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Good going on bad

July 7, 2018 No Comments

I remember going into a restaurant for a meal, and while explaining my love for fresh, healthy ingredients to the chef, we had a fun discussion about healthy menus. My order seemed to have set him off on the wonders of green leafy vegetables, and the versatility of eggs. The chef planned to introduce a menu packed with fresh produce, veggies, fruits and the usual `low-cal-bursting-with-goodness’ suspects. And, he added with a minor flourish, everything would be cooked in olive oil.

How much, I asked him, to which he replied, as much as the dish needs. This got me thinking. And writing.

Healthy foods, no matter how good they are for you, have to be subjected to portion controls as well. Just because they are fat-free, doesn’t mean that they won’t make you gain weight, and cause other related health complications. You can’t mindlessly eat anything, I’m afraid, and even healthy food has to be eaten in moderation. Over-indulgence can pretty much cancel out any major health benefit. Some food for thought.

OLIVE OIL IS STILL OIL

Even though it’s excellent from a health perspective, one teaspoon of any oil is about 45 calories. While the idea, of course, is not to focus on calories and instead, revel in the nutritive value of food, it takes 3,500 extra unburned calories to gain a pound of weight. And add that little bit more pressure on your heart.

NO TRANS-FAT DOESN’T MEAN NO-FAT

Health regulations have mandated that manufacturers state the use of trans-fats in their foods. Which has, of course, led to a slew of products, claiming that they have `no-trans-fat’. They may be right but you still need to watch out for other saturated fats on their labels.

LOW-FAT IS NOT LOW-CALORIE

Similarly, just because a product is marked `lowfat’ doesn’t mean it is low calorie. To pump up the taste factor, extra sugar can sometimes be added, negating any health benefit in the process.

YOU CAN’T GO NUTS OVER NUTS

Nuts are rich in nutrients, good fats, and a whole host of heart warming things but some -especially cashews and macadaemia -can be high in fat content, so their consumption must be regulated. Restrict consumption of nuts to no more than 50 gm per day if you are not trying to lose weight or if your doctor is okay with it. Else, nix the nuts entirely.

SMOOTHIES CAN BE ROUGH

Blended milk with fruit can sound healthy but in fact, isn’t. Blending fruit (in a mixer or juicer) strips the fruit of its fibre, leaving behind the active sugary compound, fructose. And fructose is a simple sugar that can spike your blood sugar level, enabling excess con sumption to be stored as fat. The same principle can be applied to fruit juices. Eliminate, if possible, all consumption of fruit juice from your diet, unless specified by your doctor or nutritionist.

Try vegetable juices, and make it a daily habit.

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Dear diary

July 7, 2018 No Comments

When we gain weight, it’s usually a discovery that we stumble upon. Suddenly, a shirt doesn’t button up the way it used to, or a favourite and much-loved loophole on a belt seems to be a bit shy. A discovery like this is usually confirmed by stepping on a scale and, when confirmed, is confronted by the three Ds Despair, Depression and Drama.

How could you put on weight? You’ve been eating and drinking as usual and you’ve taken out the time to exercise. So how did the weight sneak up on you? Well, when it comes to weight gain, that’s really the operative word sneak.

Your weight can quietly, slyly, make its way up the scale without you even realising it because weight loss, and by that token, weight maintenance, is all about quiet, sly, maths. It takes 3,000 extra (unburned) calories to gain a pound of weight and 2.2 pounds to gain a kilo.

I’ll put this in simple words. For example, full-fat milk versus low-fat (2 per cent) milk has 30 more calories per 175 ml cup. Drink two cups of full-fat milk a day, and you are 60 calories up more than if you had low-fat milk. If those 60 calories are not burned -or are over and above what your body can burn daily -your `weight account’ slowly accumulates. Sixty extra unburned calories a day is over 21,000 unburned calories a year, which translates into a weight gain of about 3 kilos a year.

Sneaky.

Of course, full-fat milk is only an example. A dash of whipped cream in your daily latte, bingeing on the weekends, extra sev in your daily bhelpuri, could all add up leaving you dazed, confused and heavier. Every single little `extra’ adds up. But you can prevent weight gain by doing one simple thing this year. Start a food diary.

