Naturally Dietstyle by Ruha Thevi Veerasenan and Enrico Falgiani

About the Author

Ruha (Malaysia) is a Member of the UK Complementary Medical Association; Certified Nutritionist (IRL); Master Herbalist (UK); health and nutrition coach and consultant; public speaker, author. Even before that, she is a passionate health researcher, crazy cook, sports lover, loving daughter and mother. Ruha has chosen a life of food-awareness, and has decided to make of this passion her vocation, teaching children, teenagers, adults and even the elderly about food and lifestyle, changing the way people look at food, allowing thousands of people to make small but significant changes in their food habits and lifestyle, so as to gain back and enjoy everlasting health and happiness! She believes in the old saying “food is medicine, medicine is food”. She walks her talk. If only Hippocrates was still with us today, he would surely be the first one to give her a big “like” on her social media!

Enrico (Italy) is the grateful one. Once a voracious meat-eater, today a whole-food plant-based diet Advocate. Once an unaware victim of bad food habits and unhealthy lifestyle, and today just so addicted to health. Ruha’s simple system and guidelines have really made wonders for him. He is today a food-conscious person, a health and nutrition Advocate, public speaker, author…

Together, Ruha and Enrico have decided to offer to the world the gift of awareness, knowledge and health. For everyone to enjoy. They launched the Nutrivolution (www.thenutrivolution.com), a health movement aimed at spreading awareness on health and holistic nutrition, by means of articles, health blogs, seminars and workshops, nutrition consulting activities, and now also with this amazing book “Naturally Dietstyle”.

Note:

Naturally DietStyle and The Nutrivolution are owned and managed by Omnia Star Enterprise, Malaysia (002561216-H). All rights reserved. Omnia Star Enterprise (with our brand “the Nutrivolution” and our book product “Naturally Dietstyle”) is an independent Company.  We do not associate ourselves with any Third Party brands nor products (food, supplements, medicines, else). We believe in honest information, and true food and lifestyle education. We do not advertise for nor endorse any brands or products.

Qn 1: Can you tell us more about your book, Naturally Dietstyle, What is it about?

“Naturally Dietstyle” is a simple, practical and effective all-in-one nutrition and lifestyle User’s Manual. 

As the subtitle of the book says: “fundamentals of holistic nutrition, made practical and easy”. The purpose is to deliver to the Reader all the basic knowledge and tools to change their life for the better, and achieve everlasting health and wellbeing…

Health or Disease do not just “happen to us”. They are our choices, literally.

“Naturally Dietstyle” is all about understanding that health and disease are nothing but the natural consequence of our choices and actions, in terms of both food-habits and lifestyle. For this, each and everyone of us can literally choose to be healthy, or to be sick.

It is just like climbing a mountain: you can climb up all the way to the peak and enjoy the beautiful view (health); or you can decide to walk down to the valley and miss the view from the top (disease). Whatever the destination you have chosen, you still need to perform the whole journey, you need to walk, you need to be very disciplined. 

Do you choose disease? You need to work hard for that and be committed: constantly selecting the wrong food for your body, and eating such food in the wrong amount, and at the wrong time of the day; constantly depriving your body of all the water it needs; constantly choosing stress over peace and calm; constantly depriving your body of the required sleep; choosing every time to do as little physical activity and exercise as possible. It is not  as easy as it seems – disease requires some serious discipline! 

Alternatively, you can use all that effort and discipline in your own favor, pointing them towards a different direction, a different target: health! You can choose to listen to your body, understanding what it really needs; you can be disciplined by always selecting the right food, eating it in the right way, at the right time of the day; drinking as much fresh and plain water as you can; recognizing and managing your stress with your favorite stress-relieving activity (walking at the park? A little workout? Listening to music or reading a book? Yoga and meditation? Gardening? Walking the dog? Anything…); choosing an active lifestyle, and doing regular exercise (you do not need a gym, you just need a pair of comfortable shoes, and walk in the park!); sleeping early at night, allowing the body to rest and recharge the battery, so it can work even better, tomorrow.

