Indian Food Article

India is vastly diverse in culture and this diversity is very well shown in the food we eat. Every state will have a different culture, different language styles, and different cuisine. 

Love for food and especially good food is well known around the world. The thoughts around the Indian food’s nutritional status has been a part of a long-standing debate, some find it unhealthy and some find it the best meal. 

Up’s and Down’s Of Indian Cuisines

Down’s  

• Studies have shown that the Indian diet is rich in carbohydrates and this is a common finding all across India, though most of the carbs are low GI.
• Research says that very few % of the Indian population consumes the recommended 5 serves of vegetables.
• The consumption of vegetarian sources of saturated fatty acids such as ghee, full cream milk is high in the diet.

Up’s 

• Lean protein consumption high
• Diet rich in soluble fibre from beans, whole grains, etc 
• Cooking from scratch, fresh food consumption high
• Use of spices and herbs very high such as turmeric, ginger, garlic, coriander, fennel, etc.

Now let’s see how we can make the great Indian diet more healthy, to help in assisting to maintain a healthy body weight range and achieve better glycemic control.

Breakfast 

One habit that most of Indian people would have to change would be avoiding tea with main meals, especially breakfast. 

We can make our bf more healthy by reducing the portion of carbs.

For North Indians Instead of 2-3 paranthas, we can have one and reduce the amount of ghee used in tho make it. Prefer to stuff the paratha with paneer or other low carbs vegetables such as cauliflower, broccoli or spinach rather than just potatoes. By doing these small swaps you will be able to reduce the total carb intake in BF to half

Down south people can reduce the portion of dosa and idly to 2 each and try to add more vegetables to things like upma and uttapam. 

Other dishes like Poha(flat rice) can be increased in fiber by adding more vegetables to it.

Indians have been using Broken wheat or Dalia as their basic BF dish, it is the Indian porridge super high in fiber, Low GI, nil sodium. Please start eating that instead of other High GI cereals, just be careful about the amount of sugar you add to it. 

Lunch and Dinners

Rice is a staple food for most of India, is the only downfall. The quality is not an issue, Low GI Basmati is being used mostly the issue is with the quantity. My recommendation to the clients would be to have a side salad or extra vegetables to help you reduce the portion of rice you consume. The number of rotis eaten for the main meals can also be high at times, we need to understand that one standard roti that is made in the household is around 2 serves of carbs so if someone is having 3-4 rotis for that meal gets 6-8 serves of carbs only from the rotis, leaving aside the other sources of carbs in that meal

Let’s see how much carbs a general Indian meal will have and how can we make it more healthy 

In the beginning, we do find it hard to cut the portion of carbs for the main meals and do you know why is that the case?

Menu	Roti / Rice	Pulses (Dal)	Veg (subzi)  (Potato base)	Yogurt
Quantity	2-3/ 2-3 cups	1 – 2 cups	1 cup	1 cup
Serves of carbs	6-8/ 6-9	1-2	1-2	1	11 (average)

Menu	Roti / Rice	Pulses (Dal)	Veg (subzi)  (avoid Potato base when having dal, enjoy low carb vegetables )	Yogurt	Salad
Quantity	2/ 1 cup	1 cup	1 cup	1 cup	2 cups
Serves of carbs	2/3	1	0	1	0

4-5 serves 

In the beginning we do find it hard to cut the portion of carbs for the main meals and do you know why is that the case?

Often seen in my practise that we skip out snacks or have large gaps in between our meals and hence have bigger meals, dinner being the biggest one. If you try to fuel up with small healthy snacks in between meals you can try to have smaller size of the main meals along with adding more bulk or fiber with more salads to meals.

Managing diabetes is not difficult if we understand the concept of carbohydrate distribution well.