In Conversation with Luke Coutinho, Globally Renowned Holistic Lifestyle Coach In The Field Of Integrative And Lifestyle Medicine And An Award-Winning Holistic Nutritionist
Dr Annurag Batra began the BW Wellbeing World Dialogue with Luke Coutinho by introducing him as a person who has transformed lives of people through his ‘Luke Coutinho Wellbeing Programs’ which are centered in nutrition but take a holistic view of how an individual lives his or her life.
The conversation was around what it takes to being a well-being expert, how to make an impact on other people’s lives, what is the perfect diet which helps one stay fit and mentally agile as immunity and health post the pandemic have taken a new meaning. Luke Coutinho spoke about how to get our immunity up and how to get our well-being up.
For many people Luke is a well-being expert and Guru but he started with a corporate life, as he used to work with IBM and used to lead training and development and from there he made a jump into becoming one of India’s foremost well-being expert. He was trained in hotel management and he chose to go into the field of nutrition. According to Luke, “There was no plan. I had no clue what I wanted to be when I was around 20 to 25 years old, actually 30 to 35, as that time I was in IBM and wanted to become a VP and then a CEO – the usual journey in the corporate world. Nutrition, anatomy and physiology have always been close to my heart. I have continued to study it post my hotel management. While I was growing in IBM I started off from scratch. I was a team leader, a deputy manager and then I started looking at the health of people. I noticed that as people were growing in the corporate ladder, they kept losing their health. I started thinking that as people were earning more money, achieving designations and success their health was deteriorating because at that point in Mumbai, in India, in New York, in Belgium, wherever I would be there were nutritionists, doctors, gyms, superfoods – one had everything. I was thinking, why are people still deteriorating? They had cholesterol problems, Type 2 diabetes, cardio-vascular problems and so on. I figured the problem was – lifestyle. You may have the best nutrition but you are living a poor lifestyle. What is the point? You have a great designation but you are not sleeping well at night. And because of that you have sleep-deprivation conditions like Type 2 diabetes, weight gain, obesity issues, metabolic syndrome etc. I started researching more on this and I stumbled upon the subject of integrative and lifestyle medicine which is nothing but a system that is holistic in nature, it puts the patient or the client in the center and it sees what is wrong at the root cause level. It strives on fixing and addressing the root cause of the problem. Then I realized, this is the line I want to be in because there are enough of people treating the symptoms, there are enough of people writing out diet charts, there are enough of trainers teaching people how to exercise, but people are not addressing the root cause of the problem. That is how I got into integrative lifestyle and medicine. I worked with IBM for a while. After that I had more patience. I was always scared of giving up a corporate job because I had a fixed salary, a good designation etc. but one fine day I said – enough is enough, I will take the leap and it has been the best decision of my life. After that it has only been waitlists of patients and people and travels and studies and everything else. It just flowed. The intention was right and it just flowed after that.
Dr. Annurag Batra went on to tell Luke Coutinho that it clearly seems very easy but it takes a lot of effort, practice, discipline and lot of scientific inputs to be able to guide your patients, and then ask him how did the journey happen and who was his first patient?
There were established nutritionists and doctors in the market and he said that no one knew him. But he knew he wanted to address the root cause of the problem and figure it out. So, he was seeing patients on a regular basis. The most common ailments were acidity, constipation etc. he realized that was not what he wanted to do his entire life. He wanted to start educating people. So, he went on Facebook live and did his first video on acidity - what the symptoms are and how does one know whether he or she has acidity. According to him a lot of people think they have acidity but actually they have low stomach acid which gives them the same symptoms, so he educated people and that made him feel good that he was able to share his information. Thereafter his journey began and he realized he wanted to see people with genuine problems and help them.
Soon he got his first cancer patient whose immunity in the last 5 years had been low and inflammation had been high. He put in a protocol for immunity and inflammation. That patient who had 3 to 4 days left to live according to doctors, lived 5 more years. He tells his people that no doctor is a healer. He or she can only enable the human body to heal. One has to put their faith in their own body.
Thus, began one of the greatest journeys ever. From consulting in a coffee shop as he did not want to consult from a hospital because the first hospital he went to he was shown a fancy cabin where he was told to generate a large amount of money for them by even using patient’s money by telling them to go for MRIs and scans. Then he realized the concept of kickbacks and then he decided never to work from a hospital. Every single day he would consult from a coffee shop and didn’t even charge anyone at first as he wanted to make a name for himself with people praising his expertise. Things moved on very well and soon he started charging all his patients a small fee. He had one vision – whoever who was in front of him, he wanted to be effective.
When his clinic opened he realized that people loved meeting him in coffee shops as well, no pressure of a hospital and an environment that was peaceful. He did the same in New York. Till date if his patients want to meet at a coffee shop he says yes to them. For example, when he goes to Dubai he meets his patients in a coffee shop. He never planned a fancy clinic and now he is so well known as he works with doctors at times and people invite him to their clinics to help their patients. He needs to know about their problems so that he can reach the root cause and help his patients.
Upon Dr. Annurag Batra asking Luke about what are the wrong things Indians do the most in their diet he replies, “Firstly, they eat dinner too late. Look at the wisdom we have. Take Jainism for example, it says eat at sunset and then eat after the sun rises. Secondly, working lunches. When the body is stressed you can’t digest well. Thirdly, sedentary lifestyles. Fourthly – following fat diets.”
He talks about how he walks the talk and lives what he preaches. He has a dessert a weak but everything is balanced. That is the key. He says that his healthiest patients are not those who have six pack abs but those, who are happy. They might be overweight but their medical parameters are clean. Sometimes, actors, actresses, models and athletes with great bodies but they have diabetes, mental health issues, inflammation in their kidneys or liver and they are stressed as well. They are unhappy. Medicine can be complicated, but what is simple is that if you are not happy about the way your body is an environment of good health is needed.
Dr. Annurag Batra asks him about how he upgrades himself with the everchanging medical findings and research. To this he replies saying, he is constantly studying, that is his hobby. We need to know about the medicines which a patient is taking and also whether there will be any side effects. They have a medical team which includes doctors and if they a case of a patient 4 or 5 people have a look at it. He also puts in his notes but there is a multi-disciplinary approach.
Operating with simplicity is what he does. He even transfers the patient to a psychiatrist or another expert at times. Stress is to be handled. Addressing sleep deprivation is the key as the body heals when it sleeps. That is why it gets tired after a lot of work, it is the signal it is giving to the person that he or she needs sleep.
According to Luke Coutinho willpower has a shelf life. Emotional eating is what he explained about in detail as well. Most of us are sugar and junk food junkies. Dopamine in the brain makes the brain want to get more of it even if it is by eating sweet foods. Sugar is fine at a low level of intake but what makes it worse and worse is overconsumption.
The topic about the importance of walking is also brought up by Dr. Annurag Batra. There are very good results if we just take a short walk every few hours. For Luke Coutinho no one is more important than his patients. No matter how rich the client might be, he has to wait for his turn to get Luke’s consultation. He feels that integrative medicine is very effective. He has zero regrets in his life. Being very simple, yet complex in his head at times because of the field he is in. He is a person whose inner space is thriving and that is what heals his patients as well. A person who is healthy and does all that he preaches becomes a respected and highly known person.
He believes in destiny. No matter how much one prays and meditates one cannot beat destiny. To reduce suffering in other people is what he wants to do continuously.
On a conclusive note, Luke Coutinho is a natural entrepreneur who lives what he talks about. He is selfless and is on a mission to heal and inspire as many people as he can.
