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YOUR TRAVEL MENU

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The chance to sample different cuisines from different parts of the world can be as exciting as seeing the Eiffel Tower or the Northern Lights. But nobody wants to come back from a vacation all happy and then cry about not fitting into their clothes. Sometimes, you can’t tell what’s on a menu in a foreign country. Here’s a guide to choose better.

ITALIAN

 

Order these: Minestrone soup, chicken masala, grilled white meats (like chicken or fish), leafy salads, pasta (in tomato or marinara sauce with little olive oil and no cheese), cappuccino with skimmed milk and fruit sorbets (with no added flavours or syrups).

Skip these: Caeser salad, pasta in alfredo or bolognese sauces (or anything in a white sauce), lasanga, ravioli, cannelloni, fried calamari or anything fried, gelato, tiramisu, anything in `parmigiana’ (it’s loaded with cheese).

CHINESE

Order these: Chicken prawn vegetable suimai, seafood or vegetable cheung fun, prawn chicken vegetable dim sum, steamed bread or mushroom chicken bun, tom yum soup, wanton soup, chicken vegetable noodle soup, steamed rice, soft stewed rice with vegetables, soft stewed noodles, steamed prawns in lemon sauce, steamed fish in soya, ginger and spring onions, chicken prawn exotic vegetables in hunan or oyster sauces.

Skip these: Fried wantons, steamed dim sum in chilli oil, Peking duck, pork bun, salt and pepper fried chilli prawns, fried chilli chicken, sesame prawn toast, Szechwan chicken, chicken fish vegetarian manchurian, spare ribs, kung pao chicken potato, chowmein, lomein, anything with the word `golden’ or `crispy’ in it as that means it is fried.

JAPANESE

 

Order these: Sushi ­ especially nigiri sushi (rice and seaweed) made with cooked crabs, salmon, bass, yellowtail, tuna, squid, scrambled eggs, tofu or vegetables, sashimi, maki rolls (raw salmon, tuna, squid or prawn) with no cheese, miso soup, oshinko, steamed edamame, teppanyaki dishes (prepared with no oil), sukiyaki dishes (cooked at the table and you can supervise the oil content), okonomiyaki pizza, broiled sea bass (or any fishseafood) with soya or ginger sauce, ocha or green tea, soba noodles.

Skip these: Tempura, dragon rolls, chicken teriyaki, yakitori, fried dumpling or gyoza, ramen noodles, breaded chicken katsu, green asparagus tempura or sautéed with soya butter, foie gras teppanyaki, sake.

MEDITERRANEAN

Order these: Baba ghanoush (without extra olive oil), hummus, tzatziki, Greek salad and horiatiki salads (with reduced feta cheese and dressing on the side), souvlaki, dolmades, keftedes (baked, not fried).

Skip these: Moussaka, pastitsio, spanakopita, deep fried calamari, tiropita, falafels, red pepper feta, saganaki cheese, gyro platter, baklava, baklava cheesecake.

Carry nuts and fresh fruit with you wherever you go, and steal in quick snack breaks which will help keep your blood sugar stable and make you less prone to stuffing yourself with sugary pies. And stay hydrated: the hunger and thirst centres in your brains are so closely located next to each other, sometimes you crave food when all you want is water.

 

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DIWALI DETOX

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Weight gain is a little like that small pile of unattended laundry on your chair. Left alone, it’ll just stay there and pile up day after day. If you think you’ve gained weight during Diwali, don’t panic. But deal with it before the fat starts to accumulate.

DON’T STARVE…

That’s the fundamental lesson you need to remember. Don’t deprive your body of nutrition by starving yourself with drastic diets. Instead of losing fat, starvation ensures your body loses muscle. Muscle loss leads to more fat storage, which is why you always gain the weight you lose right after a crash diet. Food is the only thing that fuels your body and is your friend ­ not your enemy.

…EAT SMART

Eat simple and smart during your detox phase. Shore up on simple proteins like sprouts and egg whites.Have 4-5 servings of fruit per day (100 gm of fruit per time), and eat and drink your veggies prepared without much oil, or as juice. But whatever you do, don’t forget to break up your meals into smaller ones. Eat every two hours. Like walking or running, digestion also burns calories and eating smaller meals frequently means that your body keeps burning, burning, burning.

