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September 4, 2022 By Sheryl Afonso Leave a Comment

What’s Good For Health: Packaged Cereals or a Traditional Indian Breakfast?

traditional indian breakfastThe global food industry has made dishing up a meal child’s play. No longer do families need to stress about time-consuming, skillful cooking and appetizing assembling of cereals, pulses, veggies, spices, and herbs to put on their tables to satisfy their palates. The array of packaged breakfast cereals that greet you in a supermarket have spoiled us for choice in terms of variety and taste. There’s one for each day of the week and a plethora to choose from for those special occasions when friends stay over too! Gone are the days when you had to slog it out in your kitchen – chopping, slicing, dicing, soaking, grinding, mixing, fermenting, steaming, and plating in a bid to not only satiate the hungry tummies but to also earn you a compliment on your culinary skills! Oats, muesli, wheat flakes, corn flakes, oatmeal, Weetabix, rice krispies, and the like have replaced uttapams, poha, upma, sabudana khichdi, theplas, appams, chillas, paniyarams, dalia, teezan and other wholesome delights in Indian homes. 

Why Shouldn’t You Opt For Packaged Cereals? 

While “time is of essence” is the mantra that dual income families trumpet in defence of their breakfast choice, long-term health is an unconscious sacrifice they make. The reasons why breakfast cereals may not deliver all that the package label promises needs a closer look:

  1.  They are refined. Refining is an industrial polishing process that cereals undergo to extend their shelf life. It wipes away the nutrient-rich bran and germ portion of the cereal, giving you a naked grain stripped off essential B-vitamins, fibre, magnesium, and vitamin E. 
  2. They deliver a sugar overload: The addictive taste of breakfast cereals is more often than not, due to the added sugar in these products. Take a peek at the ingredient list and you will notice that sugar is often the second or third ingredient on that list. Beginning your day with a sugar-laden breakfast is sure to bring your energy levels crashing down within an hour of your eat-and-run breakfast choice, making you reach out for an earlier-than-expected snack, thus leading to overeating, and weight issues. 
  3. They lie! Low-fat, multigrain, added bran, fortified with vitamins, and whole wheat are misleading terms that catch the eye of an overzealous consumer. Each of these terms has hidden meanings that spell “stripped of nutrition and then minimally replenished”. Once again, a close look at the Ingredient List and Nutritional Label may disclose the fact that the “low-fat” delight is a “high-carbohydrate” disaster; the “multigrain” marvel is actually a blend of refined grains; the promised “whole wheat” wellness is way inferior to the “wholegrain” goodness of a traditional cereal.  

Nutritionists and researchers have been shouting hoarsely about the benefits of breakfast which includes weight management, improved concentration in school and at work, better academic performance, healthier food choices throughout the day and superior nutritional status. 

These outcomes of eating a meal following a prolonged overnight fast, courtesy a dinner consumed six to ten hours earlier, are augmented when one adheres to established nutritional guidelines of complex carbohydrate-protein-fat combination meals to start your day. Commercial breakfast cereals often lack dietary fibre, a complex carbohydrate that keeps you feeling full for a longer period of time, diminishes cholesterol absorption and prevents spikes in blood glucose levels. The preservatives, colours, flavours, and additives that these packaged boxes require bring along their own added set of worries.  

Why Should You Opt for a Traditional Indian Breakfast? 

The traditional Indian breakfast, on the other hand, ensures good quality complete protein by way of cereal-pulse combination items (dosas, idlis), fibre (carrots and beans added to upma), healthy monounsaturated fats (groundnuts added to poha and sabudana khichdi), iron and calcium (ragi in teezan), and probiotic value (dhokla, idlis and lassi/curd with parathas). The spices added in preparing these items have been increasingly recognized for their health benefits and go a long way in imparting antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential. 

Nutritionally tempting?! Well… what’s stopping you from exploring the myriad ways in which you can tickle the tummy of your family by whipping out your grandma’s recipe and, in the bargain, living to be as robust as she was? While the time factor may make you waive your decision to switch to a healthier Indian breakfast menu, do not be disheartened – planning is all it takes to sneak in a nutritious meal at the start of your day! Make a menu plan for the next day or plan for the week ahead, and you will be safely on your way to a healthier you in no time at all! It’s worth the effort. Desi is the way to go… Breakfast like a king!

We hope this article helps you switch to a healthy traditional Indian breakfast! If you enjoyed reading this article, let us know in the comments below. For more on nutrition, check out Healthy Reads.

