When Food Doubles Up As Medicine

Born out of Sumit Nanda's personal transformation and health journey towards an Ayurvedic form of living, EGA Wellness, conceptualised in 2016, isa preventive care innovation company with a vision to enable disease-free lives by fostering food as medicine. Ayurveda helped Nanda tackle lifestyle diseases like migraine, blood pressure, diabetes, weight issues. 

“EGA Wellness was born out of my personal health transformation experience. I grew up with a sensitive throat and had chronic ENT problems during my teenage years. My throat used to choke and hurt almost every second month. I frequently got cold and cough. Every doctor that I visited gave me antibiotics to prevent and cure the problem, but no one helped eradicate it,” says Nanda.

He adds: “I got my tonsils operated on at the age of 25. However, that did not solve my problem as I kept falling sick. It became more chronic, and I was continuously prescribed anti-allergy medicines and antibiotics as doctors had no other cure. Then, I tried to follow a very healthy lifestyle. I exercised regularly and ate ‘healthy’.

“By the age of 35, I was diagnosed with high blood pressure. I started having a lot of headaches which doctors called migraine. What used to initially occur once a month became once a week and then almost every second day. I could not attend any work or social appointments on most days as I could not even keep my eyes open by the evening. I was almost popping a painkiller every morning as soon as I woke up.”

Change in mindset

The pandemic, in Nanda’s view, has irrevocably changed the consumer mindset to seek out healthier choices, immunity supporting products and a preventive care lifestyle.

Thanks to the pandemic, there has never been a better time for Ayurveda than now, says Nanda. Not just India, but the world is awakening to health and wellness that is in balance with nature in every way, whether it is veganism, eating close to source, transparent ingredients or the manner in which the world has adopted yoga. Ayurveda has been re-found by millions of Indians and this way of life is only growing.

Says Nanda, “We are on a mission to reduce drug dependence in the world for lifestyle diseases and instead make preventive care commonplace, powered by Ayurveda. Personalised nutrition may be in the news only now, but it is as old as Ayurveda and it is at our core. Each body constitution is different based on the five elements of nature -- space, air, fire, water and earth. These elements come together in unique combinations at conception and influenced by the environment to create three predominant doshas, that which can go out of balance, or body types.”

Holistic care

All of EGA Wellness’s products are made as per the science and wisdom of the original Ayurveda texts. They offer personalised diet plans and lifestyle change recommendations through online consultations with their in-house Ayurveda experts.

All this sets them apart from both unorganised Ayurveda which may not be able to scale up in an increasingly digital world and the hyper-organised large-scale manufacturers of Ayurveda products who are unable to personalise products or diet plans for their customers.

Today, EGA Wellness is one of the fastest growing Ayurvedic brands based in South-east Asia, engaging more than 6,000 loyal members through four clinic locations across Singapore. Staffed with five dedicated Ayurveda doctors and researchers who have more than 75 years of experience collectively, EGA Wellness is passionate about supporting clients through their journeys towards better health through its wellness clinics as well as its online channels. EGA wellness now has its base in Singapore as well as India.