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Are you eating your beans right?

kidney-beans

My friend Neetu, recalls an incident from her childhood when she went to receive her aunt at the railway station who was arriving from Lucknow. On seeing Neetu, her aunt spontaneously asked her, “Guess your favourite thing that I’ve brought for you” and Neetu spontaneously replied “Rajma Chawal”! (Of Course, it was not Rajma Chawal that her aunt was referring too !!)

Kidney beans or Rajma is liked by kids and adults alike. It’s not just the taste but, the nutritional profile which makes it my favourite too. While it’s a rich source of protein and fibre, it’s also packed with several micronutrients, especially molybdenum, folate, copper, manganese, phosphorus, vitamin B1, iron, potassium, and magnesium. Dietary fibre in these beans helps in lowering cholesterol and prevents the rapid rise in blood glucose levels after consuming a meal.

However, in kidney beans, these nutrients exist with certain anti-nutrients or natural substances that can be harmful to our health.

1)   Phytohaemagglutinin (PHA):  This substance is classified as a lectin-glycoprotein. Lectins are known for their ability to agglutinate red blood cell types, alter cell membrane transport systems, alter cell permeability to proteins, and generally interfere with cellular metabolism. Even a small amount of PHA can have a negative effect on health. You may not consume enough to become noticeably sick, but continued exposure can result in poor growth, malnutrition, or liver damage.  White kidney beans contain about one-third the amount of toxin as the red variety.

2)   Raffinose and Stachyose: These are carbohydrates that are not digested in the small intestine by human gastrointestinal enzymes. They are passed into the large intestine where they are fermented by intestinal microflora with the production of gas. It is this behaviour which is responsible for flatulence, bloating that many of us experience after consuming these beans.

Central Public Health Laboratory (PHLS, UK ) and FDA (US) recommends this procedure to render kidney, and other beans safe for consumption:

  • Soak in water for at least 5 hours.
  • Pour away the water.
  •   Boil briskly in fresh water, with occasional stirring, for at least 10 minutes.
  • Undercooked beans may be more toxic than raw beans.

Tips for cooking –

1)     Add salt to the soaking water and cooking water as it helps remove raffinose and stachyose and thus reduces gas producing tendency of beans. Also, salt improves water absorption so beans are evenly softened and cooked.

Isn’t this what we have been watching our grandma and mum doing – Soaking overnight in salt water! Now we know the scientific basis for that.

1)     Acids, including tomatoes, lemon etc; prevent beans from absorbing water efficiently and thus may result in uneven or partial cooking, thereby retaining anti-nutrients. Always add tomato/tomato puree after boiling the beans.

2)     Microwave cooking is not recommended. Microwaves do not heat food evenly. This can cause parts of beans to remain undercooked. Boiling /pressure cooking is best. Cook for 15-20 minutes.

Next time when you enjoy beans, make sure they are safe as well!

 

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Healthy version of Green Coffee

 

GREEN-COFFEE

After Water, the most preferred drink is either tea or coffee for most of us. Many usually begin their day with a cup of a bed tea or coffee. And, some even complaint of dullness or a headache without that first cup of tea or coffee.

A cup of black coffee provides almost no nutritional value. Some even prefer it with loaded Sugar. Coffee provides caffeine, a stimulant that boosts metabolism and gets people energetic But, Caffeine consumed in larger amount has many side effects such as dehydration, increase body stress levels, ,upsets stomach, hampering digestion and increases anxiety levels for the body.

Is there a healthier version of Coffee just as we have Green Tea? Yes there is Green Coffee

Before that let’s understand some basics of Coffee

  • There are three types of Normal coffee beans varieties:
  • Coffee Arabica.
  • Coffee Robusta
  • And the blended types.
  • How to differentiate from normal Coffee from Organic Green Coffee Beans?

Normal Coffee beans are light to dark in color as it depends upon region, temperature and roasting conditions. See Image given below-

img1

Arabica coffee beans differ from Robusta coffee beans at many levels.  See the following image –

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Un-roasted bean color: In its un-roasted form, Arabica will be a darker shade of green, where Robusta tends to be more straw colored.

Arabica beans tend to have a sweeter, softer taste, with tones of sugar, fruit, and berries. Their acidity is higher, with that winey taste that characterizes coffee with excess while Robusta beans yield a harsher, bitter tasting cup often described as grain-like, oatmeal and woody. lint acidity.