Food diaries are nothing but a written record of what you’ve eaten in the day right from the second you open your eyes in the morning to the time you retire for the night. When you note down whatever you’ve eaten and drunk during the day and have been as honest as you can, you’ll suddenly realise why, as Shania Twain puts it, `last year’s dress is just a little too tight’. In other words, if you aren’t losing weight at the pace you want to, you’ll know why. Food diaries act as both your conscience and your guide and you can alter or modify your eating patterns just by looking at your daily consumption, when needed. Diaries also help you pinpoint foods that trigger allergies or cause nausea or constipation. If you’re not feeling good, go to your food diary and you’ll know why.

While it sounds like a lot of work, in reality it just takes about 5 to 10 minutes a day. The internet is overflowing with online food diaries and apps and you can pick what suits you; or you can start a physical diary by putting pen to paper. The idea of course is not to go crazy or obsessive but to just be aware of exactly what goes into your body so that you’re always geared to be in the best shape of your life.

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Be label consious

July 7, 2018 No Comments

It’s the tiniest print that you mostly overlook. But reading your food labels carefully will do your body -and your family -a great service. While it’s not easy to avoid processed foods entirely, you can at least pick the ones that are relatively healthier than the rest .But how do you tell the difference?
There are definite heroes and villains in the supermarket landscape hiding in plain sight. Some hide under the cloak of long, scientific names. Spot them and drop them. There’s a school of thought that says that if you can’t pronounce them, you shouldn’t eat them. That’s probably not a bad idea.

But, given the plethora of ingredients, if you had a choice, what would you definitely eliminate? I’d recommend giving a permanent send-off to the following bad boys:

HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP (HFCS)

HFCS is cheaper to make than sugar, and is therefore used widely as an ingredient to sweeten your favourite snack or store-bought dessert. It’s bad for you. I don’t know what’s more worrying: HFCS’s obvious sugar content, or its linkages to inflammation, obesity, heart disease and diabetes, or the fact that it doesn’t allow your body to correctly process its signals of satiety which means that eating HCFS products could lead to overconsumption. In other words, thanks to this ingredient, you are eating more calories than you actually consume.

MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE (MSG)

Just don’t. MSG has been linked to Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and Lou Gehrig’s disease as well as migraines, tiredness, depression, heart arrhythmias and the destruction of your brain cells. And it’s not just found in processed foods. As MSG is actually an ingredient similar to salt in its flavour profile, it is used to season Asian foods. Ask for no MSG when ordering, and definitely give it a miss when buying.

ASPARTAME, SUCRALOSE, SORBITOL

All of these are artificial sweeteners and can be found in diet drinks, chewing gum and a host of low-calorie products. Artificial sweeteners are associated with brain cancer how’s that for starters? Migraines, memory loss, nausea, dizziness, joint pain and fat storage are also attributed to them. It seems a bit ironic that artificial sweeteners in `diet’ drinks encourage you to store more fat. But you can be sure that they do.

ARTIFICIAL COLOURING

Many foods -especially children’s foods -have artificial colouring. It’s what makes the drink so red, the muffins so blue or the chips so inviting. Either way, these food dyes have a host of health risks. To be more specific, when you look at the label, look for Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6 and Red 3, all of which are linked to cancer.

Like it or not, just because an ingredient’s link to a disease has been established, it doesn’t mean it’ll be off the shelves. Aspartame, for example, was banned by the American FDA a record eight times before it was finally accepted, despite overwhelming research that it had serious side effects. Food dye Red 3’s link to cancer is widely known, but it’s still available in products. Unhealthy is not always illegal. Whatever you do, keep reading not just the labels but also keep doing your research on additives, oils, sodium and more.

Be label conscious, and wear the mantle of good health.

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Overworked and undernourished

July 7, 2018 No Comments

Your diary is over flowing. Your schedule is packed to the brim. You are rushing from office meetings to social engagements. You catch up on sleep during your commute, or when your boss isn’t looking. You are successfully maintaining your hectic schedule… but there’s something amiss. You don’t feel like you used to you are tired all the time, keep falling sick, and get irritated quickly. It could be because you are overworked and undernourished. Food is pretty much fundamental to your well-being and provides the `Go’ to your Get-Go. You need to arm yourself with the following food fighters.

PROTEIN

Protein is the best way to build your internal soldiers, to fight disease, to repair wear and tear. You can’t do without protein. But when I talk about this vital macronutrient, I’m talking about quality protein. Choose lean protein like eggs (egg whites), fish, white meats like chicken and turkey, dals, and quinoa. You don’t want protein that’s rich in saturated fats, like red meat. Additionally, while protein is elemental, it’s also important not to OD on it. The recommended `dosage’ is one gram for every kilo of ideal body weight.

