Mumbai Cafes leave diabetics hungry for choice

Much of the discussion surrounding diabetes on the occasion of World Diabetes Day focussed on the importance of a proper diet, both for prevention of the disease and the management and regulation of it.

With the responsibility of following a careful diet falling squarely on the individual, to what extent are eating options in the city diabetic-friendly? DNA spoke to two diabetics who claim that eateries in the city do nothing to help them maintain their strict diets.

To put their claim to the test, DNA decided to accompany Shilpa Kakwani Ali, 32, and her friend Puja Chhabria, 34, (both Type 1 diabetics since childhood) to four well-known coffee shops in the city to see if they could get a bite to eat. At the end of each visit, Ali and Chhabria rated the coffee shops on a scale of one to five according to their satisfaction levels.

First up was a Costa Coffee outlet in Bandra where the women couldn’t even order a cup of coffee since there was no skimmed milk to serve the coffee with. “We always have skimmed milk because un-skimmed milk is not only high in calories but raises our sugar levels,” said Chhabria.

None of the baked goods at the food counter worked for Ali because they “had too much yeast and baking soda” and Chhabria said she could possibly have a chicken salad and only a quarter of a chicken sandwich since it was made from bread. Once outside, both women rated their Costa experience a 2 on 5.
At Gloria Jean’s Coffee, skimmed milk was on offer but the food counter had no salads and nothing else fit the bill. “We can’t even have the iced tea because they don’t serve it without sugar,” said Ali. The women gave Gloria Jean’s a 2 on 5 as well.

The Cafe Coffee Day outlet was slightly better because of the availability of salads as well as skimmed milk. But again the amount of food that the women could consume was very limited. It garnered a score of 2.5 on 5.

With popular coffee chains missing the mark, Chhabria suggested the high-end cafe; Basilico, an exclusive Bandra eatery. The women finally got a decent meal but at quite a price. The women rated Basilico a 3.5 on 5.

“I can have a few things here because I can ask the chefs to custom-make it for me,” said Chhabria.

Added Ali, “Even so, they don’t have a special section on the menu. And because chefs are not very well trained at most places, we often don’t get exactly what we ask for.” Chhabria agreed, “I have to announce to the waiters at most restaurants I go to that I’m a diabetic because if I generally ask for low calorie food with less oil or carbohydrates, they don’t really do much about it. It becomes a bit embarrassing at times.”

Ali mentioned how the lack of healthy options for diabetics often forces children to cheat on their diet. “You can’t always feed teenagers at home. So they go out to these joints and end up eating the wrong thing because they have no other choice. For a country of over 60 million diabetics, it is a crying shame.”