Experts share tips to give your food a plant-based makeover...

-

Granted, you’re living in a concrete jungle where you have no control over pesticides in your brinjal. You are also too busy to bother about what you feed yourself, often rushing to grab a burger, gorging on a pizza and washing these down with a cola.

The reasons given for treating our body to junk are many. Health foods? Too expensive. Counting nutrients? Impractical. Organic and natural food? Not always possible.

But a wrong diet is the root cause of all illnesses. So make small changes in your eating patterns. Don’t make a 360-degree change, go one step at a time. Try to be as natural as possible, gradually include more raw foods and get rid of unhealthy eating patterns.

SAY 'NO' TO ANIMAL PROTEIN

Don’t pack in protein from animal sources — cheese, milk, meat, butter, eggs etc. Unlike plant-based protein sources, these take more time to digest, making you feel heavy and bloated.

OILY FACT

Watch your oil consumption. The best way to consume oil is through nuts and seeds rather than the refined form where all fibre is lost. Think you cannot make your sabji without a generous dollop of ghee? Here’s how you can do it — add a little salt to soften the onions and fry them in a pan without oil or fat. If you feel it sticks, just sprinkle a little water. Onions will get fried just as well.

CHANGE YOUR COOKING STYLE

Healthy, oil-free cooking might take a little longer than usual, but it's worth the wait. Begin using vegetable broth to cook your sabjis and curries. Can’t do without tasty (oily) temptations like patties, fries or cutlets? Simply coat your patties in fine peanut powder and roast them. It might take a while, but the oil released from the peanuts is enough to cook them. Try it to believe it.

HAVE WHOLE FOODS

Eat only whole foods because most of the nutrients and flavor is in the skin and when you peel them, you throw away the nutrients. Ever wondered why you add sauces and masalas to spice up vegetables? It’s because while peeling the skin, you are ridding it of its flavors too. If you learn to cook with whole foods, you won’t feel the need to artificially flavor them with sauces. Similarly, have unpolished rice and brown rice instead of the white ones and atta instead of Maida.

USE WATER SPARINGLY

Washing vegetables, grains and fruits is well, necessary, but don’t overdo it, else you’ll lose all nutrients. Steam your veggies instead of boiling them. Also, never wash vegetables after chopping them.

FOLLOW THE MONKEY

Nature is the best teacher and among all animals, man’s closest relative monkey leads the way. Ever seen a monkey peel an apple? Not really. But it certainly does so for a banana or an orange. Follow the principle in your diet too! Never peel fruits and vegetables that don’t need peeling.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

To-Do Lists

-
The Key to Efficiency   Do you frequently feel overwhelmed by the amount of work you have to do? Do you face a constant barrage of looming deadlines? Or do you sometimes just forget to do something important, so that people have to chase you to get work done?   All of these are symptoms of not keeping a proper "To-Do List". To-Do Lists are prioritized lists of all the tasks that you need to carry out. They list everything that you have to do, with the most important tasks at the top of the list, and the least important tasks at the bottom.    While this sounds a simple thing to do, it's when people start to use To-Do Lists properly that they often make their first personal productivity / time management breakthrough, and start to make a real success of their careers.   By keeping a To-Do List, you make sure that you capture all of the tasks you have to complete in one place. This is essential if you're not going to forget things. And by prioritizing work, yo...
Read more

JUICE IT UP

-
In the health battle between juices and fizzy drinks, juices win hands down. Experts tells you why... When you return home after a tiring day at work and reach out for a drink in your refrigerator, chances are that you may spend a minute trying to decide between those attractive fizzy drinks lined up and the fruit juices. If you have chosen the juice, well, there’s reason to rejoice. But, if you have chosen the latter, here’s evidence of why you have made the wrong decision. According to a recent study, cutting down on soft drinks reduces the risk of a stroke by eight per cent and coronary heart disease by almost five per cent. “Our findings suggest that reducing sugar sweetened beverages and sugar consumption may be an important dietary strategy to lower blood pressure and further reduce other blood pressure related diseases,” reveals Liwei Chen, the lead author of the study. On the other hand, fruit juices are a smart addition to any well-balanced diet, providing vitamins and min...
Read more

Love the skin you’re in

-
Many people are unhappy with something about themselves Do you love your body? Most people would say that they like their bodies, but do not like their nose, tummy, cellulite or arms. Almost everyone has some hang-up about their body. Yes, even the ‘flawless’ models staring happily at you from magazine covers fret about their body parts. The increase in the number of cosmetic surgeries, breast enhancements and nose jobs all but confirm this. The way you think about your body has a great bearing on how you look, and the message you send across to the world. If you feel good and confident, then that is how people perceive you, and the reverse is also true. Here are some practical tips for a better body image: STOP BEING HYPERCRITICAL   Don’t pick at your flaws all the time. Instead, learn to love yourself as a whole. Be more connected to your body. Take a walk and feel your body in motion. Appreciate how strong and dynamic your body is. BE REALISTIC Know what you can change and...
Read more