WOMAN TO KNOW

A Friend We All Need: Dt. Gurmeet Gujral

When is it too late to pursue your dreams? Once you are beyond the threshold of thirty years and have to settle with whatever you have? Or when you are married? Once you have kids? Well, to find out ‘We The Women’ has brought to you about the journey of another thriving woman of Jammu. Let’s dive into the journey of Gurmeet Gujral.

In her thirties, Gurmeet decided to pursue Maters of Science in Dietetics and Food Service Management, when her children were grown up enough to take care of themselves. And her dream became the dream project of her family but before we elaborate that, let’s first know who she is, what is she professing and about the field she is blooming in.
Today, Gurmeet is a certified Food & Nutritionist/Dietitian, executive member India Dietetic Association (J&K Chapter) and a proud fellow of the Nutritionist Entrepreneurship Program. Gurmeet established her first clinic in SDDM hospital, Channi, Jammu in 2015.
“In just one year, I was humbled by the most enthusiastic and over-whelming response from the clients. In fact, I was approached by another hospital Medi-Aid Diagnostic, which invited me to set up another clinic in the premises of their hospital. About 3 months back, Medanta Medi-consult Centre (extension of Medanta, Gurgaon), invited me to give them a dieticians cover during their visit to Jammu every month,” shares Gurmeet.
In this short period of time, Gurmeet has established herself as a renowned dietitian. Today, she boasts to have more than thousand clients. She has been awarded for being the Best Practicing Dietician of J&K by Kavinder Gupta- Hon’ble Speaker, J&K legislative Assembly; Women achiever award 2017 (TOI). She has been honored by the J&K Police Head Quarters at Samba district for holding an interactive and successful program for their troops and the staff.
Gurmeet believes that the over-whelming success in what was a uphill journey is majorly due to her approach towards her clients’ problems, which is based on deep sincerity, absolute honesty, compelling empathy.
She adds on that it is very important that you communicate on the client’s level of understanding and whenever required, giving decisive emphasis on the treatment and relief to the patient than the cost of the treatment.
“I am thrilled by overwhelming response from my clients. I believe that the kind of response you receive from your client is directly in proportion to the quality of service you provide,” says Gurmeet.
For the gust of air, Gurmeet not only has her parents, Savinder kour and Tirath Singh Chahal, but her parents-in-law Lt. Sant Kour and Lt. Deep Singh Gujral, to thank for. “I had finished my masters when I got married but I pursued M.Sc (DFSM) a few years later in my marriage. It was a long lost dream,” shares Gurmeet. She further adds on, “It was my parents-in-law who motivated me to start a clinic. My father-in-law also mentored me to make it a reality.”
Now, Gurmeet is inclined towards conducting/participating in programs organized to make laymen aware about the relevance and importance of proper diet at various fronts of life and wishes to hold talks at various institutions and communities. Gurmeet also offer free-consultation to patients with the life threatening ailments, especially the cancer patients on their Chemotherapy diet and to those who are below poverty line.
“I owe my whatever little success I have achieved, entirely to the trust and confidence of my clients, So as token of my gratitude to my clients for their trust and faith in me and to the society , in general I do the little I can,” expresses Gurmeet.
For a layperson, being a ‘Dietitian’ is all about losing or gaining weight but to make people aware of the other aspects was Gurmeet’s first battle. She highlights that it is not merely about that. She practices therapeutic diet. What does that mean?
Well, a therapeutic diet is a meal plan that controls the intake of certain foods or nutrients for therapeutic purposes. It is part of the treatment of a medical condition and are normally prescribed by a physician and planned by a dietician. A therapeutic diet is usually a modification of a regular diet. It is modified or tailored to fit the nutrition needs of a particular person. Therapeutic diets are modified for nutrients, texture, and/or food allergies or food intolerances.
Common reasons therapeutic diets may be ordered in cases in which it is required to maintain nutritional status or restore nutritional status or correct nutritional status. Yes, it is also practiced to decrease calories for weight control or to provide extra calories for weight gain. But it is beneficial in case of diabetes as it is incorporated to balance the amounts of carbohydrates, fat and protein, in order to keep glucose level at control.
It is also utilized if there are specific requirements such as greater amount of a nutrient such as protein or to decrease the amount of a nutrient such as sodium. For those who are prone to allergies or shows signs of food related intolerance it is affective to exclude the foods causing it. In case of elderly or injured people it is also provided for texture modifications due to problems with chewing and/or swallowing.
Gurmeet points out, “Both physical and mental health of women is substantially affected by factors. The rate of PCOD/PCOS, Thyroid imbalance, Insulin resistance, anemia, diabetes, depression, breakdown/anger episodes, and fatigue, among women is ever increasing. And then there are phenomenon like, puberty, pregnancy, child-birth, pre-menopause, menopause, bone shedding, and osteoporosis and so on. Therefore, it becomes very important for the feeder at the home to be careful about what is she feeding on.”
Speaking about the trending eating practices among girls and even grown up women Gurmeet says, “If you want to damage your body by depriving it from essential nutrients; want dead and pale skin, hair fall and low energy, go for fad diet. But the truth is all those sacrifices to reduce weight do not even give long-lasting results. As soon as you will resume your former diet your former weight will knock with few extra pounds.”
She further talks about nutrient supplements. According to her, if you are not on a restricted diet prescribed by your doctor, that is depriving you of certain nutrients; you should not rely on supplements for your daily nutritional needs.
She suggests making up for the required nutrients with proper diet. “A three-meal plan is not sufficient for today’s need. That leads to inappropriate eating habits of eating less or in excess. If you are worried about not eating sufficiently or over-eating, five-meal plan could be a solution,” she advices.
Gurmeet’s message to women out there aptly says, “It should be a must for every woman to be very careful about what is she taking in. You could reach your full potential and do your best only if you treat yourself right. In case, you are in-charge of the kitchen, it adds on to your responsibility because you not only have to make sure that your family gets their meal on time, but also make sure that they are eating right. Therefore, it is pertinent for you to be more aware and proactive.”