VITAMIN C

Vitamin C is a beautiful immunity booster. To understand how it works is to first understand the process of oxidation. Oxygen, while something we cannot live without, also creates reactions with other compounds causing destruction. Rotting fruit is the best example. Breathing in oxygen results in the development of molecules called free radicals. And if your free radicals aren’t being flushed out regularly, they could cause significant damage and may lead to diseases like cancer and more. Vitamin C is a free radical scavenger .Eat amla, kiwi and other vitamin C-rich foods to prevent diseases.

VITAMIN B12

Vitamin B12 has a direct impact on both your immunity as well as the speed of your recovery. A note for vegetarians and vegans: B12 is found only in animal-based foods, including dairy and eggs. So it’s better to take a doctor-approved B12 supplement to maintain adequate levels of this particular nutrient.

ZINC

Too little zinc affects white blood cells’ strength and with it, immunity. You can find zinc in poultry, nuts, whole grains, beans, dairy products, and even in certain breakfast cereals. Children are especially vulnerable to lower levels of zinc. Be conscious of that while preparing meals for them.

Whatever you do, don’t ever starve yourself intentionally or by accident.

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Get well soon

July 7, 2018 No Comments

Uh-oh. Your child sneezing in a row could only mean one thing: the onset of a cold. A mighty cold. Or not. While every child’s illness symptoms escalate in hisher unique way, the point is that of ten, the occurrence of illnesses can either be mitigated or staved off entirely depending on their nutrition.

In other words, what your kids eat can be the solution for a whole host of child-related maladies right from mood swings to constipation to the management of colds, coughs or viruses.

BUILD IMMUNITY

While protein is a beautiful immunity builder it does wonderful work to combat dis ease in your children along with bolstering their resistance and repairing general wear and tear -it is important to choose the right protein, like egg whites, lean white meats, fish, dals and quinoa.

Vitamin C is another fantastic booster of immunity and can be found in amla or kiwi or even in multivitamins, on a doctor’s prescription, of course.

Vitamin B12 is a brilliant way in munity levels can be raised in a child.

It positively influences the speed of recovery too. However, it’s important for vegetarians vegans to take note here: as B12 is found mainly in animal products, like dairy and eggs, children may need to take a B12 supplement on the recommendation of their paediatrician.

IMPROVE CONSTIPATION

Constipation is painful for children or adults for that matter. Foods with fibre can help your child. If he she is constipated, feed them raw vegetable juices, chia seeds, papaya and kiwi. And lots and lots of water: hydration is very important for a happy, smiling and fully functional digestive system.

TACKLE MOOD SWINGS

Is your child an angel one moment and a devil the next? While it’s tempting to blame your in-laws for all the character traits you don’t like, sometimes mood swings may not be part of a child’s personality, but have its roots in gluten intolerance. The best way to check would be to eliminate all sources of gluten, and see if the symptoms persist.

Having said this, no matter how much information is out there, nutrition’s role in maintaining the health of your child remains underestimated and misunderstood. Why cure when prevention is possible? Why miss school or exams or vacations if it just means smarter eating? When the remedy for so many things can be found in the plate, why take the pill?
Keep in mind that food is the most natural way to heal your child.

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Say `Yes’ to `No’…

July 7, 2018 No Comments

Whether it’s weddings, family functions or just dinner with friends, food is often tied to a host of social obligations. It’s difficult to say no when someone offers food. They may feel bad, insulted, if it’s a wedding… The goal of eating is to feel better, not guilty, afterwards. If you eat under pressure, you don’t enjoy your food or stick to your health goals. How does one tackle such situations? We’ve devised some tactics to confront these tricky situations

PREPARE

Tank up on soup and salad before going out. You’ll feel full and won’t end up overeating, and you can stick to a few small portions of the healthy options.

Also, if the diet doesn’t come to you, bring the diet to your friends. Take salads and other low-cal dishes to the next party and put them on the table next to the creamy dips and fried food. That way you can still eat healthy for most of the evening and your host will appreciate the effort you have made. Everybody wins.

APPRECIATE

When someone wants you to eat food they have prepared, what they really want is for you to appreciate the effort they have made. You could say things like, “You have really outdone yourself this time, the place, table and food look fabulous!“ or “You are such a wonderful hostess! I am having a great time!“ Also, compliment the food early, and often. The more you compliment the dishes, the more people will think that you have eaten a lot even when you haven’t (*wink*).

POSTPONE

This is an especially good tactic for dessert. Postpone eating rich desserts by saying that you are full now so you will eat it in a bit when you can really enjoy it. Chances are your host will not ask you the second time around, as he or she will be preoccupied with other guests. But if they insist, you can ask if you can take the dessert home with you. Whether you eat it at home or not is your little secret.

ASK

Tell your host beforehand that you are on a healthy eating programme, and that you might not be able to eat much at their house. It’s always better to enlist the support of your family or friends when you are trying to lose weight. Tell them you would appreciate their help. They will be much more obliging to help you along your weight loss journey.

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When healing can be a headache

July 7, 2018 No Comments

It starts off as a light throb and gallops to an everlasting migraine. Whether it was something you drank or ate, many foods are held guilty for kicking off migraines. But while eliminating these foods can be the obvious solution, did you know that most migraines are triggered off by acidity? In other words, it’s not what you are eating and drinking but the propensity of certain foods that cause acidic reactions, leading to migraines. Here are some boxes to tick if you want the throbbing to stop.

DON’T START THE DAY WITH CAFFEINE

While many believe that it is caffeine that prevents the onset of a headache, it causes acidity, leading to a headache. Caffeine is also infamous for being a dehydrating agent, resulting in similar results.

DRINK WATER

The universal elixir of life, health and even weight loss is water. It drains the flood of pain that a migraine can be. And yet we simply don’t get enough in our daily lives. Drink at least 10-12 glasses of water a day to stave off de hydration and reduce the intensity of pain.

FOOD LABELS

Anything that contains Monosodium Glutamate (or MSG) can kick start a never-ending headache. MSG isn’t just present in Chinese or Asian cuisines. Read your food labels carefully. MSG has also been associated with other conditions like facial tightness, numbness and palpitations.

EAT FROM YOUR GUT

If you take care of your gut, you can control the onset of migraines because if you sort out your gut, you can reduce your acidity. Create an environment that is more alkaline to promote healthy intestinal flora. Probiotic drinks and foods work wonderfully to create this, of course, but you can also do your bit by…

…EATING ALKALINE FOODS Your entire green leafy family, other vegetables, and fruits, are all alkaline foods.

You can never go wrong with eating things that not only keep headaches at bay but also weight gain.

AVOID TOO MUCH SUGAR

Another famous migraine trigger is too much sugar. Cut down on spoonful during your daily tea (or teas). Sugar disguises itself in packaged foods sweet or savoury.

Look out for any added sugars substitute like High Fructose Corn Syrup or simply any compound ending in `ose’.

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Have a heart

July 7, 2018 No Comments

It’s the month of love… the season to make fervent declarations of love, or at the very least, take care of matters of the heart. I thought February is the perfect month to have a heart to heart with you about what really matters keeping the most vital organ of your body in shape. You don’t have to be pushing 90 for this to apply to you. Heart health is of vital importance to people of all ages. Here’s a list of food you must eat to be heart-healthy.

Cinnamon: This innocuous herb has anti-clotting properties and prevents platelets from thickening the blood. Cinnamon is also extremely versatile and can be as much a part of your desserts and coffees as it can be a part of savoury dishes.

Fish: Fatty fish -like salmon -burst with Omega-3 fatty acids, which work beautifully to maintain good cholesterol levels, and also do a great job of protecting your blood vessels from damage, which could result in heart attacks later.

Krill Oil: A relatively newer kid on the block, krill oil contains vital Omega-3 fatty acids, and by virtue of that, works to protect your heart. Extracted from the krill (a kind of underwater crustacean), it is available in capsule form and has also been associated with building immunity, among other benefits.

Vegetable juice: Vegetable -and not fruit -juices are brilliant for the heart and are loaded with cancer-fighting antioxidants. Just blend three different raw veggies in a blender (not a juicer), and fill half your glass with half of the veggie pulp and top off with water. Season to taste, and drink immediately.

Turmeric: This small pinch of yellow -a staple in Indian cooking -should be a heart staple, and it helps to reduce cholesterol oxidation, the formation of clots, and also helps to lower bad (LDL) cholesterol.

Vegetables: Heart attacks happen because of the build-up of plaque, which leads to the formation of clots. Vegetables have large amounts of insoluble fibre, an excellent anti-plaguing food. Learn to heart veggies for a good heart.

