Deepika Padukone
SYNOPSIS
Fair and thin is beautiful is a fad that has developed since 1920s in the western world and since 1990s in India. Revealing dresses and promotion by fashion industry and by commercial advertising have boosted this fad.
One could benevolently smile at the use of fairness creams and weight loss supplements and fad diets were these not so harmful to people’s health.
Fairness creams may make the skin fairer by a maximum of 20%. But excessive use of these creams can severely damage the skin and increase the risk of skin cancer.
A healthy, glowing, skin is beautiful whether it is white or tan or dark. To get such a skin, wash skin with clean water at least three times a day, use moisturiser and sun screen lotion, drink 6-8 glasses of liquids every day, eat anti-oxidant rich fruits, and exfoliate weekly.
Fit not thin should be the mantra to follow. Body Mass Index (BMI) is a good measure of overweight but not of percentage of fat in the body and its distribution over body parts. Balanced diet and exercise can ensure that you remain fit and within the ideal BMI range. Avoid fad diets. These are risky.
Cherish yourself as you are, what you are. No matter what shape or size you are, feel like a beautiful woman.
INTRODUCTION
If you are applying loads of fairness creams to get a glowing skin like that of Madhubala, or are consuming loads of weight-loss supplements – diet pills – to get a figure like that of Deepika Padukone – stop. You will get neither. Instead, you may seriously harm yourself.
Fair skin and thin body were not prerequisite of beauty in Indian culture. But lately, they are.
Madhubala
FAIR SKIN
Indians’ skin is shades of brown and the South Indians are shades of dark. Their obsession with fair skin is therefore strange. This strange fixation is best reflected in the popular bhajan from the 1978 film ‘Satyam Shivam Sundaram’: ‘Yashomati mayyaa se bole Nandlaala, Raadha kyon gori main kyon kaala’ (यशोमती मैया से बोले नंदलाला, राधा क्यों गोरी मैं क्यों काला)
It is this obsession that has boosted the skin fairness cream market in India from zero to Rs 1,400 Cr a year in just 44 years, that is, since Hindustan Unilever launched the first fairness cream, Fair and Lovely, in 1975. The market is set to cross Rs. 5,000 Cr by 2023. Today the market is flooded with expensive whitening creams. The more expensive ones priced at Rs 10,000 to Rs 16,000.
Asha Parekh
Where did this obsession come from? In early miniatures, and early photographs of royalty, maharajas and their maharanis, are not depicted as fair skinned. So, fair was not a prerequisite of beauty at that time. Marco Polo said about India “that the darkest man is here the most highly esteemed and considered better than others who are not so dark. … people portray and depict their gods and their idols black and their devils white as snow.”
THIN BODY
Asha Parekh
Thin as a measure of beauty is also of recent origin in India. Woman’s dresses in India – sari, salwar-kurta – do not show off the body. Beauty in India was associated with face. Madhubala, Vyjayanthimala, Meena Kumari, Nanda, Asha Parekh – the most celebrated female Bollywood stars of the 1950 -60s – all had beautiful faces. Almost all their photos are of their face; few if any are of the full body, and in these they are seen as not thin. None of them was Tun Tun, the very successful but heavy female-comedian of that era; but none of them would pass muster today as slim and trim. The modern-day actress – Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt, Yami Gautam, Disha Patani and others – are slim and trim though they would be hard pressed to match the beauty of the faces of the heroines of the yore.
Vyjayanthimala
Were it not so hazardous for health, one could smile at present day Indian woman’s fixation with fair skin and thin body. But woman’s excessive use of products that promise fairer skin and significant weight loss, without actually doing so, is dangerous to their health.
Yami Gautam
HARM DONE BY FAIRNESS CREAM
Let’s look at fairer skin. Skin color is determined by melanin, a natural skin pigment. More the melanin, darker the color. Race and genetics determine the amount and structure of melanin in skin. Melanin protects the skin from UV rays and hinders skin cancer. Fairness creams block sun rays and thus reduce secretion of melanin. The consequent reduction in the amount of melanin in skin makes the skin fairer, but increases the skin cancer risk.
Fairness creams contain harmful bleaching agent such as hydroquinone, mercury, lead, nickel, chromium and high levels of steroids. Therefore, excessive use of these creams can cause thinning of skin, discoloration of face, severe acne, hypersensitivity to sun, unwanted facial hair growth, skin allergy and even skin cancer. Bleaching products have Ammonia and hydrochloric acid and excessive bleaching can cause minor, and even severe, burn.
Fairness creams can make the skin a maximum of 20% fairer. Are the risks these creams pose worth taking just to get a 20% fairer skin?
GET GLOWING SKIN THE NATURAL WAY
A healthy, glowing, skin is beautiful whether it is white or tan or dark. To get such a skin, wash skin with clean water at least three times a day, use moisturiser and sun screen lotion and umbrella to protect against sun, drink 6-8 glasses of liquids every day, eat anti-oxidant rich fruits, and exfoliate weekly. Exfoliation removes the dead skin cells at the outermost layer of the skin. Also, take Vitamin C: it increases cell turnover, protects against sun damage, and increases the production of collagen and elastin, the two vital components of a healthy and glowing skin. But if you must, then use aloe-based fairness creams. These are best for Asian weather and for the tanned skin of Asians. Finally, because of the dangers inherent in the use of fairness creams, use them only under the supervision of a dermatologist.
Mala Sinha
IS THIN BEAUTIFUL?
Revealing dresses, promotion by the fashion industry and commercial advertising have made thinness not only desired but a required a goal. The desire and the societal pressure to be thin has generated a booming worldwide weight loss and management market of US $ 175.94 billion in 2017. It is set to rise to US $ 245.51 billion by 2022. Weight loss supplements are part of this market.
WEIGHT LOSS SUPPLEMENTS
Weight loss supplements seldom deliver on their promise. And just because they are available over the counter (OTC), without a prescription, doesn’t mean they are safe. More often than not, they are dangerous to your health.
It is true that many supplements are harmless, and a few may even be effective at burning fat or boosting metabolism. These supplements may contain ingredients like chickweed, bee pollen, fennel, guar gum, psyllium, caffeine, guarana, synephrine, B-complex vitamins, green tea, hydrocitric acid, flax seed, and chondroitin. These ingredients generally do not harm the body and have few side effects.
HARM WEIGHT LOSS SUPPLEMENTS DO
But many supplements contain ingredients that have been banned because they cause increased heart rate, high blood pressure, agitation, diarrhea, sleeplessness, kidney problems, liver damage and rectal bleeding. Taking an excessive dose of such supplements, or combining supplements, can raise blood pressure to dangerously high levels and thus increase the risk of a heart attack or stroke; can cause diarrhea, fluid loss, and an electrolyte imbalance; and can increase the risk of life-threatening organ failure.
The problem is that more often than not the ingredients of the supplements are not clearly spelled out. So, the consumer does not know if they contain harmful ingredients. And supplements are not subject to regulations though they often contain pharmaceutical or harmful ingredients. It is left to the manufacturers to ensure that they are safe and are produced under safe conditions. The manufacturers often fail to comply with these requirements. The supplements are not based on rigorous clinical trials or scientific evidence. Therefore, their effectiveness, and the harm they might cause, is not known.
Finally, focusing too much on weight, body shape and food, may cause eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia and binge-eating. These can harm the heart, digestive system, bones, and teeth and mouth, and can lead to other diseases. The teen and young adult are most prone to eating disorders.
FIT IS BEAUTIFUL
Thin is not necessarily beautiful. Fit is almost always beautiful. So thin is out. Fit is in. Fit not thin is the mantra to follow.
Everyone can be fit. But not everyone can be slim and trim and athletic. Because body shape is determined by bone structure. Vidya Balan, Sonakshi Sinha, Rani Mukerji do not have the athletic body of Deepika Padukone but are no less attractive for that reason.
Overweight and body fat are to be avoided. Body Mass Index (BMI) is a good measure of overweight and obesity but a poor measure of percent of body fat and its distribution. Fat around abdomen is always bad. But fat on women’s breast or thighs has societal acceptance. We should aim to remain within the healthy range of BMI (18.5 – 24.9). For women, waist should be less than 35 inches.
WEIGHT LOSS THE NATURAL WAY
The route to healthy weight is through healthy diet and exercise. Calorie intake through diet should be equal to calorie consumption by basal metabolic rate (BMR) and by exercise. Women need about 2000 kcal a day to maintain weight; and about 1200-1500 kcal a day to lose weight without adverse effects on body.
A healthy diet contains: *Staples like whole-grain cereals (wheat, barley, rye, maize or rice) or starchy tubers or roots (potato, yam, taro or cassava) *Legumes (lentils and beans) *Plenty of fruits and vegetables of different colors, especially dark green leafy vegetables like spinach *Foods from animal sources (meat, fish, eggs and fat-free or low-fat milk, yogurt) *Less fat, less sugars, less salt, less processed foods *At least 6-8 glasses of fluid every day *No eating for three hours before going to bed *No tobacco *Green tea.
Exercise should include: *Yoga Asanas like Surya Namaskar, Bhujangasana, Cat Stretch, Warrior Pose *Pranayam and meditation *Aerobics like swimming, cycling, walking, running, dancing – anything that raises the heart rate to 55 to 85 percent of your maximum heart rate for at least 20 to 30 minutes * strength and weight training.
SPECIAL DIETS
There are thousands of diets. Some of these, like the popular Atkins Diet developed in the 1960s, are low-carb diets that promises weight loss without any adverse effects. But latest research shows that people on low-carb diets are at higher risk of premature death from heart and cerebrovascular diseases and from cancer. And that such diet is therefore unsafe and should be avoided.
The latest diet-fad is the mushroom diet which promises to help women shed fat from waist, hips and thighs — but not the bust. This is a false claim. Because food cannot spot reduce body fat.
Best therefore to follow the time tested and scientifically validated balanced diet. And achieve weight loss by reducing calorie intake and by exercise.
CONCLUSION
If you eat right and exercise right, you will not need the harmful weight-loss supplements or fad-diets.
Cherish yourself as you are, what you are. As Joanna Krupa says, “No matter what shape or size you are, feel confident in your own skin … feel like a beautiful woman, no matter what!”
