When Vidya Balan took the stage at Galatta India’s Fan Festival in October 2024, she wasn’t there to talk about Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3. She was there to correct a decades-old assumption.
“It’s not fat, it’s inflammation,” she told the room, describing a regimen called Elimination of Inflammation that had done what years of dieting hadn’t.
The clip has since crossed five million views — and went on to rewire how urban India talks about weight.
The Balan Effect
Balan wasn’t the only one listening to her body’s static. THR India cover star Jyotika lost nine kgs in three months on the same principle, and publicly thanked Balan for pointing her to it — proof that this is a rare Bollywood trend that actually gets passed down like a family recipe, minus the ghee.
“I learned about my gut, digestion, inflammatory foods, and food balancing,” Jyotika said of the experience in multiple interviews. “More importantly, I understood its impact on my well-being and moods.”
For Aamir Khan, the entry point wasn’t a mirror but a migraine. Months of the affliction led him, also on Balan’s suggestion, to an anti-inflammatory diet — and the 18 kgs he shed turned out to be a side effect, not the goal. “It worked like magic,” he said in an interview with Lifestyle Asia, adding that the migraines had eased considerably too. Girish Mathrubootham, the Freshworks founder, has credited the same approach with cutting his insulin dependency by 80 per cent.
Samantha Ruth Prabhu’s version of the story cuts against the weight-loss narrative. Diagnosed with myositis, a rare autoimmune condition that inflames the muscles, she’s spoken about being on a strict anti-inflammatory diet not to shrink but to manage a chronic illness — a reminder that for some, this isn’t a trend at all, but treatment.
What connects all of them is Amura, a Chennai-based health-tech firm that prescribes individualised diet and lifestyle protocols based on blood work and consultation. Its founder, Saravanan Balakrishnan, came to the idea the hard way: his father and grandfather both died of heart attacks at 41, and he was diagnosed with diabetes at the same age. He reversed it through nutrition alone.
“Our patients might be dealing with bloating, weight issues, acid reflux, but they might not have found a solution with their doctor,” he says. “In my own case, it was rice. An allergy test showed me how my body reacted to it — now, if I eat rice continuously, I get brain fog. I’ve learnt to counter that.”
Beyond The Buzzword
Inflammation itself is nothing new — what’s new is that everyone’s suddenly talking about it.
“It’s not that inflammation was uncommon among Indians before this,” says nutritionist Maria George, whose practice focuses on weight loss and holistic wellbeing. “It’s the body reacting to an emergency, a lot like fever counters infection. But we’re seeing so many chronic cases because of lifestyle — poor sleep, ultra-processed food, no exercise.” The triggers, she says, vary wildly from person to person, which is exactly why a one-size-fits-all diet rarely works. “Earlier, clients were focused on weight loss alone. Now they know inflammation is real, and they ask how to help their bodies fight it.”
Ishi Khosla, nutritionist and author of 4G Code to Good Health, traces much of it back to grain and sugar choices. “Until recently, obesity was always treated as a calorie issue, but inflammation plays a role in causing it too,” she says. “Certain diseases begin as a result of inflammation, and that same inflammation can trigger other diseases — it’s a loop, and it begins with the food grains and sugars in one’s diet. Secondary causes include certain antibiotics, alcohol and vaccines. It begins in the gut.”
Handle With Care
For all the star power behind it, both experts are wary of the diet becoming another wellness shortcut. Balakrishnan is blunt about who Amura turns away, saying, “If a client comes to us with a heart condition, we will tell them to find another option.” George says he has seen people self-prescribe, after “watching a few videos on YouTube or Reels without understanding what’s actually causing their inflammation. Turmeric shots or ginger might work for one person and do nothing for you. Nothing works in isolation.”
Khosla goes further, flagging a pattern of extreme behaviour among clients — some restricting themselves to 800 to 1,000 calories a day, others obsessively tracking protein while over-exercising, which she notes is its own trigger for inflammation. Cutting out entire food groups without guidance, she warns, risks malnutrition. “The body needs micronutrients that may have come from the grains you’re eliminating. That needs to be tracked, not assumed,” she says.
Still, neither dismisses it as a fad. “Good gut health comes with so many benefits that it’s bound to improve quality of life,” says George. “By eliminating trigger foods, you stabilise your moods and you feel energised through the day. Sleep improves too — and the benefits show up fast.”