | Gujarati | Hindi | Nepali | Punjabi | Urdu
- Vegetarian meal plan for South Asians < 130 grams of carbohydrate per day
- Non-vegetarian meal plan for South Asians < 130 grams of carbohydrates per day
Headbanger’s Kitchen: Keto shopping for Indians – Desi shopping in India and abroad
Step away from the carbs – A British perspective on recipes, products, & residents
Low carb lifestyle India: Keto Diet For Indian Vegetarians & Vegans – A Complete Guide – Generally good. Many clinicians would allow some alcohol. Yes, alcohol halts ketosis but one can make low carbohydrate alcohol choices.
Eat this, not that at Indian restaurants
Dr. David Unwin’s Sugar Equivalent Infographics in 18 languages including Arabic , Bengali, Kurdish, Nepali, Turkish

Indian style recipes – vegetarian & non-vegetarian

Keto for India – Recipes – Vegetarian | Non-vegetarian | Desserts
Two Sleevers’ Indian recipes
Headbanger’s Kitchen – Many of Chef Sahil Makija’s recipes also appear in Diet Doctor’s Indian recipes
dLife.IN >1200 Indian cuisine recipes in this Indian low carb platform [Behind a pay wall]
Virta Health’s Indian recipes | Diabetes and Ramadan: 5 Tips for Fasting Safely
Keto-Mojo’s Indian recipes

Help if you are new to cooking Indian cuisine

The Keto Queen’s 15 Best Low Carb Indian Food Recipes
Ruled.me Keto Indian Food: Guide to eating out and making your own.
Greatest.com 9 Indian Dishes That Are Almost Always Keto-Friendly

See what other Indians are eating with reduced carbohydrates

Useful Instagram hashtags

#KetoIndia >45,000 posts
#KetoIndian > 11,000 posts
#lowcarbindian >1,800 posts
#KetoIndianStyle >1,800 posts
#lowcarbindianfood >1,200 posts
#lowcarbindianfusion >700 posts

Leaders in metabolic health, reducing carbs & Indian culture

Follow our Twitter list South-Asian Metabolic-Health Leaders for these and more!

Practitioners of particular interest

Dr. Pallavi Aga, MD. Private practitice in preventative health, low-carb and keto nutritional counseling
Cardiologists – Reducing carbohydrates can be a hot topic among those interested in heart health.
- Dr. Nadir Ali, MD. Texas cardiologist.
- Dr. Aseem Malhotra, MD. London Cardiologist. Public health reform advocate.
Dr. Ravi Kamepalli, MD, is a board certified infectious disease specialist focusing on wound care, obesity medicine & clinical research. His YouTube channel includes amputation prevention using therapeutic carbohydrate restriction to treat diabetes
Dr. Monu Khanna, MD, is double board certified in internal and obesity medicine. She works with the US Department of Veterans Affairs and is known for her work on time restricted eating in a rehabilitation setting as well as obesity & South Asians.
Dr. Shebani Sethi, MD MS ABOM is double board certified in psychiatry and obesity medicine. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor at Stanford Medical School, California
Dr. Pran Yoganathan, MBChB. (Otago), FRACP. Sydney Gastroenterologist and Gastrointestinal endoscopist. He is a great explainer. Instagram or Twitter

Fee based coaching programs

dLife.IN – 250+ success stories in an Indian context. Full service subscription portal includes courses & certifications. Three low-carb clinicians and 6 certified coaches.
Keto for India – veg & non-veg desi recipes, trainer & coaching services, success stories.
Dr. Jason Fung, MD, Nephrologist. Based in multicultural Toronto, The Fasting Method‘s rich experience with Southeast Asian patients led them to their focus on fasting, which can be especially helpful for vegetarians using carbohydrate restriction to put diabetes in remission. Their You Tube Channel, blog & many books are a great place to start. . Beware the many knock-off sites!

Metabolic Multiplier’s Keto doctors near me: all of the 20+ directories

Shashikant Iyengar – Advocate for improving metabolic health through lifestyle interventions like reducing carbohydrates. Holds 12 reduced-carb related certificates.
Keto low carb Indian recipes on Instagram
Headbanger’s Kitchen started as a YouTube cooking channel in 2008 then discovered keto in 2016. The respected Diet Doctor now features Sahil Makihja‘s recipes.for their Indian low-carb & keto selections
Farmer Abhinov on sustainable farming in an Indian context

Do some genotypes have an increased diabetes risk?

diabetes statistics ethnic groups hardest hit — Hardest hit US ethnicities: Native Americans, LatinX, Asian Indian, & Blacks. Source: National Diabetes Statistics Report 2020. Estimates of diabetes and its burden in the United States. Appendix Table 3

Ethnic Asian populations are at increased risk of diabetes

Vyvyane Loh, MD‘s presentation “Ethnic differences in cardiometabolic health?” Board-certified in Obesity Medicine and Internal Medicine. She is also a member of the Society of Metabolic Health Practitioner’s Outreach Committee. Her presentation “Salt and your skin: ethnic differences in salt-sensitive hypertension” was also excellent and is available for a fee from Low Carb USA Boca 2022. [Reference materials are free unless noted.]
CDC on “diabetes and Asian Americans – why might metabolic syndrome be more prevalent yet less diagnosed.“
American Diabetes Association – “Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders … are at increased risk for diabetes at different BMIs when compared to Caucasian Americans.“
Asian Diabetes Prevention.org “Why are Asians at higher risk [for diabetes]”