How can I make healthy eating choices?

Healthy eating

Following a healthy eating pattern is not difficult, and the same simple food choices will help whether you are trying to control your blood sugars, cholesterol, blood pressure or to lose weight. Some individual variations may be needed, but overall the healthy options are the same. Remember to eat small frequent meals and be guided by your hunger, not by the clock.

1. Less sugar – limit the amount of sugary things. Avoid sugar in your tea and coffee. Avoid sweets, chocolates, ice creams, cool and fizzy drinks, jam cakes, pastries, biscuits. An occasional sweet is okay – say once in 10 days.

2. Less fat – avoid oily and deep fried items like samosas, bondas and chips. A rough guide is one can use 2-3 tablespoon of oil per person per day. Our traditional oils, particularly sesame oil is very healthy. Use a mixture of different oils.

3. High fiber: Increase intake of fruits and vegetables. Have at least 1-2 fruits and 3-4 cups of vegetables daily. Fruits like apple, orange (and musambi), guava, papaya, pomegranate are low in sugar and can be had daily. Fruits like mango, banana, jackfruit, watermelon tend to push blood sugars up more, and should be had less frequently if you have high blood sugars.

4. Have 1-2 glasses of milk and 1 cup curd (plain yoghurt) daily.

5. Do include some nuts daily - they are good for the heart. Badam (almonds), pista (pistachios), akrut (walnuts) can be had daily (up to 8-10 pieces in total). Peanuts are a good healthy snack.

6. Avoid dried fruits like dates and figs if you have very high blood sugars. Prunes and apricots have less sugar and may be had even when blood sugars are raised.

7. Include cereals and millets in your diet. Millets like ragi, bajra (kambu), jowar, thinai are good sources of fiber, do not increase blood sugars significantly, and also are a good source of other minerals like calcium and magnesium. When using rice, try to include unpolished rice or red rice.

8. An egg may be had daily. Eggs are low in calories, and the yellow yolk contains precious vitamin D and other nutrients.

9. Non-vegetarian food can be healthy if not deep fried. Fish, chicken and lean cuts of meat are mainly protein and help some people with better blood sugar control and weight loss.

10. Use less salt. If you have high blood pressure or heart problems, one easy way to do this is to cook without salt. Keep 1-2 teaspoon of salt in a cup, and sprinkle this over your food when you sit to eat.

For further information, please go to http://jayashreegopalendocrinology.webs.com

Twitter: @JayashreeGopal, Blog: whatcanieatdoc.blogspot.in

Time/Meal	Options	Alternatives/comments
7 AM	A glass of milk/tea or coffee, without sugar.	You can also have a glass of wheat grass juice, or green tea.
8-9 AM - Breakfast	Idlis – 3-4 Dosais – 2-3 Adai – 2-3 Wheat uppuma – 1-2 cups Oats porridge or uppuma – 4 tbsp total dry oats	Wheat dosai, ragi dosai, chappatis, 2- egg white omelette, 3-4 slices of whole grain bread.
11 AM – Mid day snack	1 glass soup/ tender coconut water	Peanuts – ½ cup, a fruit
1 PM -Lunch	1-2 cups of rice, with plenty of vegetables, dal, curd	You can try alternative cereals like wheat rice, red rice, quinoa, oats
4-5 PM	1 cup of tea or coffee with 1-2 biscuits if hungry. Try and have low sugar biscuits like Marie or Nutrichoice.	Avoid snacks at this time like deep fried murukkus or mixture or bajji/bonda.
7 PM – dinner (earlier the dinner, the better. Try and eat at least 1-2 hours before going to sleep)	Same as breakfast.
Bedtime	A glass of milk, with a fruit if hungry.