Eat anything you want. You don’t have to go to the gym. Have a spiritual life and don’t stress about having a fancy car or home. Just be purpose-driven.

This is not the kind of advice you expect from one of the most respected brains in medicine today. But that is what Dr Partha Nandi‚ creator of Ask Dr Nandi show on DSTV Home Channel 176 gives as the advise for his life philosophy of a holistic lifestyle.

He met TMG Digital at 54 on Bath hotel in Rosebank where there was a long queue of journalists waiting to do interviews with him.

His charisma‚ energy and kindness filled the entire lounge of the hotel.

He’s in the country for the International Aids Conference being held in Durban. It’s a subject close to his heart since his days as a medical student. He is also in the country because his show is holding an event at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange where he will meet the fans of his show on Wednesday.

Nandi travels the world teaching about how to have holistic health lifestyle using a fusion of Eastern and Western medicine.

“It is about how you make yourself whole. Western medicine can throw pills at you and give you therapies but at the end of the day there are side-effects‚” says Nandi.

“Find out how you can help your body. It is being your own health hero. Make your health your most important part...Get yourself a life that is purpose driven. Not one that is driven by the next material thing you are going to have because that is transient and will never fulfill you.”

Nandi points out that the habits of modern living are causing health problems‚ like sitting on the couch watching football or playing games on phones. He argues that these habits are harmful to the body because human beings are “creatures that have always moved”.

But Nandi adds another leg to the holistic lifestyle – spirituality and the importance of family.

“We are creatures that have been involved in communities. We have always moved in groups and we are losing that. Families are disjointed and individualism is being advocated as the best way. We are losing the wisdom of grandparents and people that have been there before us. Spirituality is about understanding that I am not the centre of the universe – my family‚ community and my planet.”

He does not encourage people to get into diet programmes.

“One of the words that is not in my dictionary is diet. Diet is equivalent to failure. The moment you go on a diet it means you are going to do something that you don’t enjoy. Eat everything that you like‚ but don’t eat a giant portion of it all the time. Eat until you are two-thirds full. Food is still supposed to be enjoyed...”

He emphasises the importance of preparing your meals as this allows you to control what goes into the food you eat.

Another piece of advice is to not be obsessed with going to gym.

“Define your goals. Do you want to be an Olympic athlete or a healthy human being?...You have to find out your goal. If your goal is to be a healthy person it doesn’t mean that if you pull out your shirt there should be a six-pack. There are other ways of achieving what you want than the gym. Instead of taking the escalator‚ take the stairs. Park far away from the door because it is movement with purpose.”