…BUT DON’T LOSE THE OIL

Don’t cut oil out entirely because you’d be depriving your body of essential fatty acids. The lack of fatty acids dries up your skin, apart from other adverse effects. In this detox phase, include one teaspoon of oil in your cooking through the day.

STEP UP THE EXERCISE

Get to know your treadmill a little better. In addition to eating right, one hour of explosive exercise is what you need. You can walk, run, cycle, go on the elliptical but whatever you do, don’t forget cardio during this phase. Sweat it off.

SLEEP

Catch up on your sleep. Your body needs food, water and sleep for effective functioning. And fat burning and metabolising food is a part of its functioning. Studies have shown the strong link between weight gain and sleep deprivation. Snooze to lose.DRINK In this phase, drink about three to four litres of water. You could also mix it up by including other beneficial hydrants like coconut water, chaas and nimbu pani. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.

How much detox you need depends on how much you have abused your body. If you have binged for four days, detox for the same amount or a week, and so on.

But don’t overdo it, and trust your body during this process.

The body is magical. It will know what to do.

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ON YOUR MARKS, GET SET AND GLOW THIS DIWALI

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With all the parties and social obligations, your days will soon get shorter and nights, longer. In this season of bling, excesses and over stimulation, what’s the best possible way to get that healthy, cared-for glow? A small early Diwali present in the form of some invaluable, tried-and-tested health advice…

FOOD

 

If you are not used to a healthy eating pattern, it’s hard to start strict regimens during a season littered with temptation. Having said that, you can always be one step ahead of your metabolism by breaking up the four meals a day -break fast, lunch, dinner, tea-time snack -into eight smaller meals, spread through the day. This way, you ensure that you eat every two hours. Keep in mind that just like walking, running or jumping, digestion also burns calories. Eating smaller meals pushes your body to burn more calories from the same food, giving your body a workout on the inside. Eating every two hours may also help you lose a little weight and keep your cravings under control. Also, keep your antioxidant quotient high, and focus on drinking vegetable juices, not fruit juices (high in sugar).

And, whatever you do, don’t starve your body into submission in order to knock a few kilos off. Just be smart about what and how you eat. Don’t be afraid of food. Always remember that food is your friend, not enemy.

EXERCISE

It’s never too late to start a daily 60-minute cardio session as a run-up to the season. Exercise helps to pump up your metabolic rate by almost 20-30 per cent sometimes, enabling you to digest better and burn the little and bigger treats that you allow yourself this season. Blood also rushes to your skin when you exercise, providing it with that much-needed glow. Not only do you lose weight, you also look fresh and young. You can never go wrong with exercise, no matter when you start.

SLEEP

 

‘Tis the season to be drowsy. Diwali can bring about heavy sleep deprivation because of late nights and compulsive socialising. If you are already cheating on your sleep even before you are well into the season, catch up now to shore up for the inevitable sleep debt that will pile up. Sleep is vital for your body though its importance is quite undervalued.Your body heals and repairs itself when you sleep, and this includes your skin. There is also a strong and undeniable link between sleep and obesity. Do note that when your body reaches 24 hours of sleep debt, it tends to crash, causing conditions like flu or viral.

WATER

 

Make-up cannot hide dull, dehydrated skin. For a natural glow, don’t just drink the pink stuff in the daiquiri glasses, glug as much water as you can ­ a minimum of two litres a day. There’s also the trend of special `detox water’ doing the rounds, claiming you can lose weight just by drinking it. My take on it is that while you may or may not lose weight on detox water, you’ll definitely be well hydrated. Since there is a link between hydration and weight loss, you may just lose weight anyway.

Your brain’s thirst and hunger centers are so close together that sometimes you eat because you are thirsty. Adequate hydration means that you won’t confuse thirst with hunger ­ which leads to more thoughtful eating.Take care of yourself this Diwali for a great year ahead. On your marks. Get set and glow.

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HAVE FIBRES FOR GOOD DIGESTION

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The human digestive system is complicated. It’s designed to masticate, digest, absorb and expel food from our body. Different parts of the body have different jobs cut out, and just like a factory machine, what we consume needs to move at the right speed from one body part to the other. That’s where dietary fibre comes into play. Fibre is to the digestive system what oil is to a machine; without it, everything comes to a grinding -and often painful -halt.

HOW FIBRE HELPS

Your bowels: Let’s start from the bottom. Healthy fibre intake impacts bowel movement the most. A normal-functioning digestive system will produce regular bowel movements that are predictable. The more regular your bowel movements, the slimmer the chance of waste and bacteria build-up inside your body.
Your digestive system: Dietary fibre also helps to keep the rest of the digestive system running and prevents blockages, slow movement of food material, bloating and uneasiness.
Your blood sugar: Dietary fibre is known to slow down the absorption of sugar from food to ensure that it is assimilated far more gradually.When your body is pummelled with high quantities of sugar, it can affect or worsen conditions like diabetes. High fibre foods help your body to balance out so that you don’t suffer from high or low sugar.
Your heart: Fibre helps in stabilising blood pressure, it reduces cholesterol and inflammations in the digestive system, thereby lowering the strain on the heart.
Your weight: High fibre foods make you feel fuller and are often eaten slowly. This helps to control the intake of food, and therefore, your weight.

How do we stock up on fibre?

Fear not.You’re probably having a lot of it already. Fibre is the bulky stuff that your body doesn’t actually absorb and can be either water soluble or insoluble. Both these types are important to let the digestive system run like a Swiss train schedule. Soluble fibres -once dissolved in water -form a kind of gel that slows down the emptying of your stomach, helping you feel full for a while. Sources of soluble fibres are oats, apples, beans, carrots, citrus fruits and peas. Just remember one thing ­ when we talk about getting the benefit of fibre from fruits, we mean whole fruits and not juice made out of them. Juicing removes your fibre intake, which sort of defeats the purpose.
Insoluble fibre is the stuff that promotes the actual movement of food through the system. You can get your fix from servings of whole wheat, nuts, beans, cauliflower and potatoes. Most fruits and vegetables like the ones listed above have both soluble and insoluble fibre, though some are better for you (consult your doctor to know what suits your body).
So, there you have it. Dietary fibre can be found in nearly all healthy food items. It’s important to eat healthy servings to make sure that good digestion becomes a smooth and effortless process.
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COLD COMFORT

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What is it about a crisp, cold morning that makes you want to stay huddled under the covers? What is it about a chilly afternoon that makes you want to rustle up some ultra-comforting fried food and something hot to drink? What is it about a wintry night that makes you want to reach out for buttery goodness and sweet temptation?
Well, whatever it is, that moment -or two, or three -on the lips can forever lodge itself on the hips, especially during these winter months.

There are theories abound as to why weight gain seems to be such a foregone conclusion during winters. According to one school of thought, winter doesn’t increase hunger, rather it reduces thirst. You don’t drink the same amount of water as summer months, which leaves you dehydrated. That impacts your weight. Because hunger and thirst centres in the brain are set very close together, and sometimes, you may wind up eating because you feel thirsty, leading to a lot more overeating. Add to this lack of physical activity, comfort eating, and overeating during the holiday season, and suddenly you’ve got yourself a new problem. Or problems. As we already know, weight gain is not just about the aesthetics of it but adds increasing pressure on your heart and interferes with other health parameters. And in many cases, the kilos creep up, year after year without you realising it.

While your body has to work harder to maintain a normal body temperature, you can eat more. But if winter sees you stay put under the covers and reach out for something fatty, try these…

MORE PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
The cooler months is when physical activity tends to dwindle a little. Morning workouts tend to be eschewed in favour of lying in ­ there’s always tomorrow, right? Wrong. Keep up with your workouts and burn your calories. You are never too cool for (old) school.
AVOID COMFORT EATING
Magically, during winters, chocolates, pies, samosas, pakoras seem to be an extension of your arm. Dis`arm’. Put down that bit of food and disengage yourself from bingeing just because you are in the company of food.
Try and ensure that your days are long and keep you occupied so that you stay away from comfort foods. It’s very easy, when you are at home surrounded by a mountain of chocolate, to be buried under it.
HOLIDAY OVERINDULGENCE
The winter months are also party months, where festivals coincide, weddings happen and relatives and friends come down from all over the world. Suddenly, you are out almost every night. Keep a watch on the journey from the plate to the mouth. Eat before you go out and avoid too many cocktails. Stick to a glass of white wine spritzer for as long as possible.
While this all sounds very dreary, don’t forget to have fun this winter and find inventive ways of having your cake and (not) eating it too. Happy holidays!

