Not only was India wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant considered extremely fortunate to have survived a car accident in December last year, but many believed it would be highly unlikely for him to be back on his feet playing cricket anytime soon owing to the injuries his body had suffered.
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However, six months post the accident, the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) and NCA (National Cricket Academy) medical staff were more than just impressed with the way Pant had recovered. He had begun walking without the help of crutches and could climb the stairs without any individual support.
Much to the delight of the fans, a video of him batting at a local match in Bengaluru had gone viral on the day of India’s independence anniversary a couple of weeks ago. However, the miraculous recovery would have not been this possible so quickly had it not been for the contribution of a certified nutritionist in his life.
Unable To Eat And Digest Food Properly After Car Accident, Rishabh Pant Was Served Khichdi For 20 Days Post Surgery
As per a recent article from DT NEXT, the nutritionist is Shweta Shah, founder of EatFit24/7, who has also worked alongside a host of Indian celebrities namely Katrina Kaif, Deepika Padukone, Harbhajan Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Gautam Gambhir, to name a few. Pant, in fact, had acquired Shweta’s services before his unfortunate accident, upon the suggestion of former India captain MS Dhoni.
Pant had reportedly suffered tears in three key knee ligaments, had two cuts on his forehead, hurt his right wrist, ankle, and toe apart from abrasion injuries on his back. Post getting discharged in February after a successful Medial Collateral Ligament (MCL) surgery, Pant was put on Shweta’s special diet plan by the month of March. Alongside rehabilitation and physiotherapy, proper diet and nutrition was key to a swift recovery process.
However, due to heavy dosage of medicines, antibiotics, Pant’s stomach had become heavy and he also suffered other issues such as acidity, bloating, and urticaria. Resultantly, he was not able to eat and digest non-vegetarian food like chicken (his favourite), or even simple dishes like a dosa or even sweets.
Thus, the first step which Shweta had to take was to work on his gut health and activate the digestive juices. For the purpose, he had to intake what she would term as the ‘game changer’ powder named ‘De-bloat by Eatfit 24/7’. While the powder helped to absorb, digest, and assimilate the food along with the essential nutrients, it was also imperative to stay away from non-vegetarian food altogether.
Therefore, for the first 20 days, Rishabh only consumed Khichdi, made with Kollam rice, vegetables, yellow and chilka dals. A balanced meal, Khichdi, is not only easy on the stomach but is power-packed with a number of nutritious elements required by the body. A bowl of the same contains carbohydrates, protein, calcium, phosphorous, potassium, and dietary fibre.
“One doesn’t need microflora to digest khichdi, and eating it also meant Rishabh didn’t have gas or bloating. That khichdi regime was something which Rishabh said was the best diet he ever had in his life,” remarked Shweta.
Interestingly, even Dhoni had consumed only Khichdi during the entirety of ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 for reasons unrelated to his stomach or digestion problems.
Apart From Khichdi, What All Food Items Aided Rishabh Pant In Quick Recovery?
Later on, Pant began having rice, rotis, and buckwheat dosas as well along with Khichdi. Evening snacks consisted of tikkis, kebabs, sprouts, chaats, bhel, and gluten-free noodles, while dinner comprised of rice and chicken curry.
It is worth of a mention that non-vegetarian food formed part of his diet only 15 days after the khichdi period. Also, energy foods such as hemoglobin laddoos made of various seeds, desiccated coconut, almonds, walnuts, dates, raisins, nutmeg, honey and ghee, boiled beetroot and fresh fruits also formed a part of his diet gradually.
With Shweta now focusing on Rishabh’s fat and inch loss by potion control, she had credited Rishabh’s long-time-friend-cum-manager Puneet Solanki for diligently making sure he had arranged each and everything she had required for former’s diet implementation.
Not only did Solanki had all the required items purchased in advance, but he would also hand out appropriate directions to the chefs without fail every time there were changes made in the diet.
