With the city's temperature touching as low as 7-8 degrees, it's important to include food items into your diet that will keep you warm. But not all warm foods are healthy, more so when you have your own issues to deal with including weight gain and cholesterol, among others. Keeping all this in mind, The Guide caught up with dieticians to help prepare a list of items that one could include in their diet to keep warm and stay healthy
In winter, the body needs to burn more calories to keep it warm and hence one feels hungry. This hunger often causes people to eat almost anything and everything, often leading to unnecessary weight gains during winter, informs Dr Suchit Kamalapur, dietician, Jehangir Hospital.
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The golden rule that most people follow during winter is to eat food items that are rich in fatty acids to help the body keep warm, says Dr Kamalapur. But not all fat is good. And if consumed irresponsibly, could only create more complications like cardiovascualr diseases, diabetes and weight gain. “Hence, in winter, it’s even more important that we eat the right food, and in the right quantity,” she says, adding, “One must eat items like nuts, jaggery, sesame seeds during winter as they are rich in unsaturated fatty acids and help the body keep warm.” Unsaturated fatty acids are good for the body.
Anjali Peswani, dietician pointed that in winter, the body is continuously trying to adjust from one temperature to other, and therefore one feels more hungry during this season. She says, “A diet rich in seasonal fruits such as strawberry, grape and apple are best in the winter. One can also go for leafy vegetables as they all help to increase the immune power. Soups made at home will help one to keep the body warm. One can also go
for drinks like tea.”
Dr Kamalapur seconds the thought, and warns against packaged soups, as they are processed and not good for health. “One could add vegetables like carrot, peas and beans that are rich in proteins and fibre,” he adds. Non-vegetarians could add items like eggs, fish and chicken, which are high in protein, calcium and iron, hence help to keep your body warm.
What to eat
>> Jaggery, eggs, chicken, fish, grapes, apple and strawberries.
>> Food with unsaturated fats such as nuts and sesame seeds
>> Green leafy vegetables and citrus fruits to improve your immunity
>> Soups like barley soup, and tea helps keep the body warm
>> Balanced mix of saturated and unsaturated fats
What not to eat
>> Outside fried food
>> Processed foodu00a0
Barley Broth with Sweet Potato
Ingredients
>> 1 sweet potato (chopped)
>> 5 tomatoes (made in a purée for)
>> 1 cup Red Pumpkin (chopped)
>> 1 potato, onion, carrot, each (chopped)
>> 1/2 cup green beans (chopped)
>> 3 to 5 garlic cloves (crushed)
>> 2-inch bottle gourd (louki)
>> A quarter cup barley
Method
Take a ceramic pan, add chopped onions to it and saute for about two minutes. Add crushed garlic and sauté again for a minute.Then add the tomato purée to it. Cook for five minutes. Add the chopped vegetables. Now add one cup of water to it. Wash barley and add it to this ceramic pan. Cover it and let it cook for 20-25 minutes till the vegetables and the barley are cooked. Now add some more water to it and let it boil for some time. Add some salt and black pepper powder. Serve it hot.u00a0
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