  • Advantages of Green Coffee-

The  Green Coffee that we get is derived from dried green coffee beans (Coffee Robusta) and has an active ingredient called Chlorogenic acid. (CGA).Latest research has confirmed that organic green coffee contains high concentrations of antioxidants in the range of 200 to 550mg per cup (6oz) – a level far exceeding that of green tea. But, although both green coffee and green tea contain high levels of antioxidants, green coffee tends to contain higher levels of the simple phenolicsand tea contains larger levels of catechin.

  • Other Variety of green coffee-
  1. Organic Coffee:This Organic Coffee is grown on fertile volcanic soil, without pesticides and grown domestically without chemical fertilizers.
  2. Organic Gourmet Coffee-Organic Gourmet Coffee is premium quality coffee (predominantly some of the best varieties of Coffee Arabica) that is grown organically. Based on content of caffeine it can be divided into two types, namely caffeinated and decaffeinated. From the point of view of health, the decaffeinated one will be the best but, you may have to compromise with the taste and flavor slightly.
  1. Decaffeinated coffee– In this method of decaffeination the beans are steamed for about 30 minutes in order to open their pores. Once the coffee beans are receptive to a solvent, they are repeatedly rinsed with either methylene chloride or ethyl acetate for about 10 hours to remove the caffeine, which reduces harmful effect of caffeine.

How To Select And Store Organic Coffee?

1) If you bought whole beans, try to grind them just before you want to brew it to get the best flavor and aroma out of them. Buy only the fresh beans and if possible roast them at home.

2) Always buy “100% Organic Coffee”/ Decaffeinated beans. Do not compromise with   “Contains Organic” type of coffee.

  • Benefit Of Green Coffee are many
  1. Rich in anti-oxidants: Green Coffee beans are rich in antioxidants, which reduce the damaging effects of free radicals in our body and take care of our overall health. A number of studies have confirmed that raw and unprocessed green coffee beans possess 100% pure Chlorogenic Acid (CGA), which is basically an ester of caffeic acid having strong antioxidant properties. It can put a check on the levels of glucose in our bloodstream and prevent our skin cells from getting dented.
  2. Good for skin, hair, reduces effect of free radical: Chlorogenic Acid present in green coffee beans can reduce the effects of free radicals in our body up to 10 times than regular green tea. As the beans are not roasted, there are some other anti-oxidative agents from the polyphenol family, ferulicacid, etc., which decelerate the ageing procedure and give us youthful skin, hair, prevent hair fall.
  3. Boost metabolic rate – The Chlorogenic Acid present ingreen coffee beans is also known as a metabolism booster. It increases the Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) of our body to a great extent, which minimizes excessive release of glucose from the liver into the blood. Due to the lack of glucose, our body starts burning the stored fat cells in order to fulfill its glucose requirement. Thus, pure green coffee beans raise our fat burning capability and eventually help us shed off excess weight.
  4. Normal Recommendation – 2 cups Of Green Coffee in a day. You can have it either in hot form-(add pinch of Cinnamon Powder ) or Cold form-(by adding  Ice + Mint )
  • Please Note – Many a times Green Coffee is a bean. There is also Green Coffee Bean Extract supplement with GarciniaCambogia but, it has many side effect because of high toxicity levels present in Such supplements are hazardous for the body. Try Avoid Using Them. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends not to use such products and be cautious when it comes to such supplements. If you take any medicines regularly, talk to your doctor before you start using green coffeesupplement. It interferes with many medicines.

Let’s Grab a Cup Of Green Coffee now and kick start you’re day with a healthy version of coffee.

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How to include proteins to your Breakfast?

179739-curd

All of us are well aware that breakfast is the first important meal of the day. The second most important thing is to have frequent meals to keep our metabolism high. Our body goes into the rest mode for almost 8 to 10 hours after dinner when we are sleeping through the night. Hence, it becomes essential to eat a good, balanced meal which has the right proportion of carbohydrates, protein, fats, vitamins, minerals, fibres, anti- oxidants etc.in the morning. More often than not it is a difficult task to incorporate all these nutrients in the morning breakfast due to our rush to get to work.But, one can always try to incorporate as many nutrients as we can out of the above if not all.

