About diet & calories

"TO LENGTHEN THY LIFE, LESSEN THY MEALS"

The traditional Indian food and methods of cooking offer the best options for a diet that is safe, palatable and promotes health without denying the pleasure of taste. There is no ideal diet for all people and there is no formula for a miracle diet. Dieting is temporary, but healthy eating is a lifetime commitment. Crash or starvation diets are the most dangerous, and can cause fluctuation in blood sugar levels, a sudden slump in metabolic rate and lead to permanent organ damage. Proper eating will not show results unless it is combined with regular, moderate exercise.

The ideal daily intake of food is nine calories per pound of ideal body weight.

A rough formula to determine ideal body weight is HEIGHT IN CM MINUS 100 KG . For example if your height is 170 cm, your ideal body weight should be around 70 Kg. Obesity = Body weight 20% or more in excess of ideal (desirable) weight. ( To convert Pounds to Kilograms : 1 Kg=2.2 Lbs., 1 Lb=0.45 Kg. Feet & Inches to Centimeters : 1 Cm=0.39 in., 1 in=2.54 Cm.)

The breakfast should be the biggest meal of the day; fulfilling, interesting and balanced so that the body, hungry for the longest gap between last night’s meal and the morning, gets recharged. Lunch should be the next in size, with rice, roties, dal, vegetables/non-veg and curd. Dinner should be smallest – simple and frugal. Don’t be a gourmet at every meal, be a nibber.

Ideal Adult Diet :

MORNING BREAKFAST
2 glasses lukewarm water 5-7 almonds + ½ tsp til (sesame) + 1 fig + low fat milk with fruits or poha / mathi roti
LUNCH DINNER
2 missi rotis sauted vegetable or non-veg dish Soup (veg or non-veg) Roti, vegetable (quantity:
with dal & salad (quantity:75 % 0f breakfast) 50 % of lunch) -- Courtesy:Dr.Shikha Sharma

It is wrong to throw all fat contents out from meals and that fat from various sources is better than depending on a single oil, but it is the limit of the total intake that is crucial. A maximum of one tablespoon (15 gm) per person per day is fine. Don’t use the same oil for re-frying or cooking. Processed and tinned foods have a high fat contents. Nuts are very high in fat contents. Egg yolk and shrimps are high in cholesterol. Fats contain 45 calories per teaspoon.

Saturated fats : Butter, Ghee, Coconut and Palm oil – Raise level of Serum Cholesterol.
Unsaturated fats : are of 2 types : ( I ) Mono unsaturated fats : Olive oil, Peanut oil and Avocado oil – Considered neutral, because they do not raise or lower S. Cholesterol. ( II ) Poly unsaturated fats : Safflower, Sunflower, Sesame, Almond, Corn, Cotton seed, and Soya bean oils – Help lower S. Cholesterols.

A healthy adult needs 2,400 calories per day. Choose from :
(Source: Dietary guidelines for Indians, ICMR)

Rice 1 cup 170
Phulka one 80
Paratha one 150
Puri one 100
Bread 2 slices 170
Poha 1 cup 270
Idli 2 pieces 150
Dosa plane one 125
Khichdi 1 cup 200
Wheat porridge 1 cup 220
Plain dal 1 cup 100
Sambhar 1 cup 110
Vegetable with gravy 1 cup 170
Dry vegetable 1 cup 150
Omlette 1 egg 160
Chicken curry 1 cup 240
Fish fried 2 big pieces 220
Keema 6 small kofftas 240
Pakora 8 pieces 280
Papri chaat 5 pieces 220
Samosa 1 piece 200
Coconut chutney 2 tbsp 120
Chikki 2 pieces 290
Sandesh 2 pieces 140
Srikhand 1 cup 380
Sweet lassi 1 glass 110
Tea 1 cup 75
Coffee 1 cup 110
Milk whole per ml 0.9(One glass=300 ml=270)
Skimmed milk per ml 0.3 (One glass=90)
Ghee/vanaspati per ml 9.0
Butter 100 Grams 720
Cream cheese 100 Grams 370
Heavy cream 100 Grams 325
White bread 100 Gram 275
Biscuits 100 Grams 342
Cornflakes 100 Grams 372
Potato baked/mashed 100 Gram 100
Potato (French fried) 100 Grams 300
Potato chips 100 Gram 540
Chick-peas/Lentels 100 Gram 290
Ice cream 100 Gram 205 (Pies 100 Gram=250)
Jams 100 Grams 275 (Sugar 100 Gram=285)
Peanuts roasted 100 Gram 560
Banana one 95 calories + ½ Gram fat ( Dates 100 Gram 285 / Dried figs 100 Gram 270)

Some tips :

Alcohol has empty calories which turn into fat. Ethyl alcohol in alcoholic drinks increases blood pressure and in excess weakens heart muscles and damages liver. (½ cup beer = 50 calories)

Drink water or wine instead of colas with meals. Wines are compatible with Indian food, but colas create gaseous discomfort. * Don’t sprinkle extra salt over cooked foods. * Avoid eating at roadside restaurants. They use poor grade oils, which are reused over days. * Opt for missi roties (those made from coarser grains) and phulkas instead of naans and roomali roties which use maida. * Have only one gravy dish. Thick gravies retain saturated fats. Thumb rule : Less is more in gravies. * Stick to one type of cuisine. Don’t combine bhel and kachoris with American chopsuey. Or pork vindaloo with sambhar vada. * While ordering non-vegetarian, choose chicken or fish. Red meat, and pork increases bad cholesterol. * When you order, state whether you want your food steamed, stir-fried, sauted, grilled or baked. * A three-course meal is big enough. But a five-course one ? Avoidable. * Try roasted or baked namkeens instead of fried. * Eat vegetable raita instead of boondi raita. * Junk food should be junked.

The best and an effective way to loss weight and keep it off is not to limit the diet to special foods but to eat all nourishing foods – only a little less of them. If you are accustomed to eating three slices of toast in the morning and two eggs, cutting down to two slices or cutting out one egg is not really hardship. If one is in the habit of having 2 teaspoonful of sugar in a cup of coffee/tae, eliminating ½ followed by 1 teaspoonful, is not difficult. Imagine how much it will amount to in six months ? It is advisable to eat salad first instead of filling up on chapaties, curry and sweets. Remember the dictum “It is wise eating, not dieting, that works. Dieting has a beginning and an end, but wise eating has a lifetime continuity.”

The benefits of not being over weight are immense, such as removal of strain from the heart and glands, easier breathing, less of a load to carry around, less fatigue, more joy of living, improved physical appearance, less susceptibility to disease, less likelihood of diabetes, high blood pressure varicose veins, and arthritis , and less possibility of serious complications in pregnancy.

( Compiled from April 28, 2003 issue of “India Today” & Food and Nutrition publications of American Medical Association )