Healthy Living : diwali

Healthy Diwali feasting

<h2 class="title"><img alt="india-diwali.adapt.945.1.jpg" src="http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/content/dam/kids/photos/Countries/H-P/india-diwali.adapt.945.1.jpg" style="width:653.788px;height:367.367px;" /> </h2><h2 class="title"> </h2><h2 class="title">A seven-point guide to healthy Diwali feasting</h2> The 
best kind of celebrations focus on a festival’s true essence—in the case
 of Diwali this is about giving and sharing. Excesses, unfortunately, 
are not limited to Diwali, Dussehra, Eid or Christmas—they are just more
 visible during festivals. And instead of focusing on the bingeing and 
guilt, these occasions have the potential to become opportunities for us
 to fine-tune our daily life and return to the traditional ways of 
eating and cooking like our grandmothers did. Festivals are a time to be
 grateful, not guilty, for what you have on your plate, and to feast 
with a conscience.1. Dieting and Diwali

The whole idea of being on a diet is to become 
healthier, fitter and leaner. If one must achieve that, then the diet 
must be sustainable as well as culture-compliant. And in this case diets
 must account for the big Diwali nights, the card sessions, morning 
pujas and exchange of mithai and goodies. In fact, Diwali is a good time
 to figure out if you are on a sustainable diet; if eating a regular 
Diwali meal amounts to breaking your diet, then it means your 
weight-loss plans are not going to be successful.
 Essentially, what this reveals is whether your diet fits into the 
game plan of the weight-loss industry. These unrealistic diets are not a
 culture fit, instead, they focus on the guilt around occasion-based 
feasting and take advantage of it to sell detox plans or packages that 
are often extreme and doomed to fail.
 A wholesome diet will teach you to eat without guilt. There really is nothing wrong in enjoying your halwa and puri.2. Preparing your body
Keep up your regular exercise routine but bring 
it down a notch if you are staying awake till the wee hours. About six 
rounds of Suryanamaskar help you save on travel time to the gym, take 
less than 15 minutes, leave you feeling fresh and can even help smoothen
 the digestive processes post bouts of overeating.
When it comes to food, it’s important to go back to grandma’s basics.
 Be thankful for the food on your plate; take only as much as you can 
finish and don’t forget to share with the less fortunate.
There is no societal rule or religious ritual that requires us to 
binge only at odd hours, it is just in keeping with the foolish belief 
that chaotic meal timings make us seem young, carefree and cool. 
Clearly, however, no one looks cool or young while sporting a paunch 
under a flowing dress, slouching on tables, burping during meals, or 
even waking up feeling bloated the morning after.
 It is not your body but your entire lifestyle that needs to be 
prepared in the run-up to Diwali—and this should continue even after the
 festivities end. A fit and healthy body cannot be achieved in two 
weeks, fitness is the compound effect of small steps taken in the 
direction of health and harmony every single day.

3. ‘Mithai’, the mistaken villain
 There is an alternative to the fear of 
mithai—learn about its goodness and educate yourself in the basics so 
that we don’t become a culture that is replacing its Diwali goodies of 
kaju katli (cashew barfi) with dark chocolate, red velvet cup cakes and 
brownies, while the West is experimenting with peanut bars and cashew 
crackles at high-end cafés and washing it down with turmeric lattes.
 Ghee, one of the biggest components of mithai, helps keep the 
intestines in good shape and ready to take on the load of overeating 
during Diwali. It is an essential fat, helps assimilate fat-soluble 
vitamins like A, D and E and protects your bones, skin and immune 
function as the season changes. Sugar or jaggery is therapeutic when 
mixed with nuts, ghee, besan atta (chickpea flour) or gond (edible gum 
from the sap of the acacia tree) or semolina—all of which are 
nutrient-dense and delicious. Sweets made in ghee are a time-tested 
recipe that cause the least amount of disturbance to blood sugar levels.
 This fact is especially important to keep in mind for those who are 
diabetic or would like to lose weight.
 Again, there are small things we can borrow from 
our collective wisdom that are even more relevant today. For example, 
try and buy the chickpea flour directly from farmers or organic stores, 
not malls, to make laddoos. Second, bring back the practice of making 
sweets at home. That is both a good workout and a lesson in equality as 
it involves children irrespective of their gender.4. The right kind of dried fruit
Dried fruit is great when eaten first thing in 
the morning, as a snack, or turned into a mithai. Nuts are a good source
 of amino acids, minerals and phytonutrients and all dried fruit is 
good—almonds, pistachio, cashew (it is a myth that the cashew nut is 
full of cholesterol; it has zero cholesterol and actually helps regulate
 it). The problem often lies in the form in which we consume it. Dried 
fruits are often available as packaged and processed snacks that have 
preservatives and other low-grade ingredients. During Diwali, these are 
often eaten as nibbles with alcoholic drinks.