Of course, no one wants to be sick. But most people are: low immune system, high cholesterol, hypertension, diabetes, overweight and obesity, joint problems, digestive issues… 9 people out of 10 have at least one of these problems. Why? Mostly, because they lack “awareness” and “knowledge” about food, and about nutrition. In other words, because they do not know how our body works, what it needs, and what kind of food and lifestyle choices to make, so that our body can function at its best.

The book is all about providing the Reader, in simple and plain terms, with all the tools to understand what is good and what is not good for our body; and with all the guidelines to make the best of these little tools, to build healthy food habits and healthy lifestyle habits – to gain back health, to boost health and prevent disease, to find and enjoy everlasting health. All of this without stress, with simple and inexpensive food, without incredible gym workouts, without supplements or medicines… Because, as we like to say:

“It is not about crazy and complicated diets. It is all about a simple DIETSTYLE!”

Qn 2: Who do you think would be interested in this book, Naturally Dietstyle, is it directed at any particular market?

“Naturally Dietstyle” is about healthy food habits and healthy lifestyle. It is about everlasting health and wellbeing. The book is for everyone. For the young and the old, for the healthy and for the sick, for the meat-eaters and for the vegans.

We believe that everyone, literally everyone, has the duty to learn about food and nutrition. Most of all, we believe that everyone, literally everyone, has the right to gather simple, honest and true knowledge about food and nutrition.

On average, each person consumes 100,000 meals over his or her lifetime. Maybe 200,000 if we include also the snacks nowadays… We spend most of our time learning about history, geography, mathematics, physics, literature, art, economics, finance; we find ways to make our work more productive, our business more lucrative… which are all important and useful, indeed. But we overlook what is actually of vital importance for us: good food to nourish our body and mind, and a good lifestyle to organize and live our life in healthy and happy way.

The point is, we are what we eat – food is broken down and turned into cells, and bones and muscles. The food that we eat today literally becomes “us”, tomorrow. The lifestyle choices that we make, will determine also how well this food and all its nutrients are turned into “us” tomorrow. We do not want to leave things to chance. We want to learn, understand and become the Masters of our own health.

Some people might comment “easy to say, have you ever read any books on health and nutrition out there? How can a normal person with no formal nutrition background ever understand what is written?”. Well, this book is different. Yes, it is written by a professional Nutritionist and Master Herbalist. But it is written in simple terms, for anyone to understand its contents. Disregarding of their education background. Because health and holistic nutrition are and should be as simple as drinking a glass of water, preparing a simple meal, or walking in the park. The language used to spread food and nutrition awareness and knowledge should reflect that too. We agree with you all, enough of books written by Doctors for other Doctors to read!

As for its contents, the book is suitable for every type of diet (in the sense of food habits): vegetarians, vegans, meat-eaters, we do not leave out anyone. It has been proven by modern science, that meat and animal products are not the best type of food for our body. But statistically speaking, over 20% of the vegetarians and vegans in the world suffer from food-related diseases. So, what do we do? We need to learn about nutrition. The book, in a very objective and balanced way, is actually showing the meat-eaters that they can avoid disease and boost their health by embracing food habits that are more vegetables-oriented. At the same time, the books show the vegetarians and vegans that if we do not understand our body and our food, we can end up with a non-balanced plant-based diet, which is just as unhealthy. So, be happy about whatever diet (food habits) you are following, and be happy to know that with this book we will not ask you to go into any crazy diets. With the knowledge and the system that is presented in the book, each person will be able to build their own diet and their own lifestyle habits, as it most suits them. The difference? After reading the book, the new food and lifestyle choices will be made in a new light, with awareness, with wisdom…

Qn 3: Out of all the books in the world, and all the authors, which are your favourite and why?

Giving an answer with a few book titles and Authors’ names would probably be reductive and unfair to all the other Authors and Writers in the world. Respect! 

