Kenisha Arora was just eight years old when she had to translate lab results and doctor’s orders for her Hindi-speaking parents — explaining her diagnosis of hypothyroidism, which she barely understood herself.

The treatment plan included a drastic shift in diet: more protein, more meat. But the guidance didn’t reflect the cultural reality of what was on her family’s plates, the vegetarian dishes and the high-sodium masalas and pickles. Her immigrant parents, working long hours, often leaned on takeout or prepackaged foods.

Then a South Asian doctor took over Arora’s care.

Instead of prescribing a western diet, he suggested homemade spice blends, rinsing canned chickpeas to reduce the salt, cutting back on sugar in their sweet milky chai and measuring oil with tablespoons instead of by

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