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August 19, 2016 By Neha Kapoor 1 Comment

Guide to pick healthy dishes from different cuisines

Eating out is a fashion or trend?

Today, most of us enjoy eating out and going to the restaurant is very common trend.

If you are a regular restaurant visitor you need to discipline yourself as it takes toll on your weight and impacts your health.

The biggest problems we faced while eating out are increased fascination towards outside food and eating in large portions. You can make the outing healthier by selecting the right food for yourself from different cuisines. It will help you in making eating out a joyful experience. This joyful journey starts with our very own “GPRS tool’ which resolves and simplifies all your food related queries.

G-Grilled, P- Poached, R-Roasted, S- Steamed

Select healthier meals from

(I) North Indian Food

We all love to try different cuisines among which North Indian foods is quite famous.

When we you go out choose low fat gravies and food without the cheese. Prefer more starters which have been roasted or grilled chose tandoori food.

1- Avoid curries which contains the highest amounts of fat. If you need to opt for it take out the pieces from it and have it ignoring the gravy. Food like (Lentils made in Butter) dal makhnai and other preparation with cream are rich in fat. Whenever you tend to eat it avoid top portion and take from the bottom as fat floats on the top and can impact our weight leading to various diseases. Eat in moderation.

2- Avoid friend breads (parathas ,puris). And Pulao. Opt for chapatti and steamed rice or tandori roti which is preferable to bread made of refined flour.

3- Have more baked products.

(II) South Indian meals

1- Go for big Idlis or large plain dosa. If possible go for lentil (dal) based filling avoid potato based fillings as they are contain fat layer.

2- Lentil based puffs (Dal Vada) well squeezed and drained on tissue also makes a good choice. Complement it with good veggies and green salad.

3- Non -Veg chicken, fish, prawns along with measured portion of grains/cereals is a good choice.

4- Keep yourself away from deserts as they are rich in sugar.

Today’s trendy and kids favorite Chinese food.

1- Start meals always with large helping soups without thickening sweet corn, noodles etc.

2- Go easy on fluid appetizer.

3- Order steamed rice instead of fried rice.

4- Always follow half plate rule. Fill mostly half the plate with green veggies and salad.

5- Light stir fried vegetables, tofu, chicken, fish, are good choices and very must satisfactory.

6- Reduce high salt food as it contains too much of sodium.

(III) Italian Cuisine

Skip bread and breadsticks. Ask for olives or a salad. Choose grilled sea food, lean meats, and breasts of chicken with extra vegetables added to it.
Chose a thin crust Pizza over the regular one. Two slices are good to eat.
Opt for tomato gravy as white gravies are rich in fat and serves extra calories.
Add a dash of parmesan cheese or olives to add taste and make you feel satiated.

Greek and Lebanese

1- Go for chicken kebabs/fish with salad. Resist pitas and wraps as they have high carbs.

2- Avoid heavy deserts.

Mexican food

1- Order sour cream and guacamole on the side and top it with low fat salad.

2- Order soft food rather than crispy as the food is fried for the crispness.

3- Go easy on Nachos and cheese. Order low fat soups.

4- Good choices include rice and beans and tamales, tostadas and stuffed with vegetables and shrimp or chicken.

I assure you this blog is going to help everyone reading it to make the right and healthy choices while they are out in restaurants. Keep enjoying life but, not at the cost of your health.

August 11, 2016 By Trupti Hingad 3 Comments

5 accompaniments to avoid to keep you healthy and to lose weight

I am a foodie! Being a Marwari, our meals are not simple staple food and contains lot of accompaniments along with basic roti, vegetables (sabzi), dal (lentils) and rice. In my quest for personal fitness and wanting to lose weight, I initially struggled for few months. I kept wondering why am I not losing weight in spite of eating at regular intervals, not cheating, not eating out, limiting high fat foods intake, proper exercise routine, good 8 hours sleep and also resorting to meditation to remain stress free ?

These questions kept lingering in my thoughts and one fine day my health expert analyzed my routine, my diet and figured that there were few dishes that I should be avoiding or limiting my intake on if I need to lose or maintain my weight. That’s when I found the solution and achieved the best results on this journey!

I would like to share with you all about the most common 5 side dishes that people love, but, should be avoided or have it once in a while if you are on weight loss journey.

(1) Papad

Ahh!! That crunchy crispy papad.