To get these nutritional tips or recipes directly from your GOQii Coach, subscribe for personalised health coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

Eat healthy and #BeTheForce 

May 12, 2021 By Sheryl Afonso 1 Comment

Fatigue Fighting Hacks To Supercharge Your Mornings At Home

fatigue fighting hacksTrrriiing! There goes your 6 a.m. alarm! 

Boing! There goes the snooze button hit! Just another ten minutes you plead with your fatigued mind even though you know you’ll be late for that zoom call!  

How often have you caught yourself doing that in a week? The day whizzes by in a blur as you struggle to stay awake through that all-important morning call, exercise restraint from unnecessarily blowing your top at your colleague, force yourself to be patient as your junior takes longer than expected to understand a concept, and stop short of actually dozing and snoring at your comfy workspace at home as the day slowly comes to a close…

Morning fatigue can be pinned down to many reasons: a super-late night, hypothyroidism, too much progesterone, midnight visits to the washroom, sleep apnea, an overworked mind, and more. Chronic fatigue can take a toll on human health, and is best nipped in the bud. Once hormonal imbalances and sleep apnea have been ruled out as the cause of your daily fatigue, try out these fatigue fighting hacks to keep you alert through the day.

Fatigue Fighting Hacks To Supercharge Your Mornings

  1. Set a Double Alarm: A full sleep cycle is approximately 90 minutes. So, if you need to step out of bed at 7 a.m., set an alarm for 5:30 a.m. and another one for 7 a.m. Turn off the 5:30 alarm once it begins to shrill – go back to getting another complete sleep cycle – and bounce out of bed happily when the second alarm goes off! You won’t need the snooze button at all! 
  2. Exercise: If home workout isn’t your style – fret not! Begin your day with a few simple stretches or a 10-minute yoga session. The release of endorphins that this brings on will keep you feeling energized through the day. 
  3. Be a Sunflower: Just like a sunflower thrives on the energizing rays of the sun, so does your body. Throw open your windows, draw back the curtains and revel in the joy that comes along with the morning rays hitting your face. You’ll get a good dose of vitamin D too whilst you are at it.
  4. Power-up with Protein: Skipping breakfast is never an option if you want to feel fresh throughout the day. But choosing the right breakfast foods is important. Begin and end your day with protein-rich foods. Research indicates that protein induces serotonin and subsequent melatonin release that brings on better quality sleep while also leading to a build-up of enzymes that signal the brain to wake-up in the mornings. Plate up the eggs, fish, yoghurt, pulses, peanut butter, and nuts and roll away the sugar-laden carbohydrates.
  5. Tank up on Water: Dehydration can often be the reason for fatigue in the morning and all through the day. A glass of plain water or fruit-infused water is a sure shot way to get your body into “run” mode. Placing this by your bedside and reaching out for it as soon as your alarm goes off will get you moving faster than the Duracell rabbit!  
  6. Alexa to the Rescue: Programme Alexa to play out your favourite music at the exact hour you need to be out of bed. What better way to begin your day than with a blast of pop, hip hop, golden oldies, jazz or Hindi chartbusters? 
  7. Tease your Brain: Alarm clocks and mobiles that need you to perform a mental task before they can be “snoozed” or shut off are now available in the market! Not only will they supercharge your morning, but you’ll have increased your IQ by 5 points at least by the end of the month.

List Of Don’ts Before Bed 

I don’t need to dwell on the much-touted DON’Ts that keep you away from enjoying your mornings, but a quick reminder will reinforce your learning:

  • Limit water intake to just one glass a couple of hours before you hit the sack; then you won’t need to blame your midnight loo visits for your morning fatigue.
  • Cut down the fat at dinner to help you drift away to dreamland sooner.
  • Make sure your bedroom has just the right amount of light and is at the right temperature to allow for some uninterrupted sleep. 
  • Choose the right sleep accessories – pillow, mattress, blanket, and even a cuddly toy, if that’s what will keep your peepers tightly shut for 8 hours straight.
  • Stay away from electronic devices at least an hour before bedtime. Reading a book may be a better bit to bring on deeper sleep.
  • Maintain a sleep schedule so that the natural release of melatonin takes charge at the right time. 
  • Stay away from alcohol and caffeine closer to bedtime; they are diuretics that will cause you to wake up to piddle in the middle of the night! 

Sleep has no replacement. Fatigue is easily prevented. Do your health a huge favour – beat the morning blues! 

We hope these fatigue fighting hacks help you make your work from home more productive! Do let us know your thoughts in the comments below. For more tips, check out Healthy Reads or tune in to LIVE sessions by experts on GOQii Play. 

To directly interact with your GOQii Coach, subscribe to GOQii now: https://goqiiapp.page.link/wssu

Stay home, stay safe and #BeTheForce 

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