But for the sake of the question…

The first-ever favourite would be the Chinese classic “Zhuang Zi” (also known as “The Holy Canon of NanHua”). This amazing work by the Chinese philosopher  ZhuangZi, one of the fathers of Taoism, is a must-read. So much knowledge in there! It makes you think “if people had used only 10% of the teachings from this book dated 2300 years ago, today the world would be a better place”. But again, as the saying goes “the best time to plant a tree was 30 years ago; the second best time is today”. It is never too late to start, right? And you do not need to be a lover of Chinese Classics to read this. If you believe in a natural order in this universe, if you believe in a simple and more harmonious world, if you are a minimalist, or if you simply trust that you can make a difference today in this world – whether you are a big entrepreneur, a politician, a parent, a teacher, a student, carpenter, a cook…you really need to take a look at this book.

Something more up-to-date and possibly related to health and nutrition? “The China Study” by Dr Campbell. A pioneer in modern nutrition, a great researcher, who has shown his commitment with a crazy 20-year health and nutrition study. Not on 100 people, not on 100.000 people, but on millions of people. As the subtitle  of the book says, it is in fact “the most comprehensive study on Nutrition ever conducted”. This is another must-read for all those who want to get a deeper understanding of nutrition and the implications of our food choices on our health.

We really love reading a variety of genres. In fact, if you check on our bookshelf, you might think that we either buy books at random, or that we are schizophrenic. From the classics of Taoism to modern Nutrition; from Dante Alighieri’s “Divine Comedy” to Malcolm Gladwell’s statistics, analysis and crazy cause-effect theories; from Aristotle with his philosophy and politics, to Johannes Gutenberg and the invention of the press; from modern engineering design to the principles of Permaculture…

We trust that knowledge is like a big puzzle. Every piece is different, and when you pick a book you actually never know which piece of the puzzle you have in your hands. But one thing for sure: every book is necessary for the completion of the puzzle. And whether you know it or not, all the pieces of this puzzle are actually complementary…

Qn 4: What guidance would you offer to someone new, or trying to enhance their health?

Very easy: read the book!

Jokes aside, in order to be healthy, we just need to learn and follow the “5 Pillars of health”: nourishing food, plenty of fresh water, a bit of exercise and physical activity every day, some simple and effective stress management, and a good sleep at night. You follow these, and you have done most of the job already. And when it comes to food and nutrition, just learn and practice the very basic and naturally principles of the “Art of Eating Right”, as explained in the book.

That simple? Well…yes! Why do we always think that the right answer has to be complicated?

Everyone needs to forget about all these false advertising that is out there (food, supplements, diets, lifestyle suggestions….). We live in a competitive world, where everything is about money, and where companies – in order to survive – need to attract the attention of the Customers and win their hearts. How do they do that? They create a problem, they scare you with things like “eating healthy is complicated, and expensive, and you will be doomed to a life of sickness and disease…”. Then they give you their solution which goes like “…unless of course you buy my products, that will get you back on track, and you will be ok; lucky for you, today we even have a special offer….”. If we follow that, we will end up paying a lot of money, for products that are not necessarily good for our body; we will become slaves to these products, never really understanding “why” we are healthy or sick, putting our health and our life in somebody else’s hands. Do you really want that?

We will never get tired of repeating it: health and disease do not just “happen” to us. In this modern society, we basically do not need to worry anymore about hygiene, viruses, bacteria and the like. What is killing us today is “too much food”, “too much of the wrong food”, and our “sedentary life”. These diseases cannot be prevented or reversed with any miracle diet, nor miracle products. It is all about awareness, knowledge, and understanding of some basic things – food and lifestyle. And when the basics are understood, then it is just a matter of commitment to actually put into action those very simple concepts.

Qn 5: Where can our readers find out more about you, do you have a website, or a way to be contacted?

To find more about the book, as well as to order your copy (free delivery, worldwide!), please visit:

www.naturallydietstyle.com

To learn about our philosophy, to find some simple and good material to improve your everyday knowledge about food and nutrition, please visit:

www.thenutrivolution.com

(do check on that, you will also find some very interesting articles, and free recipes to suit both Asian and Western tastes!

And if you are more for the glance-type info and news, just follow us on our social media (Facebook and Instagram) at

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Nutrivolutionist/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nutrivolutionist/