Health Wealth

In conversation with Dr Monica Mahajan, medical director of Max Multi speciality hospital Panchsheel Park and director of internal medicine at Max Healthcare

Every year teaches us something new—about the world around us, about our own selves. Health information is all around us and the disease outbreaks and lifestyle trends (read: oatzempic diets and charcoal water) of 2024 have no doubt left us with new perspectives towards our wellbeing. But have you ever wondered what those who spend all their time within the health sector learned in the year gone by?

In this episode, we are joined by Dr Monica Mahajan, who opens about the personal and professional wisdom she gained in 2024. Humourous and deeply insightful, Dr Mahajan’s health advice is more than asking you to stop living a ‘sedentary lifestyle’. Instead, this is a conversation that can guide you towards better connecting with your own body, making wiser (but not wholly difficult) lifestyle choices and discovering how hospital care is advancing to meet the growing burden of human diseases.

Tune in to find out a senior doctor manages her own stress, and why she includes medical fiction on her reading list!

Produced by Anna Priyadarshini

Sound mix by Nitin Rawat

Do you ever find moments when your life seems to be nothing more than a series of deadlines, presentations, attendance sheets, performance reviews, and that ever-favourite HR term—‘feedback forms’? Has work-related stress increased in the 21st century, or have we simply become obsessed with a problem and abandoned the path to finding solutions? And why do the busiest days at work have to fall on birthdays, anniversaries and your best friend's wedding?

In this episode, integrative lifestyle medicine expert Luke Coutinho guides us towards simple, doable, impactful solutions to workplace stress. Using his six pillars for wellness, we discover how our diet, exercise, sleep, breath, emotional and spiritual choices can be adjusted to help increase our capacity to handle triggers.

Tune in to discover how to ensure work remains a part of life, not the governor of your happiness and peace of mind.

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Produced by Anna Priyadarshini

Sound mix by Nitin Rawat

What is leprosy, and why does it still affect so many lives in modern India? In the latest episode of Health Wealth, we are joined by Dr Ashok Agarwal, public health specialist and Managing Trustee of NLR India Foundation.

Leprosy is a bacterial infection that mainly affects the skin and nerves. While it is entirely curable, stigma and misinformation continue to isolate those affected. Why do such misconceptions persist? How can early detection and treatment help break the cycle of fear and discrimination?

Dr Agarwal explains that India shoulders a large share of global leprosy cases. Even with preventive therapies and improved treatments, reaching underserved communities remains a major hurdle. Stigma makes it even harder for people to seek timely help, leading to avoidable disabilities and social challenges.

This episode asks an important question: How can we shift our attitudes from exclusion to understanding? With awareness, early treatment, and community support, leprosy can not only be controlled but the lives of those affected can significantly improve.

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Produced by Anna Priyadarshini

Sound mix by Nitin Rawat

Have you ever consciously had less water in the hope that you wouldn’t have to use public toilets? Are you one of those who has tried just about every toilet hygiene product in the market—from pee sticks to pee sprays to portable jet sprays? This episode might just be the answer to all your urinary disease woes.

Dr Deepak Ragoori, Senior Consultant Urologist & Facility Director, Asian Institute of Nephrology and Urology Hyderabad join us. Together, we explore the causes, symptoms, and preventive and curative aspects of urinary tract infections (UTIs) in India in a conversation that is informative, factual and filled with insights on the impact of UTIs on all genders.

With the wedding and festival season around the corner, tune in to discover how to keep your bladder infection-free, whether cranberry juice will keep you safe and how to make water more attractive as a beverage option.

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Produced by Anna Priyadarshini

Sound mix by Sachin Dwivedi

Is autism a disease or a disorder, or neither? What determines which part of the spectrum a child will be on? And does pollution cause neuro-developmental disorders? While medical science is yet to determine the exact cause of autism, recent research is helping doctors understand better the many factors that can lead to changes in the brain of an infant.

This episode explains the causes and nature of autism. Dr Sheffali Gulati, professor and faculty-in-charge at the Child Neurology Division, Department of Pediatrics in AIIMS, New Delhi, has decades of experience with autism, and she shares her experiences and knowledge with us.

Tune in to learn more about autism, what families face when there is a diagnosis in the family, the importance of an early start to treatment and whether gluten, sugar and mobile phones can cause autism.

Produced by Anna Priyadarshini

Sound mix by Sachin Dwivedi

In this episode, we delve into the often-overlooked world of health insurance, with a special focus on how younger generations, or Gen Z, approach it. Many young adults, especially those with employer-provided plans, fail to fully understand their policies, which can lead to the underutilisation of valuable benefits.

In conversation with Tarun Mathur, Co-founder and CBO of PolicyBazaar.com, we explore the reasons behind this disconnect.

We also discuss the challenges in claiming insurance for mental health services, including privacy concerns, and how companies address these issues through confidential therapist hotlines.

