NAGPUR: While poor nutrition remains a concern for the financially weak, it is also prevalent among other citizens.
Over years, pollution, unhygienic practices, lack of time and need to satisfy instant cravings has taken a toll over the nutritive value in one’s food. However, several households are now taking the mantle and adopting health-conscious practices to ensure presence of ample nutrition in food.
Started by members of Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, National Nutrition Week (September 1-7) aims to assert the importance of nutrition for healthy body and well-being. The theme this year is ‘Go further with food’.
Since the past several years, yoga teacher Jyoti Kulkarni has been using vegetables from her own kitchen garden to cook food, being conscious of the amount of oil and inclusion of fruits and salads in the diets of her family.
Home-maker Shashi Singh vouches for a diet replete with raw food for morning. “I was relieved of several pains once I started including raw food such as soaked almonds, dates, methi seeds, and even bottle gourd in my diet. I eat fruits aplenty,” she says.
Recognizing the need for healthy and customized food alternative, food delivery services at offices and homes have also begun in the recent past. Rimpy Kukreja founded Foodylite on June 1, which supplies evening snack tiffins to offices.
“At evenings, most of us are tempted to eat things like
vada pav, dabeli or other snacks, which involve maida. I substitute this with suji, or wheat base. I also include vegetables in the menu,” she says. Another venture, Healthalicious, delivers food tailored to one’s health goals.
Diet and nutrition consultant Sneha Fafat advises households to use whole pulses instead of split ones available in the market and avoid cooking vegetables until they become mushy and soft. Rather, the vegetables should only be lightly cooked.
In certain vegetables such as bottle gourd, the skin should not be peeled in view of its fibre content. “Oil once used to fry should be thrown away, whereas the water used to cook rice should not be discarded, as it contains Vitamin B,” she adds.
The student community living in hostels are most subjected to unhealthy foods, says Jaishree Pendharkar, diet consultant at CIIMS hospital in Bajaj Nagar. “The food served at hostels in GMC, VNIT and others are often made using much oil, excess spices, and include fried items even for breakfasts. No milk, curd or fruits are given to children,” she says.
The student community outside hostels is also at risk as nowadays, oil used by restaurants is supplied to roadside vendors at throwaway prices. Curries are also sold, making the process unhygienic. Patients in their 20s and 30s are coming to the hospital with heart problems, stroke or neurological problems, she adds.
Nutritionists recommend
Alternate readymade evening snacks with options like roasted chiwda, sattu,
bhel, roasted groundnuts, chana, corn, popcorn
Plan your breakfasts to include cereals and other wholesome options like idli, dosa, thalipeeth, ambil, appe. Home food is the best
As far as possible, prefer steaming and pressure-cooking food rather than frying. Oil once used should not be used again