Rice and dal seem like an incomplete meal without Papad on the side. Papads can be deep fried–extremely unhealthy – or roasted – which is equally unhealthy! They can be made from rice, flour, potatoes or chickpeas and are mixed with a variety of spices, salt, and oil. An uncontrolled serving of Papad can amp your calorie intake and exceed your daily budget. The increase in sodium can lead to water retention, bloating, and constant thirst and may even cause an increase in one’s blood pressure. Since, most of them consume more Papad in one sitting…it may lead to acidity, and digestive problems too. When fried using same oil many times……the reused oil becomes transfat leading to cardiac issues and high cholesterol. When dry roasted, acrylamide is formed due to the presence of sodium benzoate. So, be mindful.

(2) Pickles

A spoonful of pickle can spice up any meal. Infact I have seen people can take their meal only with pickles without any veggies sometimes. It works well with curd rice; adds a punch to Potato Breads (Aloo Paranthas), and makes Theplas (Breads made of various grains) the best dish to snack on! Pickles stand out as flavorful, low-calorie vegetables and is high in vitamin K. However, pickles are loaded with calories because of the oil they are preserved in and their nutrition content is almost zero, as the vegetables and fruits are minced and dried, which takes away the nutritional value. Like Papads, they are high in sodium due to the use of excessive salt for preservatives which might lead to hypertension if taken in excess. So Again the same funda…Eat in limit!

(3) Salad dressings

Salad…salad and just salads!!! Most of the weight loss dieters say they are on some kind of only salads diet! But, still not losing weight?

If you think having salads at the start of your meal will help you eat one less parantha, then go ahead and have a bowl. But, this salad helps only if it is not loaded with high-calorie dressings. Adding dressing to a salad can make the calorie content soar. Dressings such as Thousand Islands and Mayonnaise are loaded with calories, most of them fat. Stick to olive oil, lemon or low-fat yogurt instead!

(4) Soups

Salads are mostly accompanied with bowl of soup. And, one is right in thinking that a soup can be a healthy meal. It can fill your stomach and make you go less on other carbohydrate foods. But, if the soup is loaded with toppings such as cheese, cream, and croutons, it’s far from being healthy. Stick to clear soup with pieces of veggies and meats; shun all cream-based soups. And never pick up the soup sticks or dinner rolls that accompany your soup in a restaurant. That’s another side you don’t need! Go for more of homemade soups without any corn flour and also avoid packaged one as they are also high in sodium being added as preservative. Rather you can add oats flour as thickening agent.You can also opt for healthy cold soups.

(5) Boondi Raita

This curd based mixture is a hot favourite with most of us. Curd is high in protein, calcium, probiotic and the perfectly aid in digestion. It’s good to have curd daily for a healthy gut. The problem begins when you add fried snack to it. Boondi is nothing but fried globules of chickpea flour. The addition makes it a high-caloric food. When fried in reused oil, it becomes transfat and thus may lead to heart issues. So you can opt for veggies in curd or spinach, cabbage, pomegranate, carrot, cucumber, onion and the likes instead of a friend snack in curd.

So be mindful with all these above foods and get fitter and healthier.

July 12, 2016 By Neha Kapoor 1 Comment

Can we replace white rice?

Are you a white rice eater and looking to cut your rice intake but, findings it hard to do so? The best way to cut down on rice is to replace it with millets. Millets are also called wonder or magical grains. However, these wonder grains are not much recognized and used in today’s world of junk food and where refined flour has captured the whole market. Millet is full of nutrients your body needs, such as: Magnesium, Calcium, Manganese, Tryptophan, Phosphorus, Fiber, B vitamins, Antioxidants.

Most people have not even heard of millet forget knowing the benefits of millet nutrition. And yet, millet is one of the best-kept secrets of our ancient ancestors. Traced back to its origin, millet has been used throughout the ages and across many countries.

For centuries millet has been a prized crop in China, India, Greece, Egypt and Africa, used in everything from bread to couscous, and as cereal grain.

Some of the key reasons millet is part of your healthy Body Ecology diet is because it is:

*Highly nutritious – ideal for children

*Acts as a prebiotic to feed important micro-flora in your inner ecosystem

*Provides serotonin to calm and soothe your moods.

*Helps hydrate your colon to keep you regular.

*Great energy source – ideal for athletes

*Complete protein source when combined with legumes – ideal for a vegetarian diet

*Is alkaline.

*High amounts of fiber

*Rich in photochemicals including phytic acid, which is believed to lower cholesterol, and phytate, which is associated with reducing cancer risks.

*All Millet varieties show high antioxidant activity.

*Millet helps to control Blood sugar and Cholesterol.

*Digests easily.

*Millet Consumption decreases Triglycerides and C-Reactive Protein.

