It is possible for us to
eat our way to health. The author tells us how to tweak our diet
Is it really possible to
eat our way to good health, even in this time of frantic schedules, fast food
and rushed meals?
Despite the pressure of
time and the need for ‘convenience food’, eating our way to good health is
still possible, if we make health foods compulsory, rather than an arbitrary
addition to our diet. The key lies in opting for ‘good food’ that is fast to
cook, good to eat, and integrated into our normal diet. In the process, we
should remember that such a diet makes us fit, energetic and able to resist
disease. “We should remove from our minds the misconception that dieting
involves depriving oneself of food, or that healthy food isn’t tasty. Dieting
just involves choosing healthier options,” says Dharini Krishnan, consultant
dietician, and former national president, The Indian Dietetic Association.
Integrating health food in
diet
“The list of good food
that has to be on our plate is exhaustive and extends to green tea, tender
coconut, whole grains, millets, and vegetables we usually like to avoid such as
beetroot, cruciferous vegetables, greens and alliums,” explains consultant
dietician S. Shashikala. The crucial factor lies in incorporating these foods
into our diet such that they are tasty as well as easy to make.
Drinking tender coconut
water once a week is a simple food funda to start with. Make it impossible to
miss, by associating it with some inevitable aspect of your daily life — such
as deciding to have a tender coconut after every visit to the library,
hairstylist or grocer. Likewise, a foolproof way to make sure that you don’t
miss your daily quota of dry fruits and nuts is to munch them while reading
your daily newspaper. When trying to include whole grains, start with brown
rice and white rice in a 1:3 ratio and then gradually increase the proportion
of brown rice, which will accustom you to the taste. And, of course, go for
whole wheat atta and whole wheat bread. Finish off your meals with buttermilk,
preferably seasoned with coriander, jeera and asafoetida. Millet flour can be
incorporated into dosa batter, along with chopped onions, asafoetida and curry
leaves. Millet flour can be used as a thickener in sambar too. Add sprouted
green gram to vegetable salads, it should be made a compulsory item on your
menu, at least once a week. Ellu urundai (sesame seed balls), payathaladu
(sweet moong dal ball), pori (puffed rice) and dark chocolates can be delicious
ready-to-eat items, instead of biscuits. Moving further, carrot soup can be
made a must-have on Sunday mornings, along with a relaxed oil massage and bath.
Likewise, make a family tradition of a Sunday sundae of strawberry/ raspberry/
almond or frozen kulfi. A meal of fruits could also be made a Sunday dinner
tradition, relieving one of kitchen work in the bargain.
A complete meal
“A healthy meal is one
that includes all the six tastes. People should remember to include in their
meals all the six tastes, qualitatively and quantitatively in the order of
madura (sweet taste, as in rice, ghee, etc.), amla (sour taste as in citrus
fruits, mango, etc.), lavana (salt taste) katur (pungent or hot, spicy taste as
in chilly, pepper, ginger, etc.) pitta (bitter taste as in bitter gourd,
spinach etc.) and kashaya (astringent taste as in buttermilk, tea and coffee).
Don’t end a meal with a dessert. The astringent flavour gives an antibacterial
coating to the food tract,” advises V. R. Seshadri, veteran ayurvedic
consultant, teacher, and a former secretary of IMPCOPS (Indian Medical
Practitioners Co-operative Pharmacy and Stores).
“Every day, make sure you
eat a vegetable or fruit of the three colours — orange, red and green
(including watery vegetables). An adult needs approximately 400 ml of curd
every day to provide his daily requirement of protein, calcium and phosphorous.
Likewise, two half cups of protein are required every day, be it from dal,
pulses or sprouts, egg, chicken or fish. Include whole grains to add fibre to
the diet,” advises Dharini.
No comments:
Post a Comment