Make your own Tasty but Healthy Breakfast: Mysore Bonda and Coconut chutney (South India)

Here’s one of the mouth-watering dishes from South India that can give us some real Tasty But Healthy recipe goals: Mysore bonda and coconut chutney.

Read below for reasons to tickle your taste buds!

1. Healthy gut- The non-digestible component of plant fibers like that found in rice – known as prebiotics– stimulate the growth and induce changes to the composition of gut microbial populations. The gut microbiome (probiotics) play a very important role in the overall health of a person—whether it be in contributing to weight loss or fighting against diseases like cancer or diabetes.

2. Boosts immunity- The rice flour and urad dal in the bonda mutually complement each other and their combination provides full benefits of all the essential amino acids/complete protein profile. Antibodies that help fight disease are actually made of protein. Hence, it boosts your immunity and makes you less susceptible to infections.

3. Reduces abdominal fat- The fats in coconut (known as medium chain triglycerides MCTs) are shorter than most other fats. This makes them a unique kind of fat that is metabolized differently in human body. Certain studies have found a significant reduction in waist circumference after consumption of coconut in the diet.

4. Heart protective- Coconut helps protect against heart disease by increasing good cholesterol and lowering the ratio of bad and good cholesterol.

Few more options that are quick, easy and equally healthy are-

1. Rava upma

2. Uttapam

3. Namkeen Sevaiyan

4. Egg and local bread

Confused by the misinformation about potential health problems with traditional Indian foods? Get in touch with award-winning Mumbai dietitian and nutritionist, Munmun Ganeriwal, a strong advocate of the holistic, wellness benefits of fresh, local, and traditional Indian foods

Make your own Tasty but Healthy Breakfast: Suji Sheera (West India)

If you think that eating Suji Sheera means taking in unwanted calories, then you ought to think twice!

This delicious Indian breakfast sweet is ideal for keeping blood sugar under check, losing weight and also preventing anemia!

Read below to know more-

1. Anti-ageing – Ever wondered why the high-end global beauty brands use sugar in their cosmetics and skin care products? Its because sugar hydrates the skin and makes it look younger. Sugar is also a natural source of glycolic acid, an alpha hydroxy acid (AHA), that has anti-ageing properties.

2. Accelerates fat-burning- Suji sheera being rich in essential fats like ghee and nuts, helps to boost fat burning. Consuming good sources of fats not only promotes satiety (and mindless over-eating later), the short chain fatty acid in it also helps to get rid of stubborn fat stores.

3. Good for hormonal imbalances- In Sooji sheera, the antioxidants- rich kesar comes together with Sooji that is a great source of Zinc and Selenium. Hence, this makes it a great breakfast choice for those with PCOS, thyroid, insulin resistance etc.

4. Anti-inflammatory- The cardamom in the sheera has great anti-inflammatory properties that work at reducing pain, swelling and bloating.

Few more options that are quick, easy and equally healthy are-

1. Kanda Poha

2. Khakra with ghee

3. Nachni Satv

4. Egg and Pav

Confused by the misinformation about potential health problems with traditional Indian foods? Get in touch with award-winning Mumbai dietitian and nutritionist, Munmun Ganeriwal, a strong advocate of the holistic, wellness benefits of fresh, local, and traditional Indian foods

An Italian proverb says “A good beginning makes a good ending”. We all know the importance of starting our day with a healthy breakfast, don’t we? Our dadis and nanis have always told us – “subah subah khali pet ghar se baahar nahi jaate”. And does science agree with it. Hell yes, it does.

Several good reasons why you should eat first thing when you get up-

– Breakfast kick-starts your metabolism, helping you burn more calories throughout the day and increases fat burning in the body.

– When we sleep, all our body processes slow down. When we wake up, our blood sugar is low, the same blood sugar that is needed to make our muscles and our brain work. Breakfast helps to replenish this blood sugar and boosts our energy levels.

In my practise, I meet so many people who are always so rushed, no time to eat breakfast. And what I typically see in these people is that once they get through their day, they get so hungry later on that they are snacking on high fat high sugar foods.

Not getting your fuel by eating first thing in the morning, will make you overeat later in the day.

So the first take away is that if you do want to get thinner, lose weight, take charge of your diabetes, thyroid, PCOD, cholesterol issues or anything else, you should make time to eat your breakfast.

And for those who just don’t feel hungry enough to eat, for them two things –

– make sure you eat your dinner every night 2-3 hours before hitting the bed. If you are eating your food and straight away lying down to sleep, not only does it lead to acidity when you wake up in the morning, you also not feel hungry enough for breakfast

– and second thing, make sure you get sound sleep through the night. With sleep deprivation, you wake up not having a desire to eat and not feeling hungry.

What is healthy breakfast?

A bowl of Oats or ready to eat cereals with a few decorative strawberries on top like they show in TV ads or a tall glass of orange juice like they show in Bollywood movies. Wife is worried about husband’s cholesterol. Husband’s only chance of fixing his health issues is through the wife switching from home-cooked, traditional breakfast meals, to oats and cereals. And then there are ads of children indulging in chocolate cereals that would make them taller, stronger and sharper. Like really?

