HEALTH FOOD FURORE! :/

The recent appearance of certain ‘health food routines’, of consuming only a very specific type of food to get into shape is all the rage for many people. Needless to say, this is a very direct effect of our highly urbanized lifestyle. No longer do people have time to cook and eat full meals calmly at home, with the amount of daily living pressures on the rise, the ratio of health has become highly imbalanced. People have now fallen prey to the attractive goals that are projected by the so called ‘healthy dieting’ routines, the irony being that, anything that makes a person diet or half starve themselves to be healthy is not the best way to get into shape

A very popular way of ‘healthy dieting’ that is followed blindly by many people is that of the liquids and greens diet. Just as it says, the person is allowed to consume only water and meager quantities of green, leafy vegetables, like that of kelp, lettuce, spinach or broccoli. What the dieter’s fail to realize, is that, if they are not physically able enough to sustain themselves on the afore mention items, there is a high chance of them falling prey to stomach infections. We tend to forget that our diet must consist of a variety of nutritious items, which can have a larger ratio towards one type of nutrient in accordance with the need of the body.

The eating habits of Indian’s is said to be by far, one of the best balanced for keeping healthy. It’s no wonder our ancestor’s stayed so fit and active even in their ripe old ages. Unlike our generation, who just gobble whatever we like or whatever is available, as and when we please, our ancestors made it a point to eat foods that are rich in nutrients, at a certain time with a certain pace of chewing. According to the Upanishads, the proper way of consuming any eatable was to chew it thoroughly 32 times, before swallowing. We might gasp at this bit of information, but it underlines the way in which, we can keep our digestive system healthy. Nowadays, in our haste to finish our food, we tend to not chew it properly and end up swallowing it whole, thus causing complications to the digestive process, which might end up negatively affecting our other bodily systems as well.

Our biological setup also differ, in accordance to the geographic condition that we come from. Italians would find our amount of flavoring of food, highly overpowering and our servings enormous, just as we may find theirs to be slightly bland with servings too small. We should always keep in mind that, when in doubt, of what to consume to stay healthy, our native food is the best for our inner biological workings, provided we consume sufficient portions of it at a proper time. Trying out international styles of eating food should be done within sensible limits, we should have a clarity of what is proper for our body type in order to avoid causing ourselves easily avoidable unease.

So, be sensible when you think of trying anything like this, cause in the end only you truly know what your limits are...........Meghs! :)