Rishabh Pant Recovery: Is ‘Home-Cooked’ Food Secret To Wicketkeeper’s Rapid Return To Fitness

New Delhi:  When thinking about Rishabh Pant's road to recovery from injuries suffered in a car accident last year, physiotherapy and rehabilitation immediately spring to mind. Nutrition, an often-under-rated concept, has actually played a crucial role in his ongoing recovery process.

Before the accident, Rishabh was associated with Shweta Shah, a nutritionist, and founder of EatFit24/7, on MS Dhoni’s recommendation. In late March this year, Shweta was back in the picture, to solve Rishabh’s issues via nutrition.

“Rishabh was unable to eat anything, resulting in him having no energy. He had too much headaches, couldn't do his physio or walk even for two steps or five minutes. What food he had to eat was a problem as his family attempted to make him eat his comfort food, as he’s a hardcore chicken lover. But when Rishabh ate chicken, his stomach got upset. He was given sweet or dosa to eat, but gas, acidity, bloating and urticaria persisted. He had too much pain in his body, could not take some medicines, a few painkillers because of bloating and gas. Because of antibiotics, his stomach had become very heavy,” said Shweta in an extensive chat with IANS.

Heavy medication given to Rishabh after undergoing surgery in January led to ruptures in his stomach lining. “Generally, it is a smooth lining. But in Rishabh's case, it had become like fish-net pouches and had to be brought back to a very smooth lining,” says Shweta.

Managing Rishabh Pant’s stress was also necessary. “The release of cortisol hormone due to stress wouldn't have aided me in sealing his gut’s inner line. Also, in the initial weeks, he was very constipated, and that had to be taken care of,” she adds.

Rishabh Pant's six in the practice match.

- He will come back soon....!!!pic.twitter.com/wtbwZ2ecw1 — Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) August 17, 2023

Shweta’s first step in helping Rishabh Pant heal through nutrition was to fix his gut health and activate digestive juices. It happened through a powder made by her named ‘De-bloat by Eatfit 24/7’, which Shweta believes turned out to be the game-changer for Rishabh. “It helped activate his jathar agni (ayurvedic digestive fire). If that fire is small, then the food will not digest properly, which was the case with Rishabh. It had to be activated, as whatever was eaten, had to be absorbed, digested and assimilated properly to get required nutrients. Taking de-bloat powder had no side effects and helped manage his stress too.”

Shweta stopped non-vegetarian food for Rishabh Pant and put him on a khichdi diet for first 20 days. “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.”

Khichdi for Rishabh was made using only yellow and chilka dals with kolam rice and vegetables of his liking, followed by juices added from ninth and tenth days. Juices made of celery and cucumber, plus mint and coriander, helped alleviate water retention caused by medication. Inflammation was treated with pineapple juice during that season while pomegranate juice was served to purify blood.

When Rishabh Pant was craving to eat non-vegetarian food, Shweta introduced it 15 days later, to be consumed only twice or thrice in a week. “We commenced through chicken curry with rice and Thai chicken curry with rice. He doesn’t like fish, so eggs and avocados were given in breakfast. He really loves parathas, which were made gluten-free along with rotis. For another 15 days, we refrained from giving him wheat, dairy, and paneer. Once a month passed by, paneer was given,” she added.

Energy-giving foods were included as Rishabh slowly upped his fitness levels. “We gave him haemoglobin laddoos, made of various seeds, desiccated coconut, almonds, walnuts, dates, raisins, nutmeg, honey and ghee.”

Shweta noticed remarkable improvement in Rishabh's appetite in just 10-12 days of being put on the diet. “He used to first eat only three spoons of the meals. I was in shock wondering what he used to eat previously and what he was eating at that time (after surgery). We didn’t force him to eat much as his bile and pancreatic juices were not that great, meaning the digestive system was upset. We started from small quantities and now he’s eating full-fledged.”

Shweta is now concentrating on Rishabh’s fat and inch loss by portion control. She is also focused on improving his lipid profile, which is unsatisfactory in her view, as well as on creatine and uric acid. She credited Puneet Solanki, Rishabh's long-time friend-cum-manager for being very co-operative and managing the diet implementation seamlessly while traveling between New Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. “Puneet has managed wonderfully and was quick in getting anything which was needed. Whenever a change in diet was to happen, he would say, ‘Ma’am, you tell what has to be brought, I will get it. If any medicinal herb is needed, I will bring it’.  I didn’t need to wait for even one day as he got the items in advance, while guiding all the chefs and crew during diet changes. Because of Puneet, my journey with Rishabh has been a very smooth process. There’s a village behind in working for him, but Puneet is the main head of it and I won’t lie in saying this,” she said.