Engineering a natural way of healing

After being diagnosed with a life-threatening liver condition in 2012, Rajat Trehan turned to herbal and natural remedies inspired by Ayurveda to find a cure for the disease. Within seven months, he was fit as a fiddle. With a deep desire to learn and practice clinical nutrition, the qualified engineer enrolled himself at UC Berkley for a doctorate in the subject. This is his story... a journey that worked out beautifully for him while helping him connect people with plants more intimately through herbal and natural extracts and holistic nutrition

A well-known nutritionist based out of New Delhi, Rajat Trehan has done his B.E in Production Engineering, from the University of Pune (now called Savitribai Phule Pune University) in the year 1992. It was in April 2012 that he was diagnosed with severe liver damage. He started nutritional treatment for himself as he knew that his liver was damaged due to his wrong lifestyle and improper diet. He knew, from his school days, that liver is the only organ in our body which can regenerate itself, therefore he decided to treat himself with a proper diet, exercise and nutritional extracts. He treated himself for six months and in November 2012, he was cured.

As for his sudden career transition, it is an interesting story. He has been associated with Landmark, a personal training and development organisation, for the last nine years now. In one of their programmes called Self Expression and Leadership, one is required to take up a community project. He took a project to make people aware of the relationship between diet and diseases, nutrition and health and the project was called ‘Heal Ur Body’.

Tell us how did you start your career in clinical nutrition.

We established Heal Ur Body in 2012 but then it was the name of my community project. Yes, I did study plant nutrition and then received a doctorate in clinical nutrition from the University of California Berkeley. It was a great experience studying at Berkeley. It taught me how to compound herbs and create targeted formulas, run a clinic and become a skilled clinician, conduct a thorough nutrition assessment and create appropriate recommendations.

Then, I started my practice in India. I wanted to create awareness about my work in India because the West is now very much aware of this kind of treatment. I spoke with a gastroenterologist in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania who told me that people are aware of the benefits of turmeric powder and during pains, they take turmeric powder mixed in either water or milk. Many companies in the US are now manufacturing turmeric capsules wherein they extract curcumin from turmeric. Curcumin is the principal curcuminoid of turmeric. Likewise, many US companies are also extracting compounds from garlic, ginger, gooseberries and many other herbs from India. Phyto-nutrients like lycopene are extracted from tomatoes which prevent heart disease; hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis) and cancers of the prostate, breast, lung, bladder, ovaries, colon, and pancreas. This made me realise that it is our duty to make Indians aware of our legacy and to treat them with these extracts.

What kind of products and treatments do you offer?

Our treatments for various illnesses are based on nutritional extracts along with organic and plain spices, natural salts, blended spices, special spices such as cloves, black cardamom, etc. which are unadulterated, uncontaminated, 100% pure and natural. We also have herbal juices like amla, triphala and aloe juices, which again are 100% natural. We have herbal powders like wheatgrass, triphala and amla powder. We also have herbal skincare products, Ayurvedic arks and herbal teas.

Though there is a demand for natural beauty and personal care products, but are there many takers for the Indian traditional Ayurvedic system of medicine and natural extracts?

Yes, there are many takers now as more and more people are now aware of the potential side effects of other systems of treatment. However, we do conduct seminars to make people aware of the benefits of natural extracts.

Is it easy to convince your clients about the benefits and the healing powers of natural products?

I don’t have to convince anybody, my new patients are referred by people who have been treated by me. Hence, I never faced any problems. The only problem I face sometimes is that natural nutritional extracts are expensive and take their own time to treat illnesses. Therefore, people looking for immediate results are not recommended for this type of treatment.

"I don’t have to convince anybody, my new patients are referred by people who have been treated by me. Hence, I never faced any problems. The only problem I face sometimes is that natural nutritional extracts are expensive and take their own time to treat illnesses"

Could you explain how your products can cure a diabetic or someone suffering from constipation?

The basic concept is that our body is made up of essential nutrients. Food is something which is utilised by our body. The need for food begins with life itself because it is only through food that we get essential components for life and growth. Throughout our lives, we use nutrition for the repair and maintenance of our body. Even functions like digestion of food, respiration, beating of the heart or growth of hairs and nails, blinking of eyelids requires a certain amount of energy. This energy is provided by nutrients. Many people get confused with the word nutrition; nutrition basically means the combination of processes by which we utilise food. The food which we consume is utilised by the process of digestion, absorption, transport, storage, metabolism and elimination for the purpose of maintenance of life, growth, and normal functioning of organs and production of energy. We do advise diet plans or advanced diet plans if the disease is at an earlier stage. Eating right can treat constipation.

Are natural products cheaper than allopathic medicines?

Since these nutritional extracts are made of high-quality raw ingredients, they are a bit expensive. The incentive is that people do get cured and also they don’t have any side effects. These products are used in combination with other nutrients and that’s why the total cost is expensive. However, if people come during the early stages of their illness the cost of treatment is lower than what it is when we treat during the last stages.

What kind of challenges do you face whilst counseling your clients?

Many start asking for immediate results. They think that I have a magic wand which I can use to cure them immediately. Nutritional healing is time-consuming and long-lasting. People have to understand this. Other challenges are when patients are undergoing some other treatment at the same time. In such cases, they are asked to reduce the other treatment during the course of our nutritional treatment. Like in diabetes, we need to reduce the medication after some weeks.

What are some of the most common nutritional mistakes you observe in your clients?

The most common mistake is they hear something is healthy and without knowing about their body they start consuming these products. Youngsters generally go to the gym and take heavy protein supplements without knowing that it may impact their kidneys.

How important is exercise?

Exercise is extremely important and it is good to do moderate exercise daily. Excessive exercising actually produces more free radicals which in turn harms our body. Free radicals increase the oxidative stress of our body which is the real cause of a various type of cancers and other degenerative diseases.

How do you think Heal ur Body can change society or culture?

We want each and every human being to understand what they eat and how it is going to impact their body. We want to make them aware that there is a strong relation between diet and disease. When there is any deficiency in any of the macro or micronutrients, it leads to diseases. Taking drugs and chemicals to treat those diseases needs more nutrients and thus no one gets out of that vicious circle. Our body is made of natural elements and recognises natural things rather than chemicals. However, we are not saying that allopathic treatment is not required, in case of an emergency we have to go for that therapy. My best advice is that let us not invite that kind of emergency situations.