You are what you eat. No matter how hard you work out at the gym to break a sweat, unless you have a balanced, nutritious diet, an ideal body weight or high level of fitness cannot be achieved. Keeping this in mind, Gautam Kapur, former model and author, founded Be Conscious — a retail platform for quality foods and dietary supplements. Being a fitness freak and health and wellness influencer, he has also penned the book Don’t Be Fooled, which was featured at the prestigious Miami Book Festival.
Some of the Be Conscious products include Corn Crackers, Chia Seeds, Flax Seeds, Brown Rice Chakli, Bajri Methi Crackers, Fountain of Youth Honey, Anti-ageing supplements and so on.
Right from a 20-year-old to 60+ people form Be Conscious’ loyal repeat clientele. The startup’s aim is to make people aware of the importance of health and consume foods with the correct nutrient values. “Often, people take their health for granted. It’s unfortunate to see youngsters gorging on junk food, sugar etc.
This happens because there is no proper guidance and knowledge about the damage these foods do to us,” says Kapur and laments about the fact that India is recognised as the ‘diabetes capital of the world’. “Just look around and you will find a large number of people who are unfit and overweight, hence we at Be Conscious are going to do our bit by being in the business of quality foods at affordable prices,” he quips.
Kapur’s love for fitness started at the age of 12. He became a certified coach after earning a certification in Nutraceuticals and also as a stress management coach. Kapur admits that he goes slightly overboard when it comes to his fitness and nutrition regimen, but it has given him a sense of discipline not just in health but other aspects of life too.
“One must have self love and understand that moderation is the key, and a strong body and willpower complements a strong mind and vice versa. It was only natural for me to extend this in the form a health platform,” he shares.
He claims that Be Conscious products offer an effective, natural approach to problems like fatigue, osteoporosis, hair loss, muscle loss, loss of libido and sexual vitality etc in individuals. “But Be Conscious is so much more than just foods, it’s a lifestyle. We have several more ideas in the pipeline which we will unfold steadily!” adds Kapur.
He says that the secret to a healthy and fit lifestyle lies in what is being cooked in the kitchen, hence his motto is to convert more and more Indian kitchens to ‘Be Conscious Kitchens.’ This can be achieved by understanding the brand essence and why it is important to be in prime health even as we age.
“I want to spread the word that as we grow old we must exercise, but our will to become stronger can happen only when we have the correct nutrition. The formula is 70 per cent nutrition and 30 per cent exercise. Once physical strength starts to fade we are forced to lead a substandard life with multiple health issues like diabetes, joint pains sluggishness fatigue, etc. Our hormones play havoc with our minds and bodies,” he cautions.
There are several misconceptions about vitamin supplements and not everyone wants to choose supplements over food cooked in the kitchen. When asked how does Be Conscious help break the myth, he says, “We must take good quality supplements as foods today lack the correct nutrient values. Gone are the days when food was the best medicine. I’ve been taking supplements for the last 25 years and now, I only consume what we sell at Be Conscious as I know what goes into making them. This does not mean you don’t get good food quality anymore, but it’s not always nutrient packed like it used to be.”
