Category Archives: Healthy Eating

What should I eat?

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There’s so many opinions out there!

Eat protein.

Eat low carbs.

Eat no carbs.

This diet. That diet.

What can I do?? What should I eat? And what should I avoid?

A good diet should provide plenty of choices, relatively few restrictions, and no long grocery lists of (sometimes expensive) special foods. It should be as good for your heart, bones, brain, and colon as it is for your waistline. And it should be something you can sustain for years. It should be easy to prepare, include flavorful food choices and should be acceptable to and useful for the whole family. Such a diet won’t give you a quick fix. But it can offer you something better — a lifetime of savory, healthy choices that will be good for all of you, not just parts of you.

Here’s one such. Let me give you a few simple principles for eating a healthy, balanced diet, incorporating best practices from DASH, Mediterranean diet and hormone balancing diets.

1. AVOID ADDED CARBOHYDRATES

Especially refined and processed carbs. This means – no wheat, rice, potatoes, certainly no packaged or bakery goods. Most certainly no sugar, no sugar equivalents, no sugar substitutes. Remember, sugar is POISON. Eat the occasional piece of fruit for your sweet craving.

2. Eat 9 to 13 servings of vegetables and fruit daily. This will give plenty of carbs for efficient metabolism. Aim for a ‘rainbow’ of 7 colors in food daily.

What is one serving? One cup uncooked, half cup cooked fruit or veg, quarter cup dried. One cup is the size of a closed fist.

Do not juice your fruit and veggies. The fiber, and the fullness it provides, is invaluable. Fruit juice is a source of concentrated calories and causes a sugar spike. Fiber, in addition to contributing to fullness, helps control diabetes, high cholesterol, maintains bowel health, helps maintain healthy weight and eliminate toxins. Recommended intake is:

Age 50 or younger Age 51 or older
Men 38 grams 30 grams
Women 25 grams 21 grams

Institute of Medicine, 2012.

So make smoothies instead. That is, blend a combination of green leafy vegetables and veg you like, such as cucumber, tomatoes, capsicum, beans, with no sugar added. It is good if you add a tablespoon of coconut oil to this. It will be creamy and filling, and the medium chain triglycerides in the coconut oil are great for your brain and your hormones. vegetarians can add a scoop of good quality protein powder to boost their protein intake.

3. Protein with every meal.

Here I am writing as an almost-vegetarian Indian. Our breakfast, especially, is usually upma, poha, paratha – all carbs! There’s no protein there!

It’s important to get protein with every meal. Protein is more satisfying than carbohydrates or fats, and thus may be the new secret weapon in weight control. Getting enough protein helps preserve muscle mass and encourages fat burning while keeping you feeling full. Eating carbs makes you hungry soon after a meal. Eating protein keeps you feeling full. So be sure to include healthy protein sources, like yogurt, cheese, nuts, or beans, at meals and snacks.

How much protein? About 1g/kg body weight for an adult, more, around 1.5g/kg for the pregnant or lactating ladies, growing children and those exercising vigorously. How do we know how much we’re getting? Measure! Maintain a food diary. This will give total calories consumed, plus breakdown of major food groups, ie, carbs, protein and fats.

Avoid chargrilled meat as we have seen in a previous post.

Good quality protein – avoid processed, canned, deep fried stuff full of antibiotics and pesticides. Obviously. So no cold cuts. Grass fed, organically raised animals and poultry. If you can, organ meats are good.

4.  Avoid snacks between meals. This helps balance hormones and increase insulin sensitivity. If really required, opt for a small serving of seeds and nuts. They contain healthy fats. And protein.

Sunflower seeds are good. Since they have to be cracked open, it takes time, so portion control is easier. In general, portion size is 1 oz, the amount inside a closed fist. Seeds such as sesame can be sprinkled on salads.

So a good way to incorporate all the above, is a large salad, with some fish, chicken, cheese or beans for protein, and some seeds for good fats.

5. Eat your last meal at least 2 hours before you go to bed. So that your body can concentrate on building and repair like it is meant to, not on digestion.

Home cooked meals prepared with fresh ingredients, avoiding convenience foods, no need to keep track of portion size – that’s it! What could be simpler!!!!

And don’t forget the exercise!

