Introduction

In a world flooded with health advice, protein trends, and packaged solutions, eating well has become confusing. Everyone has an opinion, everyone claims expertise, and families are often left overwhelmed. In this conversation, Suraj Prasad, founder of Hlty Beings, explains why his brand is stepping away from selling food products and instead focusing on the root cause : habits, behaviour, and long-term health, especially for children.

Why Hlty Beings Is Different From Other Health Brands

According to Suraj Prasad, most brands focus on what to eat while Hlty Beings focuses on how humans behave around food. He believes health is not a one-meal fix or a short-term challenge, but a continuous process shaped by habits formed at home, especially during childhood.

While many companies sell ultra-processed or packaged foods under the label of healthy, Hlty Beings has consciously stayed out of that space. The goal is not to sell another product, but to help people rebuild their relationship with food and their own bodies.

The brand works at the intersection of nutrition, science, behaviour, psychology, storytelling, and play. Instead of telling people what to do, it presents information in a way that allows families and children to make informed choices for themselves.

Cutting Through the Noise Around Health and Nutrition

One of the biggest challenges today is information overload. Suraj Prasad points out that everyone seems to be an expert now, whether it’s about protein, sugar, or supplements. This constant stream of advice often contradicts itself and leaves people confused.

Hlty Beings tries to act as a translator. Rather than adding to the noise, the brand simplifies complex nutrition science into easy mental models. Simple ideas like eating heavier meals earlier in the day or choosing foods based on energy needs help families remember and apply healthier habits in daily life. The focus is not on perfection, but on understanding one’s own body and making decisions accordingly.

Making Health Understandable and Fun for Children

Children are a major focus for Hlty Beings. Suraj believes that if health messages reach children early, they can shape lifelong habits. However, children won’t respond to textbooks or lectures.

That’s why the brand speaks in a language children understand. Through stories, characters, experiments, games, and visuals, Beings introduce health concepts without making them feel like lessons. One example is a food label reading book led by a kangaroo character who explains ingredients and nutrition through pictures and stories.

The brand has also created what Suraj Prasad believes among the early efforts to create science experiment books centered on health and nutrition. These experiments teach basic science while also helping children understand how food and the body work together.

Rethinking Modern Food Trends

Protein and supplements may make sense for athletes or specific medical or dietary needs, but for the general population, excessive focus on them may not always be necessary and should ideally be guided by qualified professionals. Suraj Prasad is openly critical of modern food trends, especially the current obsession with protein. He believes trends like “low fat” in the past and “high protein” today often ignore how the human body actually works.

He highlights how simple movement, play, and muscle building through everyday activity can naturally support health without expensive products.

The Food Label Book and the Larger Mission

The food label book is part of a much larger mission as Hlty Beings aims to address India’s growing childhood obesity crisis by creating an ecosystem of positive health nudges at home.

Along with books, the brand is working on videos, workshops, games, toys, and other educational formats that consistently reinforce healthy behaviour. The idea is to surround families with simple, practical health messages rather than fear-based marketing.

The Hardest Part of Building the Brand

For Suraj Prasad, the biggest challenge has been discoverability. Hlty Beings is still in its early stages, and instead of spending heavily on marketing algorithms, the brand is choosing a slower, organic route.

From school workshops to employee sessions and India’s first children’s health festival, the brand is focusing on real-world engagement and word-of-mouth growth. Suraj is clear that he wants to avoid forced marketing, even if that slows growth.

Funding and Support So Far

Hlty Beings has received support from Startup India in the form of debt funding. Suraj Prasad is careful about choosing investors, emphasizing the need for patient capital that understands the responsibility involved in working with children and health.

Advice for Parents and Children

Suraj Prasad reiterates that food is not the enemy. Most whole, minimally processed foods are generally supportive of health, while certain processing and cooking methods may reduce nutritional quality or contribute to health concerns. He encourages families to stop seeing food only as fuel and start recognising it as information that interacts with the body. By learning about food and understanding the body together, people can build healthier relationships with what they eat.

Interview by : Khevna Reddy