Eating healthy is often hastily associated with just weight loss. However, even if you are not overweight, it always helps to cut down on unhealthy foods. The various benefits of eating well includes better mental health, stronger immunity, an improved sex drive, and excellent digestion among other things. That said, it's not always easy to find healthy substitutes for the staples we have in our diet, particularly rice and potatoes. And to imagine replacing that evening samosa with a salad leaves most of us with a giant lump in our throats. Luckily, one doesn't have to go always take such extreme measures.
"What we eat should be whole, minimally processed, nutritious food—food that is in many cases as close to its natural form as possible. Frozen fruit yoghurt, for instance is much better than ice cream because it has lower sugar content and zero transfats along with the benefits of fresh fruit," says Lathitha Subramanyam, chief nutritionist at Growfit, a health and nutrition website.
Also, it won't cause great heartache to replace the butter naan with tandoori roti. "Then there are other not-so-obvious choices to be made like picking shrimp over red meat. Packed with protein, shrimp also has healthy fats, which help prevent heart diseases and bring down stress induced inflammation."
Here's a list of small (and non-heartbreaking) changes you can make to your daily diet to keep your body fit.
Eat: Dhokla... Not: Samosa (2 pieces)
DHOKLA vs SAMOSA
Calories: 136 Calories: 308
Carbs: 18gm Carbs: 32gm
Protein: 9gm Protein: 5gm
Fat:10gm Fat:18gm
"Two pieces of dhokla instead of a fatty samosa will cut your calories in half without leaving you overstuffed," says Dr Sharma. It's tasty, light and way more healthy than samosa or kachori. FYI the latter ranks pretty high on our list of unhealthy breakfast items.
Eat: Badam (Almonds)... Not: Moongphalli (Peanuts)
BADAM vs MOONGPHALLI
Carbs:10gm Carbs: 26gm
Calcium: 230mg Calcium: 90mg
Iron: 5.09mg Iron: 2.5mg
"Both nuts feature good fats, but almonds are significantly lower in calories, and come packed with double the amount of iron," says Subramanyam. They make for an excellent snack, so keep them in your bag or bottle some up and keep them at the workplace.
Eat: Aloo Chaat... Not: Aloo Tikki (Fried)
ALOO CHAAT vs ALOO TIKKI
Calories: 100 Calories: 240
Fat: 2gm Fat: 10 gm
A regular fixture in India's street food scene, believe it or not, the yummy aloo chaat is a far healthier snacking option that the aloo tikki. The potato loses many of its nutrients after being fried in oil. "You are not compromising on taste -- a chaat is as flavourful and tasty as a deep fried tikki, thanks for the various components -- but the calorie intake is far lesses.
Eat: Tandoori Chicken... Not: Butter chicken
TANDOORI CHICKEN vs BUTTER CHICKEN
Calories: 230 Calories:450
Fat: 7gm Fat: 30gm
"Though your protein and carb intake stays the same (30gm and 10gm respectively), you're doing away with a fair amount of fat intake," says Dr Sharma. This makes Tandoori chicken is an ideal meal for those looking to gain muscle weight.
Eat: Amla... Not: Oranges (100gm)
AMLA vs ORANGE
Vitamin C: 600mg Vitamin C: 30mg
Calcium: 50mg Calcium: 26mg
Calories: 58 Calories: 150
Oranges are no competition to amla to be honest. "Amla or the Indian Gooseberry is the highest source of Vitamin C you can get," says Subramanyam. "Eat some amla instead of drinking juice." However, ingest this fruit in limited dosages as it does have side effects such as diarrhoea.
Eat: Roasted Makhana... Not: Potato Chips (100gm)
MAKHANA vs POTATO CHIPS
Calories: 360 Calories: 535
Fat:0gm Fat: 36gm
Sodium: 0mg Sodium: 525mg
Foxnuts, or makhana make for a healthier option when you're feel like munching on something crunchy. "They contain zero sodium, and contain a lot of fibre," says Subramanyam.
Eat: Dalia... Not: White Rice (100gm)
DALIA vs WHITE RICE
Protein: 10.4gm Protein: 6.8gm
Fibre: 12.5gm Fibre: 4.1gm
Calories: 310 Calories: 345
"Cracked wheat has good amount of fibre ,which helps brings down your blood sugars and takes care of your cholesterol levels," says Subramanyam. Alternately, one could try Kerala red rice or brown rice.
Eat: Sweet Potato... Not: Potato (100gm)
SWEET POTATO vs POTATO
Potassium: 393mg Potassium: 247mg
Vitamin A: 14000 IU Vitamin A: 2 IU
Calories: 86 Calories: 110
"Sweet potatoes are an excellent source of vitamin A (in the form of beta-carotene)," says Dr Subramanyam. Check out these excellent sweet potato recipes by Tarla Dalal.
Eat: Mint Chutney... Not: Coconut Chutney
MINT CHUTNEY vs COCONUT CHUTNEY
Calories: 17 Calories: 60
Fat:0gm Fat: 5gm
Chutneys are not mere accompaniments for Indians. They are essential to every meal. We tend to consume chutneys by gallons - with breakfast, lunch, snacks, dinner. If you're trying to cut back on the calories, mint chutney's is a far better option that the coconut chutney. It even has more protein content.
Eat: Tandoor Ki Roti... Not: Butter Naan (1 piece)
TANDOOR KI ROTI BUTTER NAAN
Calories: 235 Calories: 100
Fat: 1gm Fat: 10gm
"There's no difference in your carb intake when it comes to your choice of roti. But a tandoor ki roti is made from wheat, and butter naan features more maida (flour), making for the distinct difference in calories and fats," says Dr Sharma.
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