These diet principles, if followed with discipline, will help us live longer, healthier, free of disease and maintain healthy body weight. The principles work well if

  • we are healthy, trying to remain healthy.
  • we want to lose weight in a safe, healthy manner.
  • we are diabetic. Just limit fruit servings to the occasional piece and avoid high glycemic fruits.
  • those who have high blood pressure. Limiting salt intake is not necessary.
  • most other health conditions.

As well as lose the football belly!

So a sample menu for the day would be:

Breakfast: Eggs cooked with plenty of butter / ghee/ coconut oil, with a side of spinach / Mushroom omelet.

For the vegetarians among us : sprouts. Dosa or idli made wholly with dal, no rice, and served with sambar and coconut chutney.

Lunch: Grilled meat or paneer with large salad as described above.  Dal and sabzi for the vegetarians.

Dinner : Soup with plenty of veg, such as minestrone, and added beans or meat. / Thai curry with coconut.

Vegetarians: Paneer, tofu, lentils, dairy, nuts, for the protein. It is difficult to get protein in the proportions required on a strict vegetarian diet, and supplementation is recommended.

For mid- meal snacks when required, choose options like hummus with vegetable sticks, nuts and seeds,  etc. Eating just twice a day allows the body to recover from the glucose overload, and so decreases insulin resistance and also increases growth hormone. Which are all good.

Notice that I have not included quantities. Its not crucial, because the fiber will keep you satiated.

This diet will keep you full, and will keep you healthy. Best, your waist size will drop! I lost 3 kg in 2 weeks on this diet. And I didn’t feel deprived ever!

Simple changes, with great results!

Eating Healthy – Why Bother?

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Really, why should we spend our life worrying about all this eating healthy business? After all, we have only one life, let’s enjoy it, right?

Well, its because we have only one life to achieve what we want to, that we need to take care of our health.

Very important, what we eat affects our DNA.

Food sends signals to DNA when consumed.

Consuming food that DNA has not adapted to, causes inflammation and disease.

Cardiovascular risk reduces by increasing fat and decreasing carbohydrate consumption. This is not a typographical error, its scientific fact. Honest.

Very very important, the changes in our DNA are passed on to our children, and also to our grandchildren. This means that if we eat unhealthy, we may be condemning our yet-to-be-born grandchild to higher risk of diabetes or cancer or whatever. Now you decide, when you’re eyeing that doughnut, what do you really want? A transient feeling of savoring the taste and then knowing that the apple of your eye can develop diabetes and blindness?

Let’s Quiz – Glycemic Index

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Here’s a simple question.

There are three options.

1.

A slice of white bread.

2.

A slice of brown bread.

3.

A teaspoon of table sugar.

 

Now the question is, if you want to make the healthful choice, which of these options will you choose?

Obviously the brown bread, right?

Up until just a few months ago, I did the same. But surprisingly, its not the best choice.

Let me introduce you to a concept called ‘Glycemic Index‘. This (GI) is a measure of how quickly blood sugar levels rise after eating a particular type of food. A food with a high GI raises blood glucose more than a food with a medium or low GI.

Glucose is the reference, having a GI of 100, creating a surge in the blood glucose level. We want our food to release sugar slowly, so the rise is slow and controlled. This helps maintain insulin levels in a stable, controlled range, so our risk of developing diabetes is lower.

Now back to the quiz.

Sugar has a GI of 58, white bread 73 and brown bread 71. So brown bread raises blood sugar more than sugar. Most brown bread is simply colored brown by adding molasses. Read the ingredient list. The first listed should be whole wheat flour, preferably cracked whole grain which has high fiber.

Two slices of whole wheat bread raise blood sugar higher than 6 teaspoons of table sugar. 

Low GI – 55 or less: Most fruits and vegetables, beans, minimally processed grains, pasta, low-fat dairy foods, and nuts.

Moderate GI – 56 to 69: White and sweet potatoes, corn, white rice, couscous, some breakfast cereals.

High GI – 70 or higher: White bread, cakes, doughnuts, croissants, waffles, most packaged breakfast cereals. Notice this list contains most bakery items? Avoid, avoid, avoid. Remember, sugar is poison. And refined carbs act just like sugar in the body.

So look for GI, and go for those foods which have lower GI.

Common Food Myths, Busted!