It is advised to include proteins in every meal. The inclusion of proteins to your breakfast becomes a challenging task especially if you are a vegetarian. Lacto- Ovo vegetarian breakfast can easily get proteins through the milk and eggs. The tough task is for vegetarians and vegans (those who limit dairy products).

Common Indian breakfast items are Poha (cooked Puffed Rice with some veggies), flat breadsUpma, Idli and Dosa (steamed Rice pancakes), flatbreads(Chaapti), Rice, Porridgeetc. Today, I am going to tell you how we add proteins in our 1st meal of the day – breakfast.

Whenever we have options like steamed rice pancakes (Idlisambhar) or bread omelette we’re obviously getting proteins from the dish.  When we have options like Cooked Puff Rice, Upma, rice, cooked Wheat Flat breads (Chappati)  etc. without any side dish we need to add some proteins to it.

Here are few items which you can add:

  1. Peanuts/ Groundnuts: A humble source of proteins and MUFA (mono unsaturated fatty acids) will add to proteins in breakfast. We can use in different forms as peanut butter, chutney etc. spread it on your bread or chapatti. Excellent to be added in pre workout meal.
  • 100 g of Dry roasted peanuts will give 24-26 g of proteins.
  1. Roasted Chana: Simple, easily available and can be stored. Just add a handful of black (Kabuli)or brown Chana to your plate or have it on the go post breakfast. If you couple it up with peanuts it will be even better.
  1. Mixed Sprouts: This one will need some preparation. Soak the sprouts for 6-8 hours, then drain the water and tie in the cloth for sprouts to come. Add handful of it either raw or steamed. Raw will give you good enzymes as compared to cooked ones. Whereas steamed will be easier to digest. Following are the rough values for sprouted and steamed sprouts.
  • Moong/ Green gram 2-3 g
  • Matki/ Moth bean 8 g
  • Chana/ Chick peas 9 g
  1. Green peas: It is very to incorporate peas in any dish. Add it to your upma, poha, rice liberally. They will taste good as well as increase the protein value. Its green colour also add to the visual effect.
  • 100 g of fresh green peas contain 5 g of protein
  1. Nuts like (almond, walnut, cashew nut): Again a very handy option. Just adding them to your bowl of breakfast is very easy. They are rich in minerals like calcium, good fats like MUFA, omega 3 fatty acids. Don’t forget to soak and peel almond to avoid anti nutritional factors in the peel.
  • Almond 21.2 g
  • Walnut 15.2 g
  1. Sesame, flax, sunflower, pumpkin seeds: Dry roasted seeds can serve as a protein quotient of the meal. You can easily stock it in cool and dry place. You can have them as it is or grind to make into chutney. Dips like tahini can be made from sesame seeds.
  1. Milk: You can just add a glass of milk to complete the protein quota of the meal. It goes well with roti, chapati, bread, cereals etc. It is better to go for low fat milk. If having cow’s milk make sure it is Desi cow’s milk. Make sure you’re not having it with salty or savoury as milk and salt is not recommended to have together.1 cup of milk gives you 8 g protein on an average.
  1. Curds/ Yogurt: Add a bowl of curds or yogurt to make your breakfast not only protein rich but yummy. We can mix poha, rice with it to give a better texture and taste. Fruits with yogurt can be another hit option and light still complete meal. 1 cup gives you 10-11 g proteins on an average.
  1. Buttermilk: It is the best bet in summer. Having it post breakfast will help in digestion. It has good water content and therefore it will not be a concentrated source. Unlike milk it can be coupled with salty and savoury options as well.
  1. Cheese: I am yet to come across a person who doesn’t like cheese unless of course you are a vegan. We can add it with breads, chapatti, pancakes etc. You can use different varieties like cheese spread, cubes, and slices or just grate some cheese on your dish. People who are targeting weight gain can have it on regular basis. Those who are trying to lose weight should limit it once or twice in a week. 100 g will give approx. 20 g of proteins.

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Do you really need a multivitamin?                  

                                                      

Multivitamins

The topmost questions on the mind of all my patients are “I am getting so tired these days, doctor do you think that I should take a multivitamin?” and “I am taking these multivitamins which I got from the US, do you think it’s good enough for me to have?”

These are just 2 such questions but trust me, I get loads of such questions on Multivitamins. Based on these questions, I decided I should talk about it in my blog and present the facts on the matter.

