First stop.

“You see this vegetable?”

“Yes”.

“It’s good for you thyroid.”

Next town.

“You see this root?”

“Yes.”

“It’s good for your blood.”

Next stop.

“You see this plant?”

“Yes.”

“You put it in this dish and it’s good for cancer. It’s very good for cancer.”

Everywhere we went in India the medicinal qualities of foods were expounded. In fact; what would you need medicine for if you ate the right food? Everyone was an expert on their food and how it improved health for their families.

There even was a cure for ‘sugar’!

I have now been cutting down my sugar intake for over a year; only taking half a spoonful in my coffee. Tea (not Irish) seems ok; black, weakish without sugar or milk but coffees not so forgiving. Oh, I know you coffee purists out there with your pour overs and Aero presses think I need to change my bean choice to something with more fruity notes. But I’m happy to stick with my dark roasted arabica with body and a touch of sugar.

“Sugar” now, in India, however, is a different cup of tea. “Sugar” is the colloquial name for diabetes, which unfortunately is very prominent in the country. Primarily due to the preoccupation Indians have for adding sucrose in vast quantities to drinks- a 60 to 80ml cup of masala chai from a street vendor retailing at 8 rupees (16 if they think you’re a tourist!) may have at least 4 or 5 teaspoons of sugar!

Desserts are very sugary too, but sweets… sweets are usually sugar and syrup with some sort of nut or flavouring. Sticky, and oh! so sweet. Locally made to each areas taste (the sweeter the better!) on each label’s ingredients panel the first name is, yes you’ve guessed it!… SUGAR!

It is a quirk of language that Indians take pride in saying “this is good for that” when in fact the converse is true. They mean… “this is good for treating that.”

So what’s good for sugar? Certainly not sugar.