VARAGU/KODU MILLET The fiber content of this whole grain is very high. Varagu rice has around 11% protein, and the nutritional value of the protein has been found to be slightly better than that of Thinai but, comparable to that of other small millets. As with other food grains, the nutritive value of Varagu rice protein could be improved by supplementation with legume protein. It has high source of Protein, Calcium, fiber and Minerals. It can reduce body weight. Varagu increases Liver functionality and good for lympatic disorder.

THINNAI RICE/ FOXTAIL MILLET: Thinai is fairly tolerant of drought; it can escape some droughts because of early maturity. Due to its quick growth, it can be grown as a short-term cash crop. It is adapted to a wide range of elevations, soils and temperatures. Its grain is used for human consumption. Rich in protein and minerals, increases kidney functionality. Best for muscle strength and hormonal imbalances.

FINGER MILLET/RAGI- Foxtail millets are ideal for reducing the cholesterol of the body, controlling blood sugar and aiding metabolism rate. It is highly rich in anti-oxidation, which removes all the acidic elements away from the body. Foxtail millets are also high in dietary fiber, which aids in proper breakdown of food and complete digestion. Ragi flour can be used in many different ways to make Roti, porridge and dosa or idli (steamed panckaes). It has thirty times as much calcium as rice, more than ten times as much fiber.

KUTHIRAIVALI RICE/PEARL MILLET: This particular variety is 6 times more nutritious than wheat. Rich in Protein, fiber, minerals and iron compared to all other grains. Good for Heart related problems, Anemic, Menstural Disorder and Diabetics.

SAAMAI RICE/LITTLE MILLET Samai is another reliable cash crop in view of its earliness and resistance to adverse agro-climatic conditions. Samai is suitable for all ages. Samai trend constipation. Stomach related diseases and improves Men’s sperm production. Diabetic patients and in women it could be a good idea for all periods and imaginary problems. Samai is rich in fiber, helps reducing fat, good for bones and muscles.

Millets can be used to make many simple and easy recipes to replace white rice and has many healthy nutrients that makes the dishes more yummy by adding new flavor to them.

June 30, 2016 By Tasneem Jawadwala 12 Comments

All about Snacking

It’s a very common suggestion from most nutritionists to eat “small frequent meals”. Well, however most of the people get confused about what we should eat in-between breakfast –lunch and lunch-dinner.

Ideally, we should keep eating every 2-3 hours so that our metabolism stays high throughout the day but, the question is, ‘IS IT OK TO EAT ANYTHING’?

I am sharing a few points that could help us make right choices to munch on in-between meals.

Avoid consuming cereal based products in-between meals – This is the most common mistake which I have observed in a lot of people that they snack on cereal items like Sandwich, biscuits, noodles, Puffed Rice, Steamed Rice Cakes (Idli) etc. Some of them may not be unhealthy but they add on to our servings of cereals per day. If we are looking towards weight reduction we should avoid such a mistake.However, adding cereals in-between meals would be a good option for healthy weight gain.

Add on fruits and vegetables as snacks before meals– Snacking on fruits and salads before meals help us keep our belly full and prevent overeating during main meals.

Snacks should not always be a solid– Yes we can snack on healthy drinks like coconut water, barley water, lemon water or even vegetable juices like cucumber &tomato juice or radish& lemon juice etc.They make great snack. These liquids hydrate us, therefore they are especially good for people who are not much fond of drinking water.

Pulses – like Roasted Chick Pea (Chana), Peas, Kidney beans, Whole Sprouts (moong)can be a good protein rich evening snack, if we are looking forward to have light dinners.

Dried Fruits – Serve as filling and nutritious snacks too. However, we should limit its quantity. For example if we are having almonds then 4-5 almonds would be enough. 7 raisins would make a serving or just 1-2 dates would be a good dose of energy.

Curd – Homemade curd, I would always say is the best option if you are going through any digestion problems. It also adds to our protein intake and at the same time increases our gut micro flora. Fruit yogurt or buttermilk are other options that could be considered.

This is my favourite snacking option. It looks filling and tasty but gives minimum calories. I am sure many people opt for them. These are Popcorn, Puffed rice, dried lotus seeds (Makhana) or Roasted grains. Having 1 fistful of them may not give us much calories but it satisfies our gut. They fall in the cereal group however the quantity of cereal is so less that if may not even make ½ a serving when weighed.

Snacking has a lot of benefits, but all we need to do is, keep these points in mind while selecting our snacks. So, next time, when we plan a 6 meal pattern, this is what we shall, consider for best results.

Guide to pick healthy dishes from different cuisines

5 accompaniments to avoid to keep you healthy and to lose weight

Can we replace white rice?

All about Snacking

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