Let us first understand

What is multivitamin?

If I just try to understand the word in literal terms, a multivitamin is a supplement that contains more than one vitamin. But is it just vitamins? Certainly not. Multivitamin is a supplement that contains many vitamins and essential minerals which helps you fight against different nutritional deficiencies and their symptoms.

Who actually needs a multivitamin?

  1. You need a multivitamin if you are not able to get adequate nutrition from your diet.
  2. You need a multivitamin if you are severely deficient in different nutrients as detected in your blood reports
  3. You need a multivitamin if you are looking for micronutrients for specific symptoms.

Apart from this, there are other population groups as well which might need a multivitamin in addition to a variety of foods in their diet.

  1. Pregnant women
  • During pregnancy, consumption of multivitamins reduces the risk of birth defects in the foetus.
  • There are different kinds of research which are done taking multivitamins into consideration but since multivitamins consist of various vitamins and minerals, we don’t exactly know which nutrient is giving the maximum benefits.
  • Folic acid perhaps is the most important micronutrient but doctors anyways give it in a completely separate form so talk to your healthcare professional before starting on any multivitamin.
  1. Senior citizens
  • People over the age of 65 are generally low on B- vitamins, vitamin D, iron and magnesium.
  • Supplementing senior citizens with a multivitamin can definitely help in reducing their nutritional deficiencies to a great extent.
  1. People who are on different food restrictions
  • People who are on a gluten-free diet are usually low on calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc, folate, vitamin B12 and vitamin D.
  • Vegan people are usually low in calcium, iron, zinc and vitamin B12.
  • People who are on low carb diet are usually low in calcium, copper, magnesium, potassium and vitamin E

Multivitamin in these cases will help in overcoming these nutritional deficiencies.

  1. People who have undergone bariatric surgery
  • During bariatric surgery, size of the stomach is reduced which reduces nutrient absorption which can further lead to nutritional deficiencies.
  • Even after taking a multivitamin, nutrient absorption is not very high but this will be much better than not taking a supplement and remain extremely nutritionally deficient

The above is related specifically for people with some health issues. Let us now look at the general population! Does the general population need a multivitamin and what can be the possible benefits?

  1. Multivitamins can help in increasing the quality of life
  2. Multivitamins can help in reducing mood swings
  3. Multivitamins can help in reducing complications related to eyes

These are some points which researches have come up with however nothing is claimed so far.

Normally what I have seen is that when people are taking multivitamin they are okay to substitute it for a balanced diet but a multivitamin is a SUPPLEMENT and not a SUBSTITUTE.

Let’s understand about how to select a multivitamin for you.

Your healthcare professional can suggest you one but, you should always know how to pick up one for yourself!

Consider the following points when you buy a multivitamin

  1. Choose a multivitamin that contains close to your recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of vitamins and minerals. Sometimes a particular multivitamin crosses much more than your RDA per day.

For example:

  • Excess of potassium at one go on an empty stomach can lead to elevated potassium levels in the body which can affect your heart rhythm that is why your potassium in a multivitamin should always be limited to 99 mg.
  • Magnesium in your multivitamin should be limited to 350 mg because higher doses of magnesium in the body can lead to diarrhoea and other stomach issues.
  • Excess of calcium in your multivitamin might increase the risk of kidney stones, and too much total calcium can result in hypercalcemia in the body.

B. If a multivitamin supplement is only having vitamins and minerals then its fine to pick it up but usually this doesn’t happen. A single multivitamin is full of special ingredients which can put a body into negative balance hence avoid taking multivitamins which has too many extra ingredients.

C. I have seen my patients doing this a lot that they get confused between the pill and serving.

For example: A multivitamin pack might mention that it contains 300 mg of vitamin C per serving. When it is said so, please understand that a serving does not necessarily mean that 1 pill equals 1 serving. Serving completely depends upon how the company is depicting it. It could mean a whole pack is 300 mg.

D. I have seen this quite often that many people are usually only deficient in one or 2 nutrients in such cases taking a multivitamin is not a very good option. Pick up those nutritional supplements only which are on the lower side.

Hence, it is always good to take Vitamins after you speak to your doctor. Do not indulge in self- medication.

You might need a multivitamin but, it is not necessary that everyone might need it.

 

 

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