We know we need to be healthy and avoid lifestyle complications, and we do sincerely try, too.
And yet we are getting more and more ill by the day. Every day we read reports of a 28-yr old undergoing 7 vessel bypass, or another 21-yr old collapsing in office. It is very common for a 35-yr old patient to say, in a very matter of fact manner, that they have been suffering from high blood pressure since 15 years!
So the sad fact is that while we’re trying to get healthier, the reverse is happening. Very often this is because we don’t quite know what to do. We hear so many claims and opinions out there, and we follow well meaning advice, only to make matters worse.
So here are a few myths regarding food.

 

FRUIT JUICE

I started to drink, and also to give my children, fruit juice out of a pack. Believing it to be better than soft drinks. But is it really?

Answer : NO! Packed fruit juices often contain up to 10 tsp of sugar, as much as or even more than a can of cola. Not to mention the added color, flavoring, preservatives, and whatnot. So don’t go near them. Not even if they claim to be natural, no sugar added or any other such.

But I only drink fresh fruit juice, you say? When bought at juice stalls, they often have sugar added. Lots of it. Because the fruit they use is not necessarily at peak ripeness, and could be less than ‘optimally fresh’  :) !

OK. But I only drink juice which I make at home, with no sugar added. And I feel quite virtuous doing so :). So is that OK?  Unfortunately, the answer is still no.

Because the fiber is removed, we don’t feel full and may consume maybe 5 oranges while we may have eaten just 1 or 2. So the calorie count has gone up drastically. And the sugar is absorbed quickly, giving a sugar high, raising insulin levels inordinately. One glass of juice can be the sugar equivalent of 3 bars of chocolate! Over a period of time, obviously this can lead to ill health.

That “healthy” berry blend at a smoothie shop can have a whopping 80 grams of sugar, 350 calories or more, little protein, and often no fresh fruit. Fruit “concentrates” are often used instead of fresh fruit. And sorbet, ice cream, and sweeteners can make these no better than a milkshake.

Food Fix: Get the “small” cup. Ask for fresh fruit, low-fat yogurt, milk, or protein powder to blend in protein and good nutrition.

So don’t drink your calories!

Make your own smoothie at home. Blend, don’t juice.

And add a tablespoon of coconut oil for extra creamy, flavorful, healthful result. 

What do you give your child for school lunch? Fruit, cut up. Not whole, it is likely to come back.

 

SALAD

What? What can be healthier than a salad?

Bear with me. :)

Salads can pack in calories when doused in mayo, in fat laden dressings, and when fried elements are added, such as fried chicken or fried fish. So it doesn’t matter if its advertised as ‘fresh garden salad’ or whatever. Look for the additions. Best, avoid store-bought, ready dressings. Make your own simple vinaigrette.

 

CHARGRILLED FOOD

Now isn’t that taking it too far? All diets advise eating grilled meats rather than fried. And that char grilled flavor, those grill marks – that’s man food!

Be aware that charring can create carcinogenic compounds. Meat that is cooked on an open flame or at very high temperatures creates chemicals known as heterocyclic amines (HCA) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) that have been connected to cancer. Other research suggests that the high fat in meat increases hormone production, which in turn can increase the risk of hormone-related cancers like breast or prostate.

Research at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York shows that frying or grilling certain foods at high temperatures produces compounds that can increase inflammation in the body, leading to diabetes, heart disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis.

The compounds, called advanced glycation end products, appropriately called AGEs in short, are known to be scoundrels. They shorten life. Period. 

Prefer food steamed, stewed, poached or lightly pan fried in good quality oil.

Of course, the method of cooking does not take away from the fact that meats, especially red meats, contain saturated fats which contribute to heart disease. And the animals are fed food laced with growth and fat enhancing hormones, which we ingest when we eat the meat. This disrupts our own hormones, and thus, our health. So look for organic meats.

To clarify : almost every English word that connotes organic – natural, naturally raised, free range, hormone-free and additive-free – can be used to describe meat, but it is far from being “certified organic”.   Organic meat comes from an animal that has not been fed anything grown with toxic or synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides or fumigants; has not been given any kind of growth hormone, antibiotic or genetically engineered product; has been conceived by organically raised animals; and has been butchered and processed following organic regulations.

 

SUGAR SUBSTITUTES

Substitutes like honey, agave, jaggery, date sugar, maple syrup, molasses – may seem natural and healthy. The truth is, they are no different from sugar. They have the same calories and the same effect on our bodies and our health, as does sugar. Use with the same caution as you would sugar.

Artificial sweeteners – Acesulfame potassium (Sunett, Sweet One), Aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet), Saccharin (SugarTwin, Sweet’N Low), Sucralose (Splenda), may be derived from naturally occurring substances, including herbs or sugar itself, and so may sound attractive. However, they are chemicals, and the long-term effects on the body are known to be harmful or not yet clear. They should be avoided.

They leave a sweet after taste, creating further craving for sugary foods or drinks through the day. Stevia does not add calories but acts like artificial sweeteners in the sweet craving it can cause. Agave is very high in fructose.

Choose to eat fruit for your sugar fix. I have always had a sweet tooth, But now  that I know, I keep off sweets, and really, I have started to develop a slight dislike of most sweets. Some I still can’t resist! But I stick to fruit for the most part.

 

DIET DRINKS

Diet drinks are so called because the sugar content – massive! – is replaced with the artificial sweeteners above. They may not have the calories but they do have all the artificial flavorings, preservatives, all the chemicals as the original, and also the sweet craving effect stays.

Energy drinks also have caffeine with its side effects.

Avoid!

 

ORGANIC FOODS

Just because it’s organic, it’s not necessarily good for you.

Organic foods are obviously to be preferred over the hormone and pesticide-laden varieties. But use your judgment. If you use organic brown sugar, for example, be aware that is brown sugar and has the same metabolic consequences as sugar. So first see that is a food you want to add to your diet and only then choose the organic option.

 

LOW FAT FOODS

Check out very thoroughly. Low fat foods usually have sugar added to make them more palatable. and remember, sugar is poison!

Regular Granola VS Low-Fat Granola

The low-fat version of this crunchy cereal has only 10% fewer calories and is still full of sugar. Plus, the low-fat label can easily lead you to overeat. A study at Cornell University found that people ate 49% more granola when they thought it was low fat — easily blowing past the measly 10% calorie savings.

Low fat milk, Skim Milk is NOT the ideal choice. Enjoy full fat milk. Again, Sugar makes you fat. Fat makes you thin!

 

EGGS

This one has always been a bit confusing. Eggs are good for us. Eggs have cholesterol, avoid. No, eggs are safe. Eggs can harbor salmonella organisms, avoid.

Where is the truth?

Don’t be afraid of eggs. They are a super health food. The yolks in fact are actually a very healthy food, if consumed in moderation. They are a beneficial source of healthy fat. Many nutrients, such as vitamin A, are better absorbed with fat, making eggs a very good source of vitamin A. Research has documented that eggs do not appear to promote heart disease risk.

Current thinking is that one can eat three whole eggs every day to keep the doctor away. Whole. With yolks.

But every egg is not created equal. It’s best to buy any source of protein from an environment that is as natural as possible. For egg-producing chickens, this environment is often called “cage-free” or “free-range.”

Lightly cooked or raw eggs can carry salmonella bacteria, and should be used with caution or avoided, especially by pregnant women.

 

FROZEN FOOD

Always eat fresh food, right? Avoid anything  packaged and stored.

Not necessarily. 

Fruits and vegetables – these two food groups are just as good purchased frozen as they are fresh. In some cases, they may actually be better, because if you keep vegetables and fruits in your fridge for a long time, they lose some of their nutritional value. Whereas, buying them frozen and then defrosting when you want the fruit/vegetable can actually retain more nutrients.

Plus, they do not need preservatives added. They are convenient to have on hand and to use. Probably something you have never associated with frozen food is that you can help the planet. Buying frozen food means you can take fewer trips to get groceries, thereby reducing your individual carbon footprint.

Freezing home cooked food for later use is a great option to save on time and effort.

 

But obviously, food which you would avoid fresh, is not healthy frozen!!

 

COCONUT

coconut bud

The coconut has long been reviled for its saturated fat content, as a contributor to heart disease. I have spent 30 years telling my patients to avoid eating coconut and using coconut oil.

But the truth is that it is a superfood.

