Neha Shah is redefining diet and wellness for the Indian diaspora, merging ancestral food wisdom with modern nutrition science to address the unique challenges faced by immigrant communities.
When Neha Shah relocated to the United States, she found herself grappling with unexpected challenges in her own kitchen. Foods that once felt familiar now triggered confusion and discomfort.
“The foods looked familiar,” she recalls. “But my body was reacting very differently. Digestion changed. Inflammation increased. Energy felt less stable.”
This personal experience inspired Shah to establish Diaspora Nutrition in 2014, a consultancy aimed at bridging the gap between ancestral Indian food wisdom and contemporary nutrition science. Today, she is recognized as a nutrition practitioner and holistic health expert, trained at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. With over 1,000 clients and a community of more than 67,000 followers, Shah provides culturally grounded, practical guidance that emphasizes understanding rather than restriction.
In an exclusive interview, Shah elaborated on the evolving food patterns and nutritional needs of immigrant communities, highlighting the importance of cultural context in dietary choices.
“Immigration is a complete shift in the food ecosystem,” she explains. “After moving to the U.S., I noticed something I hear from so many South Asians now. I was eating foods that looked familiar on the surface, but my body was reacting very differently.”
Shah emphasizes that the changes experienced by immigrants are not merely due to geography but are influenced by factors such as sourcing, processing, storage, and the broader food environment. “I stopped asking only, ‘What is this food called?’ and started asking, ‘How was it grown, processed, stored, and prepared?’ That’s where healing began for me,” she says. “Not by abandoning Indian food, but by returning to Indian food wisdom with better sourcing in the U.S.”
This philosophy underpins her work, which aims to help immigrants remain connected to their cultural roots while improving their health in a foreign food system.
Shah critiques mainstream nutrition advice, which often relies on calorie charts and generic “healthy swaps.” She argues that such approaches fail to address the unique realities faced by immigrant families. “The biggest gap is that mainstream nutrition advice often gives immigrants generic and colonized wellness rules but no cultural navigation,” she states.
As a South Asian immigrant herself, Shah understands that individuals are not merely trying to “eat healthy.” They are also preserving their identity, cooking for families, navigating American grocery stores, and managing symptoms like bloating, fatigue, and inflammation.
“My message resonates because I speak to what people are actually dealing with,” she says. “Why does the same meal feel different here? Why am I reacting to foods I grew up eating? How do I shop in the U.S. without losing my Indian kitchen?”
Her solution is not about restriction but recalibration. For Shah, culturally competent nutrition is built on three pillars: culture, context, and body reality. Culture encompasses the foods, habits, and rituals that families live with. Context involves understanding the U.S. food environment, work schedules, and ingredient quality. Body reality refers to the individual experiences of digestion, blood sugar, inflammation, and metabolic patterns.
“Food is not just fuel,” she asserts. “It is identity, family, memory, and daily structure.” Ignoring these aspects can lead to feelings of misunderstanding or unsustainable dietary plans. “Culturally competent care is not translation. It is designing health guidance that works inside someone’s real life,” she adds.
Shah also addresses the often-misunderstood conversation around carbohydrates. She argues that Western diet culture frequently frames ancestral foods as obstacles. “It misunderstands that not all food problems are behavior problems,” she explains. “Many immigrants are blamed for ‘eating too many carbs’ or ‘not adapting,’ when the real issue is often food quality, processing, sourcing, and food environment overload.”
She highlights the significant difference between a homemade Indian meal made with quality ingredients and one made with ultra-processed substitutes. “The one size fits all model says, ‘Just eat less and swap rice for quinoa, wheat for oats or ghee for tallow.’ My work says, ‘Let’s understand what changed in the food system, and rebuild your health without disconnecting you from your culture.’”
Shah emphasizes the continued relevance of ancestral wisdom in modern health discussions. “Long before kombucha became trendy, Indian kitchens were fermenting ‘dahi,’ buttermilk, and ‘kanji,’” she notes. She believes that traditional practices around food preparation and consumption are validated by modern metabolic health science.
“Digestion support, blood sugar stability, food synergy, preparation methods that improve tolerance—today all of these traditional solutions are a part of ‘Alternative Medicine’ when in fact it is the OG medicine,” she states.
Shah advises against starting with diet products when seeking healthier options. Instead, she encourages individuals to focus on better versions of familiar foods. “I usually tell people not to start with ‘diet products.’ Start with better versions of your real foods,” she suggests.
Her own daily diet reflects her teachings, emphasizing simplicity and cultural roots. Breakfast might consist of warm amaranth porridge with almonds, dates, and saffron, while lunch and dinner typically follow a thali structure of grain, legumes, curry, and a side salad, often concluding with fermented buttermilk.
“I don’t build my day around restriction,” she explains. “I build it around steadier energy, digestion, and practicality.”
Shah also applies a principle of skepticism toward marketing in her own home. “Don’t outsource your health decisions to labels,” she advises. “Where is this coming from? How is it processed? Is it culturally aligned? Does my body actually feel good on it?”
Looking to the future, Shah envisions a wellness movement that is culture-rooted, systems-aware, and community-led. “The next phase of health education for immigrant communities will move beyond generic ‘eat clean’ advice,” she predicts. She advocates for culturally competent nutrition care, sourcing literacy, ancestral food preservation, and community-based healing support.
“Diaspora families do not need another diet trend,” she concludes. “They need a roadmap for staying healthy in a foreign system without losing the foods and traditions that gave them health in the first place.”
Through Diaspora Nutrition, Shah is committed to building that roadmap, emphasizing a long-term ecosystem for immigrant health, rather than quick fixes.
According to The American Bazaar, Shah’s approach is a vital resource for those navigating the complexities of maintaining cultural identity while pursuing wellness in a new environment.