Healthy eating Archives

May 8, 2021 By Aruna Bhatia Leave a Comment

Healthy Eating: Hydrating Summer Bowl

During summer, our bodies crave for some chilled drink or ice cream due to the immense heat. But given the current pandemic situation and the fact that anything available outside is loaded with refined sugar and unhealthy fats, it might not be the best option as you need to keep your immunity up and stay cautious about your health. But we understand your craving and hence, here’s a healthier alternative – your very own hydrating summer bowl which will help you beat the heat and you can enjoy it guilt-free!

What You Will Need

Sabja Seeds – 1 tsp
Fresh Hibiscus flower – 1
Diced mango cubes – one small bowl
Pomegranate – 1 small bowl
Grapes (cut in half) – 1 small bowl
Fresh Coconut water – half glass

How To Prepare

Soak the sabja seeds in half a glass of coconut water for fifteen minutes.
Boil a cup of plain water, soak the hibiscus flower petals in this hot water for a minute or two. Then put it into the refrigerator to chill.
Next, in a big bowl, add the sabja seeds along with the coconut water. Then add all the diced fruits and the chilled hibiscus water.
In the end, add some crushed ice for the crunch and enjoy this guilt free summer bowl.

Health Benefits Of the Hydrating Summer Bowl

Sabja seeds are rich in fiber and help combat the heat inside the body
Coconut water hydrates you and is full of electrolytes – a must have during summer
Hibiscus makes it more antioxidant rich, helps lower blood pressure, improves immunity, releases constipation, reduces inflammation and also helps reduce hair fall.

We hope you try this Hydrating Summer Bowl! If you do, do share your pics with us on social media, tagging GOQii! Let us know your experience in the comments below. For more healthy recipes, check out Healthy Reads or tune in to LIVE cooking sessions on GOQii Play.

To get more such recipes, nutrition and diet tips, subscribe to GOQii and ask your GOQii Coach: https://goqiiapp.page.link/wssu

Eat Healthy, Stay Home, Stay Safe and #BeTheForce

May 5, 2021 By Vaishali Vibhute Leave a Comment

Benefits Of Eating Watermelon During Summer

Summers are incomplete without the red and juicy watermelon. Watermelon is a large, sweet, and refreshingly low calorie fruit. It is grown in a favorable climate from tropical to temperate regions worldwide. Besides cantaloupe, honeydew and cucumber, watermelon is a member of the Cucurbitaceae family. All parts of this fruit are edible. There are lots of nutrients from the seeds to the white flesh closest to the rind. The rind contains more amino acid citrulline than the flesh. Rind is edible after cooking. Watermelon rinds are often cooked as vegetables in most parts of India. Watermelon seeds are also loaded with nutrients. They are high in protein, fiber, vitamin B and omega 3 fatty acid.

Healthy Reasons To Eat Watermelon

Each bite contains 92% water and 6% sugar. It’s name makes perfect sense, as it consists mostly of water. So apart from keeping you hydrated, what else does this healthy summer fruit offer?

Rich in nutrients: It is an excellent source of a wide variety of nutrients specially Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Potassium, Dietary Fiber and Antioxidant Compounds.

Nutrients present in 100gm of watermelon are as follows :

Sr.No.	Nutrients	Units	Quantity
1	Energy	Cal	30
2	Carbohydrate	Gm	7.5 including 6.2 gm sugar
3	Fiber	Gm	0.4
4	Magnesium	Mg	10
5	Potassium	Mg	112
6	Choline	Mg	6.3
7	Vitamin A	Mcg	27
8	B – carotene	Mcg	467
9	Lycopene	Mcg	4532
10	Vitamin C	Mg	8.3

One ounce i.e 28.5gm of seeds provide around 8gm of protein.

