Sitting at the dinner table, we often find ourselves complaining about the copious amounts of oil in our saalan, or perhaps the missing crunch from what look like overcooked vegetables. Can you blame us? Nutritional science is but a baby compared to other fields, and Dr Google has pretty much told us that we are not going to last as long as we had hoped. No wonder we are afraid of butter, egg yolks and most oils.

The truth is that the more research that goes into food – its nutritional value and best practices around cooking and consumption – the more we realise why ancient cultures such as ours come out on top in terms of nutrition and cooking practices. In Pakistan, we have had the benefit of amalgamating learnings from Islam and Ayurveda and married the best to help us get the most from what is on our plates.

Let’s take that saalan with oil as an example. While the oil quantities may be a tad excessive, our choice of the oil we use, the spices and herbs combined with the vegetables and meat (not to mention the chapati), usually make for a wholesome and complete meal. Let’s break this down a bit.

Spices such as turmeric increase the bioavailability of flavonoids and vitamins in the meat, allowing our system to capitalise on the benefits the vegetables and meat offer. Because the curcumin in turmeric is fat-soluble, it is necessary to consume it along with fat to benefit from its anti-inflammatory properties, which is why it makes perfect sense to cook turmeric in a reasonable amount of oil – a dry rub of turmeric on lean meat will only add flavour but none of the amazing cellular level benefits. Similarly, tomatoes (rich in Vitamin C) help the gut absorb more iron from red meat. The sulphur in onions used in traditional curries increases the bioavailability of the nutrients in the meat, while ginger and cumin aid digestion and act as antimicrobials, helping to protect the gut microbiome. They also stimulate the digestive juices so we can reap all the benefits of the food we eat. On the subject of gut microbiomes, Pakistan has a rich history of fermented foods as part of every meal in some way or another. Yoghurt and pickles make an appearance with, or after, almost every meal and lassi and kanji are two popular fermented drinks.

The oil our grandmothers used to cook were a far cry from the processed and tasteless ones we have become accustomed to. How many times have you found yourself complaining about the smell coming from the kitchen, only to find that a paratha is being cooked in ghee? We have, over time, become accustomed to not tasting the flavour of the oil we cook our food in – mainly because the oil is now ultra-processed to ensure that the taste of the other ingredients comes through. But, shouldn’t we expect olive oil to taste or even smell like olives? Yet, today when we use ghee, coconut or mustard oil to cook, we can’t taste it, which is why the minute our paratha smells like ghee, we don’t like the taste!

Ghee is now highly prized in the West for its anti-inflammatory and gut-healing properties. It is the butyrate in ghee that feeds healthy bacteria and promotes better gut health. Ghee also has one of the highest smoke points of any cooking medium, which means we don’t have to worry about the oxidative damage processed oils cause. The smoking point of mustard oil is in fact, even higher than ghee. Unfortunately, it is also unnecessarily processed in the West and has acquired a bad reputation for containing too much hexane. Seed oils too are ultra processed and cause damage to the delicate tissue in our bodies.

Now let’s look at the seemingly overcooked vegetables. Certain vegetables, for example, beans and lentils, can have a pretty nasty effect on the digestive system if they are not soaked or cooked appropriately – particularly legumes that contain large amounts of phytic acid – and this is often the reason why hing (asafoetida) is used when cooking legumes. Raw or semi-cooked vegetables can also be difficult for the digestive system to handle, and while some vegetables are easily digested and are more beneficial when eaten raw, others like spinach need to be cooked in order to be absorbed by the gut. So we are better off cooking certain vegetables until their fibre content has softened enough for our digestive tract to handle them, while their minerals become more easily absorbed by the body.

Our fruits, vegetables and grains are exposed to far fewer amounts of pesticides and chemicals compared to their Western counterparts. Our farming practices and the relatively small size of our farms reduce the need for the extensive use of pesticides and chemical fertilisers – and because bugs have not yet become super resistant to our pesticides, we can get away with much less genetic modification in our seeds, making our produce easier to digest and less toxic to our gut. Our fruit and vegetables have a distinctive and fresher taste. Pakistanis living abroad often report that they are unable to digest the wheat protein gluten at home, but can digest parathas when in Pakistan. Both pesticides and the genetic modification of seeds play a significant role in this disparity.

Scientists tell us to eat the foods our ancestors consumed, and Instagram tells us avocado on toast is the best way to start the day. Quinoa may be the gold standard for some, but it isn’t necessarily the Pakistani gut’s best friend. Brown rice is touted as healthier than white rice, but consuming it regularly can cause significant digestive distress such as gas and bloating.

But let’s go with the scientists who say that eating local or from within a 10-kilometre radius of where we live is best. Why so? For the simple reason that plant life has a superior immune response to the pollutants in the air compared to human beings. Therefore, the food grown near where we live is able to transfer that superior immune response to local pollutants to humans. In other words, when we consume these plants, we reap the benefits of those powerful bioflavonoids, making us more resilient to the potentially toxic exposure of local pollutants.

The study of nutrigenomics is a fairly new entrant in the world of science, and tells us about the way food speaks to our genes and how it tells our systems to behave in a certain way by pushing specific buttons. If our genes are inherited, there is an innate wisdom in continuing to eat as our ancestors used to, even if the healthy whole foods of yore are no longer quite the same. Our genes are less likely to be affected by environmental factors if we can maintain a balance between indulging in what is harmful and maintaining a healthy diet. If we continue to go down the path of ultra-accessible, hyper-palatable processed food, we will eventually fail to build up the same strong DNA we inherited and pass it down to future generations – and it goes without saying that we will also cut our own life span. Pakistan has already become one of the countries with the highest rates of diabetes and childhood non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. It needs to be reminded that we were never programmed to eat a diet with ultra-processed pizzas and burgers. Our genetics don’t support this lifestyle, as delicious and convenient as it may be. If you want to make the healthiest choices for your body, choose traditional over all else!

Nazish Chagla is a functional nutritionist and health coach. nazish@goodtoglow.net