5. Choosing wisely
 Avoid packaged foods, especially the low-grade 
variety picked up as a quick snack. Instead, have home-made sweets. Pick
 two days in the week when you will have sweets as part of your lunch. 
On the other days, have them as a snack between meals, a laddoo or a 
barfi at 4pm or a portion of moong dal halwa at 6pm when you are super 
hungry. Avoid the low-sugar or low-fat variety, instead go for full-fat 
mithai. Leave the brownies and dark chocolate for another time, dig into
 the jalebi, halwa and barfi.
 Also, know that replacing sugar with stevia or 
any other sugar substitute, ghee with olive oil or fat-free cream, is 
not really a healthier alternative. A home-made mithai, eaten once a day
 over three-four days of the Diwali weekend, won’t land you in trouble. 
The actual game changer in blood sugar regulation is the late-night 
eating.6. Surviving all-nightersA few simple things can help you manage the 
Diwali parties better. It’s best to have a meal of dal chawal or khichdi
 before leaving home. Once at the party, identify the freshest 
home-cooked dishes, eat just those and only till you are half full. And 
if you have to, drink after dinner—and with each drink, have a glass of 
water. If you are up till late, help yourself to a handful of dry 
fruits, add them to a cup of milk, if you can have one, with a pinch of 
haldi and sonth (dried ginger)—call it something exotic like the immune 
booster or fat-buster shake—and gulp it down with pride. This drink will
 ensure you are not bloated or afflicted by some infection the next 
morning.7. A healthy Diwali menu
The healthiest Diwali menu is one that sticks to
 the basics. It could be a simple spread comprising home-made mithai, 
one freshly fried item, one sabzi, one dal, some roti and rice, 
accompanied by some chutney, pickle or papad, all of it served with love
 and attention to detail. Bring out your traditional silver thalis or 
kansa (bell-metal) plates and have a leisurely sit-down dinner. Indulge 
your guests with time and attention rather than an overwhelming variety 
of dishes. Break the monotony of heavy and multi-course Diwali meals 
with a touch of simple sophistication.

Healthy Diwali feasting

A seven-point guide to healthy Diwali feasting The best kind of celebrations focus on a festival’s true essence—in the case of Diwali this...

Want that glowing, healthy skin this Diwali?

<h2 class="title">Want that glowing, healthy skin this Diwali? Then stop stressing out</h2> You can buy designer clothes for Diwali and wear the best of gems and
 baubles, but if your skin isn’t healthy and glowing, you won’t be able 
to look your best for festivities. We often blame bad diet and genetics 
for our skin problems, but stress equally harms it. In fact, with our 
increasingly hectic lifestyles, it has become a major culprit. 
Dermatologists Rajat Kandhari and Lokesh Kumar tell us how stress 
impacts our skin, and how to fix the problem.

<a href="https://www.amazon.in/gp/offer-listing/0778804402/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=3638&creative=24630&creativeASIN=0778804402&linkCode=am2&tag=visualarts25-21&linkId=f61cc553f8db6a48ecf052b75b6994be"><img alt="q?_encoding=UTF8&MarketPlace=IN&ASIN=0778804402&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL250_&tag=visualarts25-21" src="//ws-in.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&MarketPlace=IN&ASIN=0778804402&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL250_&tag=visualarts25-21" /></a><img alt="ir?t=visualarts25-21&l=am2&o=31&a=0778804402" height="1" src="//ir-in.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=visualarts25-21&l=am2&o=31&a=0778804402" style="border:none;margin:0px;" width="1" /> 1)Acne and pigmentation:
 Stress is a major reason for your acne breakouts. It also causes pigmentation. (Getty Images)

Cortisol disturbs the hormonal balance in the body. So, stress 
becomes one of the major reasons for acne breakout, as it causes 
inflammation of the skin. It can also upset the balance of good and bad 
bacteria in the gut, causing acne and pigmentation on the neck.
 Fix: Avoid anxiety food such as sugar. Drink loads of water and 
consume a high-fibre diet. Your skin specialist will prescribe topical 
and oral medicines, depending on the severity of your acne.
 2)Dryness:
<img alt="pomegranate_26477eea-ae73-11e7-b6fd-382ae8cf2ee4.jpg" src="http://www.hindustantimes.com/rf/image_size_960x540/HT/p2/2017/10/11/Pictures/pomegranate_26477eea-ae73-11e7-b6fd-382ae8cf2ee4.jpg" style="width:640.228px;height:514.183px;" /> Pomegranate is rich in antioxidants. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

When you are stressed, you drink less water, and consume more tea and
 coffee. This causes dehydration, leading to dry skin. Stress also 
increases the level of hormone cortisol, which reduces the skin’s 
ability to retain water, again causing dryness.
 Fix: First and foremost, consciously drink more water when you are 
stressed. You can opt for warm water to calm you down, besides it also 
helps your skin. Go for foods and drinks rich in antioxidants. Prunes, 
blackberries, amla juice, pomegranate, and green tea are all good 
choices.
 3)Fine lines:
 When feeling stressed, we tend to frown or purse our lips. Facial 
muscle tension can cause wrinkles and fine lines. Cortisol also causes 
an increase in blood sugar, which through glycation (the bonding of a 
sugar molecule to a protein or lipid molecule without enzymatic 
regulation) harms collagen.
 Fix: Take a deep breath, and relax your facial muscles, especially 
those around the eyebrows and cheeks. Chewing gum can also help.
 4)Redness:
 Our breaths tend to become short and shallow when we feel stressed. 
The capillaries expand to increase the blood flow, causing redness and 
flushing in your face.
 Fix: To feel calm, sit down and control your breathing, taking deeper and longer breaths to increase blood flow.
 5)Under-eye bags:

<a href="https://www.amazon.in/gp/offer-listing/1925265072/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=3638&creative=24630&creativeASIN=1925265072&linkCode=am2&tag=visualarts25-21&linkId=db0aac08db245b53f4eaf7a5200e4d7c"><img alt="q?_encoding=UTF8&MarketPlace=IN&ASIN=1925265072&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL250_&tag=visualarts25-21" src="//ws-in.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&MarketPlace=IN&ASIN=1925265072&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL250_&tag=visualarts25-21" /></a><img alt="ir?t=visualarts25-21&l=am2&o=31&a=1925265072" height="1" src="//ir-in.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=visualarts25-21&l=am2&o=31&a=1925265072" style="border:none;margin:0px;" width="1" /> Lack of sleep due to stress is a major reason for you having puffy 
eyes and under-eye bags. Stress also contributes to dull skin and lack 
of radiance.
 Fix: Most importantly, get adequate sleep — minimum eight hours. To 
feel relaxed, use frozen cucumber slices as ice packs for the eyes. You 
can also ask your dermatologist to recommend a replenishing under-eye 
cream for you.

Want that glowing, healthy skin this Diwali?

Want that glowing, healthy skin this Diwali? Then stop stressing out You can buy designer clothes for Diwali and wear the best of gems and ...

Healthy Diwali feasting

Want that glowing, healthy skin this Diwali?

Popular Posts

Blog Archive