Let’s dissect their claims one by one-

– First thing is about nutrition profile- . They say that these oats and cereals are rich in soluble fibre and by virtue of that, it will reduce your cholesterol and lead to weight loss. What we need to understand is that the grains, pulses and millets that go into making our traditional breakfast are also a rich source of soluble fibre and can also work to lower our body cholesterol.

– Second thing is about taste and satisfaction, I call it Vit J, where J is joy. Unlike the western ‘consumerist culture’ of sweet and cold cereal breakfasts, we have a tradition of garam nashta that gives us Santosh meaning makes us feel more satisfied. Once you have received your dose of Vit J, you will see that you don’t experience sugar cravings through the day. But if you are eating your breakfast that fails to give you this vitamin J, then you will surely see yourself reaching out for a piece of pastry or a doughnut later in the day.

We need to embrace the huge food diversity that our country represents and not mindlessly follow the global uniform eating pattern of cereal and milk. Diversity in food that you eat is also important for your health and well being because the diversity of good bacteria in your gut thrives on it.

Few things you need to ensure are-

– You eat only one breakfast item at a time.

– Eat it slow, chew your food well, and make sure you are not multi tasking while eating with your phone or morning newspaper.

When you do all of this, you will see that you are not overeating, and in few days time, you will see your acidity and bloating disappear, higher energy levels with a sense of feeling light and nice. And yes, weight loss too!

Confused by the misinformation about potential health problems with traditional Indian foods? Get in touch with award-winning Mumbai dietitian and nutritionist, Munmun Ganeriwal, a strong advocate of the holistic, wellness benefits of fresh, local, and traditional Indian foods

Make your own TastybutHealthy Breakfast: Aloo Paratha (North India)

Since the advent of lowfat, gluten-free dishes, this TastyButHealthy breakfast has been looked down upon as being unhealthy and fattening. However, this is far from reality! Aloo paratha rightly holds its place as being a nutritious, tasty, and healthy #TraditionalIndianBreakfast.

Read below to know why and tickle your taste buds with some delicious Aloo Parathas, today!

1. Weight loss– Potatoes don’t just have carbs, but also high levels of an essential amino acid called lysine, which is a precursor to the human growth hormone (HGH). This hormone helps the body to repair and maintain itself, and also to grow. A boost in HGH production in body improves body composition- decreasing fat stores, increasing muscle tone and insulin sensitivity.

2. Cholesterol control– The lecithin in ghar kaa makhan helps in proper assimilation and metabolism of cholesterol in body.

3. Diabetes– The good fatty acids in makkhan work at stabilizing blood sugar.When blood sugar is stable, rather than jumping from super high to super low, we do not overeat or experience sugar cravings.

4. Digestive– The whole wheat atta provides adequate fibre or roughage, thus making them easily digestible and ‘light’ on the system.

Few more options that are quick, easy and equally healthy are-

1. Moong dal chilla

2. Dalia

3. Besan Chilla

Confused by the misinformation about potential health problems with traditional Indian foods? Get in touch with award-winning Mumbai dietitian and nutritionist, Munmun Ganeriwal, a strong advocate of the holistic, wellness benefits of fresh, local, and traditional Indian foods

Green tea has become synonymous to good health, diet, fitness and everything that comes under this huge umbrella of weight loss. First things first, both black and green tea come from the same plant. The difference is only in the way each is treated after being plucked, in terms of processing and oxidation.

THE HISTORY

India has always celebrated black tea for thousands of years. It has always been traditionally made with spices and herbs for centuries to cure illnesses of all kinds and degree. The first documented mention of tea consumption in India is in the Ramayana.

Green tea, on the other hand, is native to Japan and China.

IS GREEN TEA PRODUCED IN INDIA?

India has been commercially producing some of the worlds finest black teas since the 19th century. If the Darjeeling tea has been compared to the extraordinary wine from the champagne district of France, tea from Assam is known for its full bodied strength and that from Nilgiri for its fragrance.

Its only recently, may be ten years or so, that these popular growing regions have started processing green tea as well, more driven by its popularity and demand from the consumers.

The amount of green tea produced in India is only 10% of the black which is not a lot especially if you compare it with the Japanese and Chinese cultivation of green tea.

THE TEA ECONOMY

Since several years together, it was the Indian black tea that was considered the finest by the rest of the world for its great taste and flavour. Until a decade back, India was hence, the undisputed and largest exporter of tea in the world. The gradual growing belief that drinking green tea has detox and weight loss benefits has been mostly pushed by green tea companies in Japan and China to reap profits in foreign markets. Resulting which, from rank one, we now rank four as world tea exporters.

HOW TRUE ARE THESE HEALTH CLAIMS?

Let’s get to know the facts one by one

Myth 1 Only green tea has antioxidants with ‘detox’ properties

If green tea has antioxidants and flavonoids, so does black. In each case, oxidation or non oxidation gives the tea a different set of antioxidant compounds. Research says that if Catechin and Kaempferol are Antioxidants in green tea, then Quercetin and Theaflavins in black tea are equally effective antioxidants.

Catechin and Kaempferol – Antioxidants in green tea

Equally effective

Quercetin and Theaflavins- Antioxidants in black tea

– Research by American Society for Nutrition & NCBI, U.S

Myth 2 The Low caffeine content in green tea makes it healthier

Well, the fact is that Tea, whether black or green, is naturally low in caffeine

Myth 3 They say that Green tea helps in Weight loss

“Seeing is believing” but not always. One such example is Green tea and it’s health claims.
As a matter of fact, Tea, whether green or black, is only 1 calorie per 100 ml of serving. Moreover, the USFDA has time and again rejected green tea health claims. This is what it says-

US FDA – “There is no credible scientific evidence to support qualified health claims about consumption of green tea or green tea extract”

Not long time ago, ads on TV talked about the colour, strength and fragrance to sell their tea and not promoted it as a “detox” or a “weight loss” agent. Instead of thin, skinny girls representing as brand ambassadors, tabla or sitar maestros having chai were seen, driving the point that the culture of having masala chai in India is as old and rich as ‘Sangeet’ itself.

Let’s get together and celebrate this age old culture instead of brushing it under the carpet in the name of weight loss. Chai anyone?

Confused by the misinformation about potential health problems with traditional Indian foods? Get in touch with award-winning Mumbai dietitian and nutritionist, Munmun Ganeriwal, a strong advocate of the holistic, wellness benefits of fresh, local, and traditional Indian foods

Haven’t all of us experienced #acidity at some point in time? The feeling of #bloating and burning sensation is surely not easy to handle. Use of Anti-acidity medicines over a long
time will inhibit your body’s absorption of essential nutrients leading to further diseases and health problems. However, with some minor tweaks in your #diet and lifestyle pattern, you
can keep the #AcidityBlues at bay and live a healthy life.

To learn the tricks and tips to #FightAcidity, follow the infographic.

Nothing gives more joy than sitting by the window on a rainy day, eating hot pakodas and sipping some adrak chai. But most of the time, instead of enjoying our deep fried goodies, we are scared eating them. Let’s get to know myths & facts about deep frying & whether its healthy or not.

Question 1 – Isn’t Deep fried food Fattening?

– The USFDA has reviewed its dietary guidelines in 2015 saying that there is no upper limit to one’s daily dietary fat intake. In simple words, the ban on total dietary fat has finally been lifted, and it’s none other than the USFDA asking you not to worry about the fat & indulge in your bhajjiyas guilt free 🙂

Second point is that Nutrition science tells us that addition of fat to a meal brings down its glycemic index. Presence of Fat in a meal delays the process of converting food to blood sugar. Hence, the more fat, the slower the sugars or carbs are digested, and lower is the glycemic index. Not difficult to understand why we have food combinations like aamras and puri. If the mangoes in aamras are infamously known to increase your sugar levels and make you fat, the deep fried puri along with it makes sure the GI of the overall meal stays in check.

Question 2 – What are the best oils for deep frying food?

– We need to consider two things to determine the best fat that will not break down at high temperature to create toxic compounds- one is the smoke point and other is the stability of the fat.

Ghee has the highest smoke point & being the most stable fat that undergoes very little oxidation when heated, it makes for the first best medium to fry food. Second to ghee are filtered oils from local oilseeds like mustard, coconut, sesame and groundnut.

And, What about olive oil? Well, olive oil because of its low smoke point is not suited for deep frying. To know more about oils, do watch my You tube video on Olive oil v/s Indian traditional oils.

Question 3- Can we reuse the oil?

– Oil that you are frying in should not be reused as reusing oil oxidises the fat, forming free radicals and compounds which are harmful to our health. The only exception to this is Ghee, and that’s because of its unusually high smoke point.

Question 4 – Is deep fried food healthy?

– The answer to this is both yes and no. It is certainly healthy when you are making your deep fried stuff at home. Why? Because at home, you can make sure you are using nutrients and antioxidants rich ghee or filtered oils, you can also make sure you do not reuse the oil and eat them fresh and hot.

While you eat them outside say at restaurants, most of the time, these parameters are beyond our control. Also, most of the time, at restaurants and hotels, the deep frying is done twice, one before and one again just before serving you.

Question 5- How much can we eat?

– The act of overeating the healthiest food in the world can also create toxicity in the body. So like with everything, do not go overboard, eat slow and eat mindful.

Keep calm, eat the fried, and eat it wise!

Image credit- Google images

Confused by the misinformation about potential health problems with traditional Indian foods? Get in touch with award-winning Mumbai dietitian and nutritionist, Munmun Ganeriwal, a strong advocate of the holistic, wellness benefits of fresh, local, and traditional Indian foods