Stop Worrying And Enjoy What You Eat Mindfully

Food Nutrition
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Food, for most people, has always remained the most pleasurable indulgence…

Yet, with increased awareness levels and several new research studies appearing, most food that we consume today is branded either unsafe or potentially dangerous to our physical and mental well being.

Greater attention is warranted towards our daily dietary intake, opine experts in the city. Clearly, wrong food habits can lead to obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes, and other lifestyle ailments.

Sharing a radically different view however, is city-based Nutritionist, Kavita Jain who said, “Don’t worry about illness, enjoy eating!

Adopt mindful eating -mindful eating is neither a prescribed diet or a complex one to follow. It is actually a simple concept of eating good food and enjoying it.

A healthy diet is essential so consume a variety of food. Eat everything and anything but keep an eye on the proportions you intake. For high calorie, food proportion control is the key to maintaining a balanced diet.

Kavita shares, “Aim to eat 2 cups of vegetables and 2 cups of fruits daily and include legumes. Choose fruits or vegetables over a juice. Get more of whole grain in your diet.”

Restrict your refined grains and added sugar consumption. White bread, pasta or other snack food has a little or no dietary fibre and loss of nutrients. Along with this, avoid trans fat. Trans fat is nothing but partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.

An important aspect to bear in mind is not to choose a supplement over food because a healthy diet supplies you with a countless number of benefits which a supplement cannot.  

Alcohol and sugary beverages should be restricted as their high consumption can lead to obesity, Kavita added.

Sushant Dalvi, Fitness Trainer, explains “ Foods that are preserved or are processed contains an excess amount of sugar, salt and certain chemicals which keep them fresh and long lasting. Also in terms of meat, the World Health Organisation has already announced that processed meat can lead to cancer.

It is always good to rely on fresh food available in the market rather than opt for processed as the risk is lower and the food consumed in fresh and termed extremely healthy.

Some foods are unavoidable, like cheese, salad dressings, butter, vegetable oil and hence experts have always advised consuming this food within limits as overconsumption will lead to obesity and other ailments, Dalvi added.

Sarah Menezes, Client servicing executive says, “Most of us know that some of the food items if consumed in excess are hazardous. And off late, people have understood the importance of health and many of us are already taking preventive measures for it.”

I know processed food is not good, so I opt for some alternative to that particular food or consume in lower proportion. At times, it is unavoidable but a balance is important, she added.

People have been living on this food for a very long time. In fact, the older generation always ate a simple balanced meal which kept them healthy over years.

I see no harm in eating everything but within limits, says Tushar More, Artist.

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Ankita Malekar