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Yoghurt, energy bars, baked chips, and noodles made from whole wheat flour sound healthy, right? Unfortunately, they are not. Several companies today have made buzzwords like "all-natural," "gluten-free", "low in calories", and "fat-free" very popular. However, people need to understand that these are ways to attract their attention as buying healthy, nutritious food doesn't just mean you need to buy expensive packaged stuff or ultra-processed foods. Eating healthy natural foods helps improve your overall health building your physical health or sharpening your mind. Dr Ratnaraje Krishna Thar, a Senior Dietician Nutritionist at Connect and Heal, shares that the next time you visit a supermarket or order food online, ensure your grocery list does not contain these foods.
The multi-grain bread is often considered a healthy alternative to regular refined wheat flour. However, please read the ingredient label as you may find a high content of unbleached wheat flour or a mix of refined flour to bind the grains together, which does not add to the healthy factor. Also, one should avoid bread that has the word "enriched" in the ingredient list. The term implies that the grains have been stripped of their nutrients during processing and added back to compensate for the deficit. Instead, choose bread that lists whole grains, like whole wheat and millets, as the first ingredient.
If you play a sport regularly or indulge in intense physical activities daily, you may consider having energy drinks to replace the lost electrolytes. However, these drinks will add to the calorie intake considering the high sugar content they are laden with. The best bet here is consuming simple water or coconut water, lemon water, buttermilk, fresh herbs and spices infused waters or even our traditional kaadas as it will not only quench your thirst healthily, but you'll also avoid unnecessary calories that can have a severe effect on your health.
We love cherries and apricots raw, cooked, or in a pie. We sometimes cannot stop and can eat a box full of them. So it comes as a surprise to find that it can be life-threatening. The stones in cherries and apricots are toxic, so one should beware if one like to chew on them while eating the fruits. If the stone is chewed, crushed, and swallowed, it produces hydrogen cyanide, which can be very harmful. This can cause headaches, dizziness, confusion, vomiting, and severe threats like high blood pressure, difficulty breathing, and kidney failure.
To eat healthily, one doesn't need to have things that come in fancy packaging. Instead, one should stick to the local vegetables and fruit and consume them in their purest form. Just by keeping this in mind, one can attain the health goals that will keep them fit and happy! Fad diets and advice from lifestyle gurus shouldn't be your holy grail regarding nutrition. Instead, consult a qualified nutritionist to understand what is best for your body and health.
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