Fruits: Fruits that contain potassium (plums, peaches and muskmelon) help maintain healthy blood pressure, and make sure your heart doesn’t suffer functional stress.

Oats: Oatmeal is perfect breakfast to have, especially, if you are trying to prevent heart disease or diabetes. The beta glucans (fibre present in oats) is proven to have beneficial effect on the cholesterol levels.

Nuts: Flaxseeds, pecans and hazelnuts are great sources of heart-healthy fats as well. Sprinkle them in salads, add them to your dishes or just pop a few during your day.

Green Tea: Green tea lowers LDL and triglycerides, and has a host of other health benefits.

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Sweets for your sweet

July 7, 2018 No Comments

I can honestly say that children have far more hectic social lives than adults do. From birthday parties and festivals to school events, they are out of the door as soon as they come in. The little ones now have big lives and with their `big little’ lives, come big problems. From cakes, pastries, ice-creams to popsicles served at various events and birthday parties that they attend, kids now have far more access to sweets.

Sugar is bad for children’s teeth, metabolism, concentration, weight maintenance, energy and fitness levels… the list goes on. So how does a parent tackle the festival season? By being inventive. Here’s how you can regulate sweets for your sweet.

TEACH, DON’T TELL

Instead of stating sweets are bad, tell them exactly why. I find kids today are far more in quisitive than ever before, and it may be good to inform them of the very real consequences of eat ing excess sugar. You can simply tell them or use the inter net to explain it through short videos. You can check the con tent before traumatising them too much you’d be surprised at how much they imbibe.

PREPARE, DON’T EXPECT

Instead of crossing your fingers and hoping your host puts something healthy on the table, you could make-and-take. Instead of taking a bottle of wine or a candle set as a gift for the next adult-and kids soirée, you could consider taking a dessert brimming with healthy ingredients.

SAVOUR, DON’T SWEETEN

You don’t always have to take something sweet. Hot snacks like baked samosas, home fries, poha, upma or even healthy toasted sandwiches could satiate even the fussiest appetites. Figure out how you can pull kids to wards the healthy food by using fun shapes and food colours at the next party you host.

PACK, DON’T ATTACK

You could also halve your child’s intake of unhealthy foods by packing half a dessert in the lunch box. A nice little treat in the school dabba gives them bragging rights and will never fail to delight. Another trick to ensure that your kid gets adequate nutrition is to feed your child before they land up at their event so that the delicacies on display have limited appeal. A glass of milk could fill up their little stomachs before their 4 pm party at the neighbour’s. This trick works beautifully for adults too, who want to maintain their weight. Just saying.

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Picky eaters

July 7, 2018 No Comments

Picky eating is usually a phase, and rarely indicates any co-existing condition. But it would be a good idea to check with your paediatrician to see if it isn’t something more serious or chronic like acid reflux or something more insidious. If all’s well, a skipped meal here or there is not the end of the world.

So long as your child is energetic and engaged and is deemed healthy enough by her doctor, this phase in her life can be overcome with no harm done.

However, if her nutrition is being compromised and her growth parameters are being affected, it is best to address the issue as soon as possible.

Kelli Dorfman in her seminal book, What’s Eating Your Child? , introduces a technique that she has tried on hundreds of her own patients. I thought I could reproduce the same for you in these pages. It’s a simple method which encourages experimentation and helps to widen your child’s palate at a more gentle pace. Called the E.A.T method, she urges you to:

ELIMINATE

First, start of by eliminating a list of foods that your child is rejecting or even foods that have no nutritive value like sugary or processed foods. This could be anything from roti to rice to potatoes to peas to packaged snacks. While it sounds counterintuitive, maybe the reason some of these foods are given the thumbs down by your child is because it doesn’t genuinely suit her. By eliminating foods that she fusses over, you set the stage to:

ADD

Once all rejected foods have been eliminated, you will now have to inform your child that you will be adding one new food every two weeks. This could be the same potatoes or peas, but one food at a time.

This is done to investigate the cause of the pickiness or any sort of physiological reaction to the food. While you can anticipate tears or, better yet, tantrums… you can mitigate any adverse reaction by telling them that all they have to do is:

TRY

All they have to do is try. Just one bite. One bite of the new food for the next two weeks. They don’t have to like it, but they do have just try one bite of the same food daily just for a fortnight.