A client asked me today, ” Which diet do you recommend? Atkins? general motors?” I was taken aback for a second. These diets are still in vogue. So let me shed a light on various fad diets.

What is a fad diet?

It is a diet which stay in fashion or vogue for sometime and then is replaced by a new one. Weight loss is a zillion dollor industry and hence such diets keep sprouting up.

How do you identify a fad diet?

• Promises weight loss in the least time such as seven days or fifteen days. One example is general motors diet which promises five kilo weight loss in a week.
• No exercise routine is needed to be followed. A constant favorite of all.
• The ads include a very fat person and his very thin picture. You can see him slouching in the fatb picture and standing upright in the thin picture.
• Shake diets such as just living on shakes, gels and jellies and no other food.
• Very low calorie intake as low as 600 kCal.
• Excludes food groups such as carbohydrates, fats etc. Atkins includes all protiens and fats and very less carbohydrates. A few weight loss centers advice zerol oil diets.
• Not recommended by a registered dietitian or a practioner.

Whats right for us?

Of course, its the traditional formula of a healthy balanced diet and regular exercise. Nothing can beat this. This includes all the food groups and recommended calories as per activity and age. Although it may sound boring, but trust me with the addition of discipline and focus, this is the only thing that works. So now get smarter and work towards doing the right thing, not falling for another fad diet.

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Nut butters are used widely by all. They are eaten for breakfast and as snacks alone. Peanut butter has been used but there are various other butters such as almond butter, macadamia nut butter, pine nut butter etc… Let us look at cashew butter now widely available.

Cashew butter is an excellent option for those who are bored  of allergic to peanut butter. Although unusual it is widely available in the organic forms which is free from pesticides and preservatives.

Let us have a look at its nutritional benefits.

• As any nut butter, it is rich in protein and healthy fats.
• It is high in monounsaturated fats and low in saturated fats and hence is a heart healthy butter and helps to reduce the triglycerides.
• Helps patients with diabetes to maintain their blood sugars as they are very low in carbohydrates.
• It provides the mineral copper which is said to decrease the risk of cancer by its antioxidant properties.
• It is bone healthy butter thereby providing magnesium which helps to strengthen our bones.

So lather on whole wheat bread or add a tablespoon to your milkshake and slurp it up

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Heart disease is the most common killer disease in the world.  Let us look at a few tips to cut down the risk of heart disease.

1. Drink green tea- Green tea contains antioxidants that can reduce cholesterol and decrease blood pressure.
2. Fiber up your diet- The more fiber you include, lesser is the risk of heart disease. So add oats, bran etc in your diet.
3. Eat fish- Fish contain omega 3 fatty acids which help the heart to function better.
4. 100% fruit juice- Juices such as orange juice and grape juice are said to contain antioxidants which help to decrease homo cysteine levels which are the main cause for heart disease.
5. Add Flaxseed- to your porridge or smoothie to prevent clogging of arteries.
6. Add garlic- adding garlic to cooking helps to cut down artery blocks.
7. Eat dark chocolate- rich in antioxidants making the arteries more elastic.
8. Go bananas- Bananas contain potassium which helps to cut down blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart disease.

Trying out these tips will take you closer to leading a healthy life free of heart disease

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Biscuits are everywhere…You can find them in boardroom meetings, sports meet, tea time parties etc…But the question is are they good for health…

Lets see what biscuits are made up of and lets us look at each detail of each ingredient.

1. Wheat flour- this is nothing but maida aka refined wheat flour which is low in fiber. Although now whole wheat flour now is being added but the maida or refined flour is still the main ingredient. Hence can cause blood sugar spikes which in the long term can cause diabetes.
2. Sugar- very high in sugar and hence in calories too.
3. Hydrogenated fats- vegetable fats or hydrogenated fats are added in very high quantities and are baked at very high temperatures. This can result in the production of trans fats. So next time you pick up a pack saying trans free, they are fooling you. Biscuits cannot be low fat or fat free. Now the labels contain partially hydrogenated fats which is similar to hydrogenated.

Biscuits are not good for diabetics as it is high in simple carbohydrates. As these are high in calories, they are the ideal sources for weight gain. Infact hidden sources for weight gain as most of the times, as you never know how many you can pop into your mouth. My clients are shocked by the  number of calories they consume in the form of biscuits.

Now we have newly disguided forms such as oats, multi grain and many others, but if you look closely the main ingredients remain the same. So stay away from these  high calorie, artery clogging foods as easily as 300-500 Kcal.

They are ideal for consuming when you are doing strenuous activities such as trekking or at tournaments where you need energy to spend. This lies the same for cookies too…

So think smart and eat healthy…

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Popcorn has always been a healthy snack and is high in fiber and are good carbohydrates. But now for the super duper busy or plainly lazy people have access to microwave popcorn. But really, it is not a substitute for air popped popcorn.

Let us have a look why?

• Microwave popcorn are very high in salt and hence can cause water retention and cause bloating. Most of them contain about 400-5o0mg of salt while the Recommended Dietary Allowance of sodium per day is 2000mg. Hence it provides a major chunk of the sodium needed per day.
• It is also high in fat. We blindly pick up the buttered ones thinking it is healthy. These also contain vegetable oils and also trans fats as the oil may not be of good quality. The oil can add up to a lot of calories. They contain about 28 grams of fats for 100 grams of popcorn. So you may be getting 250Kcal on from fat.
• Microwave popcorn will not help you to keep portion control as it contains more than one portion, although it does not mention portion size. Hence if you really want to eat, split the portion 3-4 times.

The calories vary from 500-600 Kcals. Hence if you take Act 2 popcorn, the quantity is 85g. So if you divide into 3 portions which will be 28g, then the calories will come down to 160-200kCal. Hence dont pop and chow down the whole packet. You may be not doing any good if you are restricting calories.

Next, the popcorn bags contain chemicals such as perflourooctonoic acid(PFOA) which is present in the lining of the bags which vaporise on microwaving and studies have shown the chemical being linked to infertility and causing cancers.

Benefits of air popped popcorn

• You can control the amount of salt you add or you can have it without adding any salt.
• Healthy oils can be added and again you can cut down on the oil you add.
• You can determine the portion size you want to eat.
• Cheaper on the pocket.

Popcorn is my favourite snack and I use a microwave popcorn maker which you can use fresh corn kernels, not the prepacked ones and I add no salt and oil. I love adding organo or pepper for flavour. If you do not have the time to use a skillet, follow my method…

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