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January 13, 2019 By Arooshi Garg 6 Comments

7 Super foods you must try this year- Don’t miss out!

jusmoothie-1

Since recent years the “Super Food” market has definitely been on the rise. But, what is a “superfood” anyway?

A “Superfood” refers to any food which is nutrient packed and dense. In other words, they have a rich supply of micronutrients like vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.

Such foods used to be the type only woo-woo health nuts would gravitate toward. But, more recently, they have expanded to appeal to folks in a variety of cohorts. For example, as recently as two years ago, quinoa, flax seeds, and kale were considered exotic and difficult to find in supermarkets. Now, however, these super foods have become staples in the ‘healthy diet’ of many. From herbs and spices to fruits, vegetables, and grains, each year brings about a whole new variety of nutrient-rich, vitamin-packed foods that we can add to our daily meals.

So how about we give you some examples of these power-packed, cutting edge foods filled with good-for-you vitamins, minerals, and disease-fighting phytochemicals?

Here are 7 of the healthiest foods that you should be eating this year:

 i) JU-SMOOTHIES

The newest word in the food dictionaries, everywhere… this trend is the latest to catch in the eye of health enthusiasts. What do you get when you cross a fresh juice with a smoothie? A Ju-Smoothie of course. A JU-smoothie is a fiber-filled liquid concoction with extra nutritional benefits than just a fruit-vegetable juice.

The JuSmoothie means you make your fresh juice and then blend it with bulky fruits or other ingredients that aren’t juicer friendly.

Vegetable and fruit juices absorb quickly which means they can leave you hungry a couple of hours later. But blend a super nutritious juice with a banana, melon or a sapota ( Chikoo) and some crushed flaxseeds or nuts and you’ve a more solid and substantial concoction that is absorbed slower and will keep you going longer with good satiety.

 ii) MATCHA (the newest green tea)

matcha

Green tea has become a staple in diets for some years now. The new entry, “Matcha” is derived from the Japanese sencha leaf and then stone ground into a bright-green fine powder. Matcha literally means powdered tea, and it’s incredibly good for health. The concentration of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) in Matcha is found to be 137 times greater than the amount found in most store-bought green tea. EGCG is known to boost lipolysis (the breakdown of fat) and block adipogenesis (the formation of fat cells), particularly in the belly. It can be made in the traditional way or be added to lattes, iced drinks, milkshakes, and smoothies. A single serving has around 4 grams of protein!!!

iii) Nut-Based Vegan Cheese

Nut-Based Vegan Cheese

A lot of vegan cheese varieties are emerging. Everyone’s favorite staple – cheese – gets a healthy makeover with nut milk. Nut-based cheeses are made from (alternative mil such as)almond, cashew, and macadamia but, prepared in traditional cheese-making style. That’s good news for vegans and cheese lovers!

Vegan cheese can have several benefits. It boasts to be rich in vitamin E and B12 and the content depends on the milk used and preparation method used.

iv) Beet Greens

Beet Greens

Vitamin A-rich beet greens look similar to chard and even people who don’t like the sweet starchy flavor of beets, love beet greens. So next time you get beets with the greens still attached, don’t toss away that superfood in a bin. Rather, toss it in a mixed salad with carrots, radishes, tomatoes, and cucumbers!

Beet greens can be used in smoothies and soups. You can also replace them into a recipe that calls for spinach, kale, or lettuce. You can even or sauté them for an easy side dish that cooks in just a couple of minutes.

v) Teff : Teff is gaining popularity worldwide. Teff is an ancient and intriguing grain, tiny in size yetpacked with nutrition. It is simple to prepare and similar to millet or quinoa if you cook it. It is a fine grain—about the size of a poppy seed—that comes in a variety of colors, from white and red to dark brown. This tiny grain that has been a staple of traditional Ethiopian cooking for thousands of years

teff-grains

First cultivated in Ethiopia, Teff is high in calcium, iron, fiber, and protein with a mild, sweet, and nutty taste. It’s also naturally gluten-free.

Teff works well in a main or side dish, in baked goods, sourdough flatbread, or as a substitute for cornmeal in some recipes.

vi) Rooibos Tea

Rooibos Tea

Green tea isn’t the only super-healthy tea out there. Along with Matcha tea, Rooibos tea, too, has been showing up on supermarket shelves.

Rooibos tea is a red-colored herbal is a tea made from the leaves of the rooibos bush. Native to South Africa, it has shown to be beneficial for lowering LDL and improving HDL. Health benefits of red rooibos tea include its use as a cure for headaches, insomnia, asthma, eczema, bone weakness, hypertension, allergies, and premature aging.

The tea is absolutely free from caffeine content and is also low in tannins. Rooibos tea is said to contain rare nutrients like Quercetin and Bioflavonoids that assist in good blood circulation and obstructs hemorrhaging.

vii) Coconut sugar:  Coconut is one food that has emerged as a superfood lately. From organic coconut oil to organic coconut water and coconut flour, all have shown potential high nutritional qualities. Foodies are moving on to a different palm product-coconut sugar, also known as palm sugar. It has been used as a sweetener for thousands of years in Southeast Asia where coconuts are abundant, and it’s gaining popularity all over the world now as a “healthier” sugar alternative.

coconut-sugar

Unlike pure table sugar, only 78 percent of coconut sugar is actually sugar; the remaining 22 percent comes from nutrients like zinc, iron and fiber—more specifically, inulin, a type of insoluble fiber that acts as a prebiotic to feed the healthy bacteria in your gut and slows down the digestion and absorption of sugar into the blood. But be cautious in the usage, while coconut sugar is marketed as a “low GI sweetener,” it is still sugar: caloric and potentially fattening. So approach this health trend with caution. Consider coconut sugar the new honey—an ever-so-slightly better alternative to refined sugar!