It helps you to shed extra kilos: Watermelon is the best fruit to eat if someone is trying to lose weight. It is rich in lycopene. It will increase your body’s Arginine level, an amino acid, which helps burn fat quickly. Due to its low calorie and highwater content, it keeps a person full for a long time and helps promote weight loss.
Good for eyes: Lycopene, an antioxidant present in watermelon keeps the eyes healthy and protects against age related macular degeneration (AMD).
Keeps your kidney healthy: Watermelon is a natural diuretic. Potassium present in watermelon removes toxic substances from the body and reduces the percentage of uric acid present in the blood.
Prevents constipation: It is high in water and a good source of fiber that helps prevent constipation and promotes good bowel movement.
Promotes a healthy heart: It is the best source of Citrulline – an amino acid that our body converts to Arginine, an essential amino acid that plays a key role in relaxing blood vessels and helps improve blood flow. It also helps control blood sugar and helps lower blood pressure.
Keeps your skin and hair healthy: Watermelon contains vitamin C, which the body needs to produce collagen – a protein that keeps your skin supple and hair strong.
Helps in cancer prevention: Being a source of numerous antioxidants and flavonoids, watermelon consumption helps in protecting against certain types of cancer such as colon, breast and lung cancer.
Helps with sore muscles: Due to the presence of amino acid, citrulline in watermelon, muscle soreness can be treated. Watermelon may enhance performance and speed of recovery post exercise.
Reduce asthmatic attack: An antioxidant lycopene present in watermelon helps reduce asthmatic flares up in both children and adults.
Keeps you energetic: Potassium present in watermelon has electrolyte properties that leaves you feeling energetic for a long time.
Enhances the immune system: Vitamins and antioxidants present in this fruit, aids the production of RBC (red blood cells) which keep the immune system strong.
Good for the brain and nervous system: Being rich in Choline, an antioxidant present in this fruit, helps in learning, memory and brain development.

It is the best cooling fruit to eat during the summer season. Apart from the above benefits, Watermelon also has Vitamin B6 and potassium. Potassium maintains water balance in the body while Vitamin B6 improves immunity. Citrulline prevents muscle cramps. Remember that Juicing breaks down the fiber, making sugar easier to absorb and you may not get the benefit of fiber. People with diabetes should consider eating fresh, whole watermelon rather than drinking the juice.

We hope this article helps you head to the market and pick this amazing fruit now! For more on nutrition and healthy summer eating, check out Healthy Reads or tune in to LIVE sessions by experts on GOQii Play.

For more expert guidance, subscribe to GOQii or download the app here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/wssu

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May 4, 2021 By Mrinali Dwivedi Leave a Comment

What Should You Eat and Avoid During Summer?

The rising degrees often leave us irritated and low on appetite. We may feel it’s because of the heat, but often, our lifestyle and food habits are also responsible for this change. In this view, continuing with wrong food choices may lead to skin eruptions, profuse sweating, summer strokes and gastric disturbances like indigestion, diarrhoea, bloating, stomach aches, vomiting and dehydration. Let’s look at what we should eat and avoid during summer!

What Should You Eat?

Fluids: It’s no secret that water is required in ample amounts during summer to keep ourselves hydrated and replenish the lost water via sweating. But it doesn’t have to be plain water. Include the lesser boring and interesting options of Aam panna, coconut water, infused waters and lemon water to fulfill the daily fluid requirements along with the goodness of vital minerals!
Melons and cucumbers: Water melons, musk melons and cucumbers are found abundantly during summers. They are profusely watery and chock-a-block with vitamins, minerals, fiber and essential antioxidants. Having them will make sure you avoid dehydration and summer strokes.
Leafy and gourd vegetables: These are easily digestible vegetables and contain all the necessary minerals and vitamins needed to keep your strength during summers intact. You may never see anyone overeating a leafy or a gourd vegetable. Light on the stomach and simpler to process by the body, make them the staples of summers.
Onion and garlic: Allium and sulphur compounds from onion and garlic are antidotes to heat strokes. They are age old methods to cure summer sickness and work just right till date. Include them in your meals and witness the headache caused because of being out for long in the sun wearing off.
Curd or buttermilk: Packed with calcium, protein and probiotics, yoghurt can be the rescue for all digestive troubles and generally running it smoothly. Make a bowl of plain home made curd or buttermilk with fresh mint, cumin and black salt, a regular in summer afternoons.
Sabja seeds: soaked for 10 minutes in water are a potent ease to the digestive system and cool the body down from the inside like a whiff of cool air would do from the outside. Besides that, it is also a source of essential fatty acids like omega 3 and fiber.

What Should You Avoid?

Commercially sold Ice creams: The idea of avoiding ice creams during summers might sound bizarre, yet, there can be healthier options for this chilled indulgence! Conventionally, ice creams contain high amounts of fat and sugars that make them difficult to digest but easier to cause weight gain. Also, due to frequent change in the temperature of cold storages, ice creams often develop disease causing bacteria and should be avoided during summers. Consuming ice cream just after being exposed to sunlight might cause sore throat and fever due to sudden temperature fluctuation. Having home frozen yoghurt, kulfis or crushed fruit pulps can be occasional substitutes.
Hot drinks: While the external heat has already led our body temperatures to rise, consuming anything beyond room temperature causes further increase in the overall temperature and results in disturbances of the digestive system causing bloating and bitter burping. Keep beverages like hot tea and coffees to the bare minimum.
Fried foods: Fried and greasy foods are not easy to digest and often leave us bloated. Fried food makes the skin oily during the humid times, giving rise to skin problems like acne and also harms the digestive system.
Spicy foods: Capsaicin found in chillies adversely boosts the body heat and results in excessive sweating, leading to dehydration and sickness. When the body is already fighting off heat, adding hot and spicy food irritates the stomach lining and may cause hyper acidity and belching.
Meat: It is known to all that meat and meat products are not easy to digest. Excessive consumption of meat in the summer season increases the pressure on the digestive system. It contains high amounts of fat, proteins and carbohydrates which heat up the body while digesting it.
Over indulging on mangoes: Excess of anything is bad and mangoes are no exception to this rule! Filled with healthy antioxidants and vitamins, mangoes are a must have for summers. However, they are high in natural sugar and overindulgence can cause skin infections, increase in body heat and a number of undesirable symptoms such as diarrhoea, upset stomach, and headaches etc.