So, how is health insurance evolving to match the diverse needs of individuals at different life stages? What steps are being taken to make the claims process smoother? And most importantly, how can we ensure that young adults understand and make the most of their insurance options?

Listen in as we attempt to uncover it all!

Produced by Anna Priyadarshini

Sound mix by Sachin Dwivedi

Does it sometimes feel like finding simple, clean food at a restaurant is a rarity? Menus are bursting with garnishes, flavours and innovation. Perfect for your next reel. But hardly any of it would be considered healthy and, at times, not even tasty. In the name of fusion and fashion, food made outside of our home kitchens comes loaded with fat, sugar, salt and unnecessary starches. The coating of grease left on top of our tongues from a sandwich, the sickly sweetness after one bite of dry cake, and the incredible thirst after a plate of fries are evidence that takeout is starting to be as unhealthy as packaged junk food (and with double the price tag!).

This episode was born out of a desperate hunt to find plain pancakes with no toppings in the national capital of Delhi. What was once common is now a herculean task to order. The standard butter and maple syrup on the side has been exchanged for Bischoff, Oreo, cereal crunch, flowers, cream cheese, ricotta cheese, whipped vanilla butter, and, on one menu, butter chicken.

To help us understand the evolution of our restaurant industry and the food we serve, we are joined by Chef Davinder Kumar, executive chef at Le Meridien and president of the Indian Culinary Forum. Having been a chef for over 50 years, he is able to bring perspective to the overcomplication of restaurant food, where the flavour and emotional core of a recipe are lost.

Tune in to learn how chefs can improve public health outcomes, how reliable calorie counts on a menu can be, and whether bacon in coffee makes sense to one of the country’s top chefs.

Produced by Anna Priyadarshini

Sound mix by Sachin Dwivedi

We all probably know someone who is living with type 2 diabetes, whether it's a family member, a friend, or a co-worker. The incidences of this complex lifestyle condition in India have increased rapidly, making our country the diabetes capital of the world today.

Diabetes is more than simply staying away from cakes and puddings. Managing it effectively every day, particularly during festivals or holiday seasons, can be challenging and confusing. This makes it important to raise awareness about the condition, not just for those living with it and their families, but for the community.

In this episode, we mark Diabetes Awareness Month with a comprehensive discussion on nutrition and lifestyle advice for diabetics. We are joined by Dr. Krishna Seshadri, Senior Consultant in Endocrinology and Diabetes at Apollo Hospital, Greams Road, Chennai, and Purvi Varma, Associate Director at Abbott and registered dietician.

Tune in to discover what a healthy meal plan looks like for managing your blood sugar, the difference between regular and diabetes-specific supplements and how to satiate your appetite healthily during Christmas, New Year and wedding season.

Produced by Anna Priyadarshini

Sound mix by Sachin Dwivedi

To breastfeed or not?

All mammals, humans included, breastfeed. But with medical advancements and alluring alternatives, breastfeeding has now become an option for many. Fuelling this choice is misinformation, shaming, anxiety and poor nutrition. Often, mothers give up breastfeeding because they either do not know any better, are suffering from health issues and lack of support to address them or simply do not have the energy to do so.

In this episode, nutritionist and lactation expert from Apollo Cradle Hospital in Delhi, Divya Malik Dhawan, helps solve myths and problems common to breastfeeding mothers. We discover the importance of breastmilk to infants and the best alternatives in cases where breastfeeding is not possible. In a world where air pollution, poor nutrition, and a lazy lifestyle are already creating health issues for infants—it is important that choices made are based on full information and factual awareness.

Tune in to find out support systems available for breastfeeding issues, the dark side of nipple shaming and why there is no such thing as a ‘bad’ mother.

Produced by Anna Priyadarshini

Sound mix by Sachin Dwivedi

Do you sometimes wonder—how exactly does my body shed fat? The internet is buzzing with weight loss diets and trends with a new one added every other week. High fibre, high fat, high protein, low carb, low sugar, gut cleanses—every diet puts forth a food group that will hopefully leave you satiated and ready for the festive season. But the truth is, none of it truly matters. One could be on a diet of cake and lose weight, albeit extremely unhealthily, while a diet of oatmeal could make you gain weight—it all boils down to how many calories you consume. To lose weight, you need to eat less calories so that your body burns its reserves of calories (often visible as that pouch on your belly).

In this episode, we discover the science behind weight loss and how a calorie-deficit diet works. We are guided through the experiences and wisdom of Dr Siddhant Bhargava, fitness and nutritional scientist and the co-founder of Food Darzee and InnerGize. Not only is this episode an excellent starting point for someone who wishes to understand the basics of calorie counting, but it also provides simple advice for maintaining discipline when it comes to your diet.

Tune in to learn all about calculating your required daily calories, new approaches in nutritional science and a nutritional scientist's own approach to well-being.

Produced by Anna Priyadarshini

Mixed by Kapil Dev Singh