Sapna Punjabi Gupta
About Gupta
Gupta Punjabi Gupta is a Dallas-based registered
dietitian nutritionist, Ayurvedic practitioner, nation-
ally recognized culinary wellness expert and the
founder of beSPICED: a company that empowers
others with eastern wisdom, western science via
speaking engagements, interactive cooking classes,
YouTube videos, wellness workshops, heirloom spice
products and articles published in several national
and international publications.
Gupta was born in India and came to the United
States in the late 1990s. She completed her train-
ing as a dietitian in India and then completed
a combined program at Case Western Reserve
University in Ohio to earn a master’s degree in
nutrition and a dietetic internship, which led to
her becoming a registered dietitian in the United
States. As a dietitian, Gupta spent a number of
years working at Baylor University Medical Center
in Dallas, Texas, specializing in women’s health and
neonatal nutrition.
In 2012, Gupta started her own company, called
Naivedhya, which means “an offering,” that focuses
on culinary wellness and empowering and support-
ing people to following a vegetarian lifestyle. Her
practice integrates Western nutritional science with
Ayurvedic teachings.Influences
Gupta’s upbringing helped inspire her career as a
dietitian. “I was fortunate to be surrounded by my
mom’s joy for cooking and preparing fresh meals for
us every single day. The smell of spices in my mom’s
kitchen, shopping for fresh produce almost every
day with my dad are some of the memories that
hold a special place in my heart from my childhood
years in Mumbai, India.”Her natural curiosity about food, as well as what
and why people eat what they do led her down the
path of studying nutrition and helping others live a
healthy lifestyle. “Being a dietitian felt like solving
an interesting puzzle of food science, research,
culinary skills, counseling, medicine and putting all
these pieces strategically together. I am thankful
that I chose this path and followed what felt right.”
One of Gupta’s favorite meals is a bowl of simple
basmati rice and dal. It is also a staple meal for
her family as it is quick, flavorful and packed with
nutrients and fiber. Dal is both an ingredient and
a dish, and is an integral part of Indian cuisine. “At
any given time, my pantry is always stocked with at
least 12 to 15 varieties of dals, legumes and beans.
Dal is loosely referred to a variety of lentils and
legumes. A simple dal can take about 15 minutes
to cook whereas some dal are more complex to
make and can take a couple of hours simmering
to perfection with spices and other vegetables.”On health and diabetes
Spices are, as Gupta puts it, “nature’s magical jewels
that not only add flavor, color and aroma to any dish
but also provide immense healing benefits.” Gupta’s
strong belief in the benefits of spices prompted
her to create her own line of spices—learn more
and purchase them from her website at squareup.
com/store/beSPICED. Visit her YouTube channel,
beSPICED, for cooking tutorials, recipes and more!
She highly encourages people who have dia-
betes to learn the art of cooking with spices—this
can be a game-changer in the daily management
of diabetes, she says. From the anti-inflammatory
properties of turmeric to carminative qualities of
cumin and coriander, spices can help with effective
digestion of daily meals. In addition, she adds,
spices like cinnamon, fenugreek,
ginger and garlic can help with
increasing insulin sensitivity when
used in daily cooking.INDIA
For more international cuisine from Sapna Punjabi Gupta,
visit DiabetesSelfManagement.com/recipes
44 September/October 2019