We hope this article helps you understand what you should eat and avoid during summer! Do let us know your thoughts in the comments below. For more on staying healthy during summers, check out Healthy Reads.

For more expert tips, subscribe to GOQii or download the app now: https://goqiiapp.page.link/wssu

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May 3, 2021 By Aruna Bhatia Leave a Comment

What Should You Eat If You Get Infected By COVID-19?

We are going through a very tough time with everyday monster surges in COVID-19 cases all over the country, excluding a few districts. It almost seems like each and every household has one or more members down with this infection. Thankfully, we have a good number of people getting well too! Food plays a key role in any form of recovery. So which kind of food should a person infected with COVID-19 eat?

A Balanced Diet Is Key To COVID-19 Recovery

Each day, the combination of food should include:

Whole Grains: Millets, oats, wheat, brown rice, white rice, all this as roti, khichdi, upama, Pulao, Daliya, Chilla etc.
Proteins: Eggs, Lentils, Legumes, Dairy Products, Soy Products, can be taken as besan cheela, Dal Soup, Sprouts Chat, Moong dal Khichdi, Paneer Bhurji, Omelette, Dosa, chickpea bowl, rajma, etc.
Fats: Good fats have anti-inflammatory acids like omega 3 fatty acids. So include flax seeds oils, extra virgin olive oils and safflower oil. Good fats can also be added from almonds, avocado, laddu with a mix of nuts, white sesame seeds, kalonji, ajwain all roasted in desi ghee helps provide essential minerals like zinc and magnesium for fast recovery.
Fiber: Fresh fruits and vegetables are great sources of dietary fibers, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. So try to include two fruits a day, along with 2-3 cups of vegetables. This requirement can be met by adding soups mashed vegetables and fruits as small mid meals.

Apart from these main macros, here are a few things you need to consider:

2-3 liters of water should be included daily as infections dehydrate the body. Infused water, coconut water, water with honey can help meet the requirement.
Immunity boosters like a herbal concoction, turmeric milk, soups and broth should be included at least one or two times a day.
As far as possible, make sure that all fruits, vegetables are fresh and meals are home cooked.
Always eat small and frequent meals as the body will not tolerate big meals at a time.
Avoid alcohol as it is highly dehydrating and may inhibit your immune system.
Limit salt and sugar
Avoid packaged processed food.

Given all the dietary guidelines, a question may still come up as to how to manage adequate calorie intake when the infection has robbed you of your taste buds and sense of smell.

Try adding lemon juice or vinegar in food, soups and water. The flavor of acids from them comes through even when smell or taste is impaired.
Try going a bit heavy on spices like cinnamon, black pepper, cumin, garlic and ginger, which could add flavor back to food.

To make things a bit more clear, here is a sample diet chart, although it will be more customized as per symptoms.

Early morning: 5 to 6 soaked almonds, two dates and lukewarm lemon cinnamon water or tulsi lemon honey water.
Breakfast: Besan cheela or moong dal cheela or stuffed omelette sandwich or paneer paratha or idli sambar or vegetable uttapam with coconut chutney.
Mid meal: Coconut water or any one fruit with one tsp mix seeds
Lunch: Rice with dal and subzi or Ajwain roti with rajma and any green leafy vegetable
Evening: Any herbal concoction (kadha or green tea) and chana/ sprouts/ sweet potato chat and any one fruit
Pre dinner: mix veg soup or moong dal soup or chicken broth or boiled egg
Dinner: Khichdi or vegetable daliya or oats cheela or oats with milk or Garlic roti with any dal and mixed veg
Post dinner: One cup milk with turmeric and pinch of black pepper

We hope this article helps you manage COVID-19 infection and recover quickly. For more information, check out Healthy Reads or tune in to LIVE sessions by exprts on GOQii Play.

For more expert guidance, subscribe to GOQii or download the app here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/wssu

#BeTheForce