HYDERABAD: Ugadi means various rituals and lots of eating and drinking. This auspicious new year is the right occasion to start new ventures. It is also time to personal goals about eating healthier and exercising more. Here are a few tips on do’s and don’ts to control one’s diet and maintain a stable blood sugar during this festive season:
1. Drink plenty of water through the entire day. This being summer with soaring temperatures we need to drink plenty of water to keep the body well hydrated.
2. Consume a lot of fibers during the day to ensure that one is full, and thereby avoids excessive eating. Starting the day with consuming a great portion of fibers will reduce snacking and binging during the day. A fiber-rich breakfast may be constituted of oatmeal or wholegrain bread, fruits and vegetables. The fibers will prevent hunger and stabilise one’s blood sugar.
3. Choose natural sweets like fruits which are highly nutritious and rich of fibers. The natural sweets are less likely to trigger a craving, because fruit sugars take a little longer to be absorbed in the blood, and does therefore keep the blood sugar more stable. The fruit sugar and fibers are a good alternative to traditional sweets, which makes the blood sugar levels increase rapidly due to the high refined sugar content and which contains many excessive calories.
4. Cook with care by limiting oils, butter and ghee, to reduce the calorie intake in the traditional meals. Many traditional snacks or foods are deep fried, but as an alternative one can air fry the traditional dishes. Air frying will lead to a less calorie intake, than traditionally deep fried food. You may also alter the recipes slightly to make them richer on vegetables, and generally add less oil or butter in gravies to reduce the aggregated calories consumption. 5. Consuming high calorie foods can lead to obesity which can lead to Diabetes. Therefore, cook with care during festivals.
6. Do not skip exercise, instead one can introduce a few extra simple everyday activities to boost their metabolism and burn some extra calories. Follow regular exercise regime to stay fit. Festivals are often amusing and involving games, music and dance, so ensure to participate and enjoy. Dancing and games are excellent fat burners, because it is fun and everyone can participate.
Broken wheat, oats, millets, unpolished rice and wheat based breads are much healthier options as compared to semolina (suji, rawa), white rice and white bread.
Dr Menaka Ramprasad, Consultant Endocrinologist, Apollo Sugar, Hyderabad