Considered one of the most treasured foods of all time, coconut products — including coconut flesh, coconut water, coconut oil, and coconut cream — each deliver superb health benefits.

New data is showing that saturated fats are harmless. Many massive studies that include hundreds of thousands of people prove that the whole “artery-clogging” idea was a myth (2).

Additionally, coconut oil doesn’t contain your average run-of-the-mill saturated fats like you would find in cheese or steak.

No, they contain Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCTs) – which are fatty acids of a medium length which are metabolized differently. These can even increase 24 hour energy expenditure by as much as 5%, and reduce appetite, potentially leading to significant weight loss over the long term.

Studies show that coconut oil improves important risk factors like Total, LDL and HDL cholesterol, which can actually reduce risk of heart disease. A study in 40 women with abdominal obesity, showed that supplementing with 30 mL of coconut oil per day led to a significant reduction in both BMI and waist circumference in a period of 12 weeks!

And coconut oil is one of the safest oils to use in cooking, especially cooking at high temperatures such as frying, due to its high smoking point. Plus, this ultra-safe oil can give your body important antioxidants that can help build stronger cells and improve your overall health and well being.

Coconut water is completely pure and sterile, which is one reason why it can be used for blood transfusions. It has the highest  electrolyte concentration of anything found in nature.This makes it an excellent treatment for dehydration.

It improves immunity, hair, teeth, bones, lipid profile, etc, etc.

Coconut milk – fresh, not packaged, is a great alternative to dairy. Not to mention its creamy, luscious richness added to curries. Yum! So now I tell my patients to cook in coconut oil!!  :)

Scrumptious Thai Coconut Red Curry. Photo by Krista Roes

 

Eat Healthy, Stay Healthy!

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Its New Years time!
And time to make new resolutions, a new start.
So let us see what we can plan to do in the new year to be healthy and to stay healthy.

 

1. Stay off the sugar.

And HFCS. And ALL other forms of sweeteners, including and especially artificial sweeteners. They are not healthy. Period.
So if you are going to pare it down to just one habit to adopt from now on, let it be this one. No more sodas, soft drinks, call them what you will. This includes sweetened fruit juices and ideally, all fruit juices as they are loaded with ( high glycemic index ) calories.
1 soda a day can increase your weight by 7 kg a year. It will raise your risk for diabetes, it will contribute to raised cholesterol and triglycerides, and will leach the calcium from your bones, leading to osteoporosis and dental problems. Also contributes towards kidney damage and, importantly, raises heart attack risk.
So fine, I’ll stick to diet soda, I’ll be smart!

Sorry, that is a fallacy. One diet soda daily leads to a 61 percent higher risk of suffering a stroke or heart attack, according to research by the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference.
So, understand that every time you pick up a can of soda, you are literally choosing to poison yourselves. Please give up. Sugar is the most addictive substance on earth.

Eat fruit instead. Tasty and healthy, also provide the crunch factor as in apples, etc.

2. Exercise.

Just move it. This does not necessarily mean an expensive gym, fancy equipment and a large chunk of your time. Simply incorporate activity into your normal daily routine. Walk as far as you can before using transport options.
Walk up the stairs as many flights as possible before taking the elevator.
Even if you are a couch potato, you can move your arms, move your legs as you are watching your favorite program, Be creative. Let people snigger. When they see your results – a slimmer, more shapely you, they will join you!

3. Eat healthy.

9 – 13 servings of fruit and vegetables daily is the WHO recommendation. Not getting your daily fix of fruit and veg is the third most important cause of death, after heart attacks and cancer. But low intake of veg and fruit contributes to heart attacks and cancer, so really its the #1 cause of chronic illness.
Avoid processed food, choose healthy, home cooked food. Check out this compendium of food around the world from the book Hungry Planet by Peter Menzel. Its clear why some populations are generally healthy while others are not.

 

4. Reduce stress by meditation, yoga, whatever appeals to you. Stress is the biggest factor in practically every illness, including obesity.

 

5. Take good quality supplements to bridge the gap between your intake and your requirement. Make sure the source is trusted, and organic.

 

There are other steps to be taken for perfectly balanced health, but let us start with the above. Most important, stay off the sugar.

And let us make the next year a healthy turning point in our lives, irrespective of our current age. All the best!