So whether you’re a health nut looking to try the latest and greatest or just a foodie looking for new ingredients to add to your beloved recipes…get all or at least some of these Super Foods on your plate this year!

November 3, 2017 By Tasneem Jawadwala 17 Comments

Healthy options to add in Milk

saffron-infusing

There is no denying that malt based drinks are a common ‘health food drinks’ in most houses today as has been for a few decades now. There are enticing ads claiming the benefits of these health drinks and how it is nutritious for your growing child. There are ads all over in News Papers, Magazines, TV and even online.

The other day, I was watching one such TV commercial that was promoting a malt based drink. The commercial in its usual enticing style of selling the product mentioned, the malt powder when added to milk – improves the quality of the milk. I kept wondering what is in that powder that helps them improve the nutritive value of Milk.

Out of curiosity to understand more, I went through couple of food labels of malt based milk drinks, I realised that most of these powders have a cereal base (any flour including wheat flour), soy, milk powder, loads of sugar, a flavouring agent like cocoa powder, and some vitamins and minerals.

These ads are so welcoming that most give in and buy the product. And, they don’t come cheap. They cost approximately Rs 300-Rs. 500 per kg. But, do we actually need to spend so much for just a cereal based powder with so much of sugar, colour and preservatives? And do they actually improve the quality of milk? How many of us know if these claims that have been made are true? Are these ‘health’ drinks truly healthy?

The ads claim that these health drinks helps absorb calcium from milk. Well, the truth is sugar hinders absorption of calcium and also depletes phosphorus. And, most of these powders contain loads of sugar.

The most common query I have come across while dealing with children, adolescence and a few adults too is they don’t like plain milk or are worried that whether plain milk would be sufficient. Hence, I have come up with few healthy options that will increase the nutritive value of milk and a few tasty options which make the milk taste better.

Healthy options

    1. Saffron: – Saffron milk is traditional milk in Indian families used only during special occasions, due to the high cost of saffron. The benefits of saffron are just as rich as the spice itself. It prevents cancer, helps in puberty in undernourished girls and helps grow healthy hair and skin. If this milk is had on a daily basis, it develops immunity, it prevents common cold and cough.

    1. Chestnut (Singhara) powder– The Potassium rich Chestnuts not only good for people with high blood pressure and heart patients but, are also very useful for pregnant women. They give a feeling of fullness hence also helps in weight loss. I enjoy adding chestnut powder during summer in my glass of milk as it gives cooling effect and prevents back pain.

    1. Turmeric: – Curcumin rich turmeric milk is one of the oldest and the best grandma’s recipes. It is the best home remedy for cold and cough. One cannot deny the benefits that turmeric milk gives as against antibiotic pills? In the west, Curcumin tablets have become a big craze and people are paying a bomb to buy and consume these tablets. On the other hand in India, turmeric is an integral ingredient in every kitchen. Let’s have yellow milk, to fight infections, body pains or just to feel fresh.

    1. Oats: – This fibre rich cereal is always suggested in my diets for people who just have milk for their breakfast. Adding on oats completes the meals by combining the good quality protein that is present in milk with high fibre carbohydrates. Adding a fruit or dry fruits to oats porridge is like a cherry on cake.

    1. Almonds and Pistachio powder: –Almond Milk (Badamdhoodh), just like saffron,also has traditional value to it. You also find these flavors in the market powders too. However, they come with lot of synthetic flavors. Instead, it takes just a few minutes to powder almonds and pistachios and the full packet of a kilo gets ready for a month’s use. The benefits of these dry fruits are known to most. They benefit people of all age group, from children to old age. The impact of it on brain and memory boosting makes it my favorite family drink.

Tasty options

  1. Dark cocoa: – Those who have been bought up with common chocolate flavoured milk find it a little tough to shift to other flavours. Hence, opting for a dark cocoa powder would be a healthy option. Dark Cocoa has a lot of antioxidants that boost cardio vascular health.

    1. Ragi – This one is my son’s favourite option as he always misunderstands it as chocolate milk. This calcium rich cereal is naturally a little sweet, and gives a perfect chocolate brown colour to the milk. Point to note- Use a small quantity (1 tsp. in 1 cup milk) of this flour as it is a thickening agent and the milk may get lumpy if used in a large quantity. Ragi porridge is a perfect drink for growing kids, pregnant women and elderly.

ragi

    1. Fruit– Milk can be an enjoyable drink at any time by preparing it as a milkshake. Those who find it boring to chew a fruit on daily basis can surely combine it with milk. For weight watchers, combine milk with fruits like watermelon, apple or kiwi whereas weight gainers can go for some high sugar fruits like mango, banana, figs etc.

    1. Dates: – Now this option is for sweet addicts who do not find any other options palatable because of lack of sweetness. They can freely use dates to sweeten their milk. This would be a very healthy post work out meal and filling snacks for young children.

You can also combine 2 options together, for eg:- A fruit/dry fruits and oats or pop in some flax seed powder in your singhara powder.

So if you find these options convenient for your daily milk dose, then dump those so called ‘Health Drink’ powders and “GO ALL NATURAL”.

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