Talking To Your Body: Hyannis Physician To Speak On New Book

Most adults understand that proper nutrition is important to maintaining good health, but Kumara Sidhartha, an internist practicing in Hyannis, drives that point home in a unique way in his new book “All My Secrets: Messages of Health from Your Body, Decoded” (Self Publishing, 2024).

Drawing on his years of practicing medicine, Sidhartha explains the effects of lifestyle choices on the body, helping to guide readers to healthier eating.

 In each of the book’s 10 chapters, a conversation takes place between a person and his or her body. In Chapter One, “Withering Alliance: Excessive Body Weight,” a 30-year-old woman named River who loves ice cream converses with Body. River asks Body why she can’t regulate her eating and lose weight. After explaining such things as the ease of obtaining unhealthy foods, Body says, “the perfect combination of sugar, salt, and saturated fat makes the brain feel pleasure and a bit of confusion, leading to wanting more of that food.” Body advises River that “Your mind and body can get out of balance.”

 While some people may say they do not want to know their body in a more intimate manner, Sidhartha’s message in the preface to his book is reassuring. “The truth is that the human body’s default position is to heal and thrive well.” The body sends signals “to inform of its likes and dislikes.” But do we pay attention? Communication is key, “as fundamental as open and honest communication is in any relationship,” he writes. In fact, “your body yearns for you to be more attuned with it.”

 Sidhartha said in an email interview last week that he began writing “All My Secrets” back in 2016. That was the same year he was honored by the American Cancer Society of New England for his efforts to prevent cancer by educating the community about nutrition. And by the way, Sidhartha defines “being nourished” in a broad way — yes, having proper food and water — but also “consuming positive information/news, or positive and healthy relationships.” He compares sleeping to “recharging the batteries of your phone or laptop in the night.”

He says he wrote the book to reach a wider audience than his patients. 

“The conversational format and structure of the book was an idea I used to make sure the readers are never feeling the sense of being told what to do but rather are naturally learning by observing a conversation while maintaining the freedom to choose their path to feeling well and strong,” he said. “The fact is, nobody, including me, likes being told what to do.”

 The stories in the book “are based on real-life patients of mine from the past (with fictitious names in the book). During my 30 years of practicing medicine using a ‘food is medicine’ strategy, I encountered hundreds of individuals who applied this strategy and transformed their health for the better,” Sidhartha says.

 Sidhartha, who grew up in India with his two sisters, dedicates his book to his parents, C. and Rani Duraisamy.

 “My dad was a physician and mom embodied the qualities of selflessness and generosity,” he says. “They both inspired my career in medicine. Family is a treasure, hence the dedication of my book to my parents.”

 Following in the family tradition, he graduated from the Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College in Salem, India, and continued his training with an internal medicine residency at Lincoln Medical Center which is affiliated with Cornell University. He later completed a master of public health in nutrition at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He is board-certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine.

 As well as excess weight, the book covers topics such as cancer; diabetes; cardiac health; aging; the gut; autoimmune diseases; joints, bones and muscles; brain health; and pregnancy.

 Each of the chapters circles back to good nutrition. “Some of the chapters, as in the chapter on aging, also touch on other factors important for aging well, such as social connectedness, physical movement, sense of purpose, and mindfulness,” Sidhartha says. The book is geared up to an adult reader, although teens 16 and older would also find the information and recipes beneficial.

Making the book even handier, at the end of the book are healthy recipes by Kayli Anderson, a registered dietician nutritionist.

 Sidhartha will speak about the book on Dec. 5 at the Snow Library in Orleans. He says he plans to talk about the origins of the book, its structure, and the recipes. He will offer “evidence-based nutrition information about common imbalances in body physiology resulting in high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart attacks, diabetes, cancer, arthritis and fall risk and how to prevent and manage these imbalances with food.” Of particular interest might be “details about the recent groundbreaking research showing how a well-planned nutritional approach can reverse dementia.” The talk will end with a question-and-answer session and book signing event.

Sidhartha’s talk on “All My Secrets” will be on Wednesday, Dec. 4 at 5 p.m. at the Snow Library’s Craine Room. Admission is free and all are welcome.