Dr. Lalita Kaul (Photo: Courtesy, Lalita Kaul)

If you have a bite of a chocolate now and then, don't feel guilty," said Dr. Lalita Kaul, national spokesperson for The American Dietetic Association and Professor of Nutrition in the Department of Community and Family Medicine, College of Medicine, Howard University (HU), Washington, D.C., in a telephone conversation with News India-Times last week.

As one of nine dieticians named by American Dietetic Association as ADA's national spokespeople for 2005-'08, Kaul is used to giving interviews, sometimes even three a day. For example, she was quoted by the Washington Post on Sept. 7, and on Aug. 9, and in Science News Online the week of Aug. 13.

Chocolate is a pleasure food "with reduced health risks," Kaul said. It has no health risks eaten in moderation, said the nutritionist who has just had a book published titled 'Multidisciplinary Approach to the Management of Obesity: A Handbook for Physicians and Health Care Professionals.' She is now working on a book on diabetes and another on food and heart disease risks for South Asians.

"Choose dark chocolates in preference to whole milk ones," is her advice. "And if you are having two bars a day, cutting it down to just one at first, and then to a half. Half a bar dark chocolate is indeed good for your health, for the protein in it is easier to digest than that in whole milk ones."

Apart from teaching nutrition professionals, and giving talks and interviews on behalf of ADA, the Srinagar-born nutritionist is also a director of a bariatric clinic. Apart from mainstream patients with obesity problems, many Indian patients are referred to her.

"Indian people must have their Indian khana," Kaul said with a chuckle. "With my background of modern research, help them to digest all the nutrition information and manage their intakes of ghee and masala and dal."

Her area of expertise includes hypertension, overweight, obesity, cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hyperlipidemia, vegetarianism, and general nutrition. She has published over 40 papers. She is listed in Who's Who in Diabetes Treatment, Education and Research. She is on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Nutrition for the Elderly. She has received several grants for nutritional studies. In the past, she has worked in the White House Health Care Information Center and Presidential Correspondence Analysis. She was also a consultant at NIH. She was a pioneer in incorporating nutrition education in the medical curriculum at Howard University.