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IN A NUT SHELL

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Healthy, tasty, packed with nutrition, easy to carry -it’s easy to go nuts over nuts. Dry fruits are not just delicacies but are powerhouses of nutrition. Packed with proteins, essential fatty acids, antioxidants and minerals, these are little factories of good health. Since most of the water is extracted from dry fruits, their nutrients are condensed into small packages. But if you are watching your weight, dry fruits should be eaten in moderation as they are nutrient dense in sugars too, and thus calories. Limit the intake to about 20 grams total of mixed t nuts and dry fruits and avoid snacking straight from a bag. It leads to overeating.

ALMONDS

Can a high-fat food be good for you? Almonds challenge this oxymoron perfectly well. It’s rich in monounsaturated fatty acids that have a heart-protective role and are excellent for your brain and skin health. Almonds are also rich in Vitamin E, magnesium and potassium, all of which go hand in hand to maintain normal blood pressure, improve blood circulation and maintain healthy heart function. Trace minerals like copper and manganese found in almonds have added to their health quotient. Both copper and manganese are needed in very small quantities, but have an important role to play. Eat in small quantities (4-7 pieces) daily to get a whole entourage of health benefits.

WALNUTS

The outer layer of the shelled walnut -the white-ish, flaky, sometimes waxy part has a bitter flavour. But resist the urge to remove it. Research shows that 90 per cent of the antioxidants -including the phenolic acids, tannins, and flavonoids -are found in the skin.Walnuts are excellent sources of Vitamin E in a form that is unusual to find ­ gamma-tocopherol. It has a major cardio-protective role. Along with great taste and health benefits, they are sources of monounsaturated fats and Omega-3 fatty acids. Add them to salads, desserts or just pop , them daily (3-4 halves).

DATES

Incredibly delicious, dates are one of the most popular fruits packed with an impressive list of essential nutrients, vitamins and minerals, required for normal human growth, wear-n-tear and overall wellbeing. Rich in fructose and dextrose, dates provide simple sugars easily and are a good way to start the day and jump-start the body’s metabolism. Enjoy 1-2 medium-sized dates daily. Over indulgence can turn the tables on you.

PISTACHIOS

Symbol of wellness, strength and robust health, pistachios are the evergreen nuts that no one can resist. Pistachios contain more protein in comparison with other nuts like almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, pecans and walnuts; the fat content being the lowest amongst them. They are rich in oleic acid, carotenes and Vitamin E. However, the salted counterparts negate the health quotient. Limit quantities to not more than 20 grams a day.

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SWEET DILEMMA

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When it comes to Diwali bingeing, the deal is not sealed unless there’s sweets. While every one loves meetha and it’s hard to avoid it this season, there are tons of ways to have your cake and not eat it too, i.e., it is possible to have sweets, feel light, and not add too many kilos. Here’s how…

SWEET THIS…

If you have one eye on a healthy Diwali this year, keep the other one trained at picking out sweets that are, well, only sweet. The trick to having a lighter holiday season is to differentiate between desserts that have only -or mainly -sugar, and those that have sugar and fat. Stick to just sugar-based desserts to avoid a bloated post Diwali season. Dark chocolate, plain sandesh, mishti doi, rosagolla, jellies and custards are examples of sugar-only desserts.

…NOT THIS

Watch out for desserts that have both sugar and fats, though. For example, gulab jamuns are first fried then preserved in sugary syrup. Any sweet that has a high ghee oil fat or butter content is best avoided. This includes cakes, pastries, mousses, mithais soaked in ghee, malai, khoa, pure butter, heavy mawas, concentrates from milk and foods with condensed milk. You get the picture, right?

THE SUGAR-FREE TRAP

To me, sugar-free mithai is a bit like that 1000-laddi stack that never went off! You get excited opening the box, but when it doesn’t work, it can be quite deflating. Sugar-free versions of sweets, likewise, replaces the sugar with double -or at least copious amounts of -fat to maintain the taste factor, and in doing so, they make you gain weight instead of helping you shed it.

Diwali is about spreading love.

And what better way to spread a bit of love than making some thing yourself? Experiment a little to add new twists this season for a healthier you.

BIG DADDY OF HOLIDAY SEASON

If you think that the party is pretty much over, you may have noticed that I have not yet mentioned the Big Daddy of the holiday season ­ dry fruits. The minute your dry fruits, they become more nutrient dense, and by implication, are healthier options to traditional sweets. Mithais and desserts made of dry fruits like dates and dried figs are yummy alternatives. Try date rolls (dry fruit wrapped in dates), dates stuffed with apricots as well dry fruit chikkis, dry fruit puddings and other similar options.

So many low-fat dry fruit desserts can be made at home. There’s nothing difficult about caramelising sugar and adding finely chopped dry fruit and making chikki out of it. You can even make chikki balls or date-and-nut purees. Mishti doi is often made at home and so are homemade kheer, phirnis and halwas, where you can control the oil and ghee portions. You can also experiment with easy-to-make online recipes of frozen fruit jellies and popsicles. The list is unlimited…

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BENEFITS OF SUPER SEEDS

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HEMP SEEDS Advantages: A complete protein like egg, hemp seeds are an excellent source of easily-digestible proteins. They contain the essential fatty acids (Omega-6 and Omega-3) with GLA (Gamma-linoleic acid) that helps build anti-inflammatory hormones; they prevent conditions like arthritis, asthma and fibromyalagia.

Add them to your diet: They look like sesame seeds but have a nutty flavour like sunflower seeds. Add them to salads or breakfast cereals, soups, pesto sauce (instead of cashew nuts) and post-workout smoothies for faster muscle recovery.

CHIA SEEDS Advantages: Excellent source of Omega-3 fatty acids, fibre and minerals like calcium, manganese and phosphorus (all necessary for healthy bones and teeth), chia seeds are a healthy addition to your diet. They lower insulin resistance (main cause of PCOD among women) and help fight diabetes, high blood pressure and cardiac problems.

Add them to your diet: Chia seeds don’t have any particular taste. Add them to your breakfast your breakfast porridge or even plain milk. Sprinkle them (whole or ground) on salads or risottos, maketos, make them into a pudding with fruits, or make chia seed jam.

PUMPKIN SEEDS Advantages: Diversity in antioxidant content makes pumpkin seeds a good anti-ageing property. They contain Vitamin E in different forms, and thus benefit the skin. They ward off cancer, heart attacks, diabetes and have anti-fungal, anti-viral and anti-microbial benefits. A handful of pumpkin seeds, three to four times a week, is a must.

Add them to your diet: Roasted pumpkin seeds make for a tasty snack when flavoured with paprika or just lime and pepper. Do note they are high in calories too (100 gm = 560 calories), so limit your consumption. You can make granola bars out of them or add them to baked products, like muffins.

FLAX SEEDS Advantages: Rich source of dietary fibre, Omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants, flaxseeds help adjust your good (HDL) and bad (LDL) cholesterol ratios and thus protect your heart, promote fertility, relieve constipation, improve immunity and avert production of cancerous cells.

Add them to your diet: Most nutri tionists suggest that ground flaxseeds are better than whole because the former are easier to digest. However, remember, these seeds when ground and exposed to air, oxidise easily, turn rancid and lose their nutrition profile. So, grind small quantities, store in an air-tight container and consume them soon. Add them as a topping to yogurt, oatmeal, desserts and shakes.

SUNFLOWER SEEDS Advantages: An excellent source of Vitamin E, sunflower seeds neutralise free radicals and prevent asthma, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.High in magnesium, they treat blood pressure, headaches and migraines along with promoting healthy teeth and bones.

Add them to your diet: Because of their high fat content sunflower seeds be come rancid quickly. It is best to store them in the refrigerator. Add them to salads and scrambled eggs or sprinkle on hot or cold breakfast cereals.

SESAME SEEDS Advantages: Sesame seeds possess nutritive, preventive and curative proper ties. Their copper content helps provide relief from rheumatoid arthritis. Magnesium improves cardiovascular health and lung function while calcium prevents osteoporosis, migraine and PMS.

Add them to your diet: Tahini, made out of sesame seeds, is a favourite Arabic paste added to dips like hummus and moutabel. Sauté sesame seeds with vegetables or chicken, garlic, ginger and soy sauce or add them to breads, muffins or theplas and dhok theplas and dhoklas to increase their nutritional value.

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HAVE A SKIN-TASTIC FUTURE

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Genetics and lifestyle habits play a significant role in skin health, but even if you have not been blessed with good genes, certain foods can help you fight problems like acne and wrinkles. Adequate hydration and an antioxidant-rich diet go a long way to ensure healthy skin. Among the other eliminatory organs in the body, skin plays a vital role because of its sweat pores. When the waste byproducts and toxins in our bodies are not excreted totally through the kidney ­ mostly due to lack of hydration, the skin bears the brunt of it. Adequate water and other hydrating liquids is one of the key secrets to healthy skin. Coconut water, buttermilk, fruit and vegetable juices, milkshakes, smoothies and soups all count as hydrating fluids. Tea, coffee, aerated beverages and alcohol do not. Well-hydrated skin is inherently protected from wrinkles, pigmentation, flaking, peeling and dryness.

FOODS FOR BETTER SKIN

To ensure your daily dose of epidermal enhancing vitamins, have a tall glass of freshly-prepared vegetable juice. Include carrots (rich in vitamin A), tomatoes (rich in lycopene and vitamin C), avocados (contains essential fatty acids (EFA) and vitamin E), parsley or spinach (chlorophyll, vitamin B12, folic acid) and or any other vegetable available to you in your refrigerator on any given day ­ they all come with great nutritional benefits. This glassful of nature’s bounty ensures your daily needs of vitamins and antioxidants from the plate, which is better than any pill or supplements. Did you know that Omega-3 fatty acid is the best anti-aging food known to man? To procure this in its most natural form, consume fatty fish like salmon, mackerel or tuna. Other foods rich in Omega-3 fatty acid are almonds, soya, olive oil and rice bran oil. Flaxseeds and flaxseed oil are excellent sources too. They are also rich in phytoestrogens, which have a synergistic effect along with Omega-3, to give you youthful skin.

Green tea is another skin-friendly food; it is rich in flavonoids, which help protect the skin against acne, pigmentation or wrinkles.

Probiotic curds is very important for healthy skin, as it improves your immune system and kills bacteria that cause acne and other skin problems like psorasis.

Collagen is an essential component of the skin, which increases and enhances its elasticity. As the collagen levels reduce (occurs due to exposure to the suns UV rays), skin loses its elasticity and shows signs of aging. Natural vitamins and minerals are collagen’s best friend. Egg whites are a strong source of zinc, an essential vitamin that keeps skin firm and youthful. Pomegranates are loaded with nutrients, including polyphenols, a very potent antioxidant that boosts collagen.

Your skin is a barometer of how well or how poorly you are feeding your body.

THINGS TO AVOID

Sugar: Excess sugar intake throws the insulin levels off balance, which can lead to inflammation both inside the body and on your face. Cut back on sugar-laden desserts, breakfast cereals, snack bars, sodas and other goodies. You’ll see a marked improvement in your long-term skin health.

Deep-fried foods: Fried foods have compounds called `advanced glycation end products’ very aptly termed AGES that are linked to oxidative damage, and result in inflammation that can make your skin look ruddy, dull and wrinkled.

Excess salt: Most fried foods create a double whammy of trouble, as they are also high in sodium, which causes water retention. It’s most noticeable in the under-eye areas, as the skin there is very thin, and it doesn’t take much to cause a swelling.

The last key ingredients to the perfect skin are exercise and adequate sleep. Get your heart rate up and break into a sweat for that healthy glow, and don’t forget to sleep on time.

 

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