Dr. Avantina Sharma Bhandari, PhD Nutrition, is a Wellness Advisor. She calls herself ‘a Lucknowite by heart & a global nomad by Karma’ and welcomes life with open arms and a happy heart. The motto of her consulting practice is ‘Be Healthy and Happy’ and emphasizes the importance of mental and spiritual health along with physical health.
She believes that “life is a book and if you don’t travel, you have only read the first page”, and this has dictated her life choices. When questioned about her values and success, she quoted, “my childhood was a wonderful phase of my life. I was wrapped in love and laughter and raised in a uniformed, spiritual as well as academic environment. It instilled in me the values of discipline, punctuality, compassion, hope, optimism, thirst for knowledge and learning. Sports came as naturally as did an evening of Geeta path and being part of school quizzes and debates as well as the Ms. Lucknow Beauty pageant.”
Her parents and grandparents constantly encouraged her to give everything a shot and have no fear of failure but to try to the best of her abilities. Motivated, she applied and got selected to represent India as part of a delegation in the ‘Meeting of Nobel Laureates and Students’ in Lindau, Germany. It was a life-changing event for her, being in the company of genius scientific minds whose energy and inspiration was limitless.
About her love for food, she said, “it stemmed from the fact that, despite being a busy professional, my mother took time to whip out delicacies from around the globe for us and my father encouraged us to try out new cuisines with an open mind and unbiased palette. Despite their hectic schedules they always made time for us and family meals were one of the most enjoyable times of the day.”
After getting her post-graduation in Nutrition, she went to Potsdam, Germany for Practical training on a DAAD Scholarship and then enrolled for a PhD for meaningful research. She wrote her first book, fresh out of MSc, motivated by the lacuna in the information available and its relevance to India with a global perspective. There has been no looking back ever since and she continues to write books published in India and internationally.
Being married to a UN Professional, moving between continents has almost become second nature to her. Having a supportive spouse helped her continue to pursue her passion for health and nutrition in varying capacities. After her stint in the NGO sector in Geneva, followed by an academic setting at CUNY, New York USA; she decided to transit to become her own boss and started a Wellness consulting. Being a foodie with exposure to global cuisines, the diet plans she develops are innovative, tasty and healthy. She says, “Dr. Avantina Wellness is very close to my heart as through this endeavour, I aspire to assist those in need of wellness advice and lead a fulfilling and productive life much in tune with our own ‘Ikigai’.”
