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We have to learn to experience mitahar.
we have to learn to eat only to a point where our experience with food is sweet or pleasant, and when our body still feels light and fresh.
Experiencing food slowly—the essence of mitahar—keeps us in touch with our brain and our body. And it means we’ll automatically stop when we’ve reached the threshold.
this too is about practice and regular practice will take you towards perfection. So you will, in time, be able to stop at the mitahar point even while eating in places with loud music, or while putting your point across during lunch meetings, while chatting with a group of friends, while picking up your food with a fork, chopstick, spoon, etc and while staring at presentations, TV, laptop, etc.
carbs, protein and fats are called macro nutrients because our body needs them in higher amounts, and vitamins and minerals are called micro nutrients because they are needed in smaller amounts. Also, 70% of our body is water, so this is something that our body needs all the time.
The smaller the number of people the food is prepared for, the better its nutrient level. More the people, the earlier you start to prepare the food, and the greater the quantity of food cooked, the more oil and heat you use. That’s why restaurant food can never be compared to home food.
a calm state of mind actually prevents conversion of food to fat.
When your state of mind is calm and composed, you secrete the right amount of digestive juices. Which means that you are now ready to take in your food, break it down, digest and assimilate it. This is when your food reaches deep inside you, to all the tissues and cells which need energy.
Stress (caused by work, finance, relationships, traffic, lack of sleep, etc) leads to the secretion of cortisol in our body. The function of cortisol is to lower our metabolic rate, prevent fat burning and help convert food to fat.
we can reduce our cortisol production by leading disciplined lives. Waking up close to sunrise, exercising daily, finding means of self expression, and by keeping all our senses focussed on one thing at a time.
What we need to worry about (if at all) is whether we are maintaining a good nutrient to calorie ratio.
‘Kitna calories?’ is the most irrelevant question for somebody who is trying to achieve a lean body and better fitness levels. (The second most irrelevant question is ‘How many calories am I spending?’ Third: ‘What’s my weight?’ Fourth: ‘What’s the serving size?’). Calories ko maro goli. Really.
our perverted minds have come up with a way of consuming way too many calories without getting our nutrients. So we process our foods to the extent that it kills all the potent nutrients in them, robs them off all the fibre (which adds bulk to food: ever noticed how you can barely eat a few mouthfuls of brown rice while white rice you can stuff like no tomorrow?), reduces the vitamin and mineral content and literally leaves them empty.
(Nowadays even instant noodles come fortified with ‘calcium, iron, protein’. Please give us a break. It’s the equivalent of raping a woman and then marrying her to justify the rape.)
all you have to do is tell your best friend, your body, that you will be eating more than usual for Diwali, Christmas, Eid, your anniversary or party, etc. Your body likes being taken into confidence (who doesn’t), and it responds to this communication by increasing your metabolic rate, secreting more digestive juices, enzymes, and sending more blood flow to your stomach. So now your mind and body are both prepared for the onslaught of food and the calories that come with it.
A relaxed state of mind is the best preparation for any indulgence.
when it comes to food think nutrients, not calories.
Carbohydrates are responsible for providing our body with the energy it needs for normal day to day functioning.
carbohydrates help in the functioning of our brain cells and neurons. The body is able to carry out its functioning without carbohydrates but it cannot think without carbs.
If we are hungry or haven’t eaten for a long time, we get edgy and irritable, and generally lose our sense of reasoning and judgement.
Carbohydrates are classified as simple and complex, we all know that. Now what we also need to understand is that carbohydrates are also classified by their glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL).
glycemic index ranks carbohydrates depending on how quickly they lead to an increase in our blood glucose and insulin levels.
Glycemic load is based on glycemic index and portion size. It is achieved by multiplying glycemic index by the carb content of a particular food and dividing that number by 100.
glycemic load of a particular meal is the sum of all glycemic loads of all foods consumed during the meal.
even if you fill up on a lot of low GI food, its effect on your body will be similar to eating a s...
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There is a lot of talk about no carb and low carbs, but is it really advisable to cut down on carbs? Well, no, not if you are Indian. Indian diet...
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Carbohydrate provides our body with many essential nutrients and fibre. Fibre slows down the release of sugar in the blood stream and reduces the glycemic index of food. Fibre also leads to a feeling of fullness, and helps in digestion and bowel movement.
If you care about your health eat your carbs.
in the absence of carbs, fat cannot be utilised for energy.
Just be careful to choose slow carbs. Carbs that retain their fibre are low on GI; so if you look at brown rice and white rice the main difference is in their fibre content. Brown rice contains all the fibre and that’s why it has higher nutrient content and better fat loss properties.
Other low GI foods are; jowar, barley, bajra, nachni, legumes, dals, wholewheat.
All sweets, biscuits, pizzas, processed juices, sherbets, jams and jellies are high on GI because they have no fibre. It takes no time for our body to convert the sugar that comes from these foods to fat. Stick to low GI food as a general rule. Your body can take high GI food only after exercise, when your body needs instant sugar.
If you eat a lot of brown rice, even if it is low on GI, the GL of your meal will go up because you will end up consuming lots of carbohydrates at one time. This will again convert food to fat because there will be too much sugar load at one particular time.
sense. Just because it’s good for you don’t eat all you want; always keep in touch with your stomach and make sure you don’t cross the overeating threshold.
Bread, biscuit and alcohol are all bad carbs or fast carbs and provided no nourishment to the Indian mind which then easily accepted slavery. (Processed food leads to dullness and lethargy).
In the west, carbs are often eaten stripped of fibre: processed flour is used in their bread, cakes, pasta, pizza, etc.
The western diet usually lacks that great Indian concept of dal-sabzi (both of which add fibre), as part of our every meal.
Low carb diets lead to depletion of serotonin, a neurotransmitter in the brain responsible for feeling of well being, happiness, and satisfaction.
To overcome the Atkins attitude, nutritionists recommend complex or slow carbs, very much prevalent in the Indian diet.
Carbs help you burn fat, keep your bowels clean, reduce bloating and aids metabolism (because they also provide the all important vitamin B responsible for converting food to energy.)
The addition of a fat like oil or ghee in the tadka lowers the GI.
So eat high fibre carbohydrates as much as possible and cut the biscuits, cakes, pastries, pizzas and anything that’s low fibre.
Insulin resistance is caused by consuming too many unhealthy or fast carbs, in addition to stress, obesity and inactivity. This condition can be managed very easily by reducing the glycemic load at one time; ie eating small portions many times a day and consuming slow or low GI carbs.
The pancreas plays an important role in food digestion, secreting enzymes that break down fat, starch and proteins in the small intestine.
Consumption of high GI or processed carbs leads to a sharp increase in blood glucose levels in a short time period, followed by a huge dip in its levels; which overburdens these two sensitive hormones and leads to obesity, especially around the stomach. Over a period of time, these hormones lose their sensitivity to blood glucose levels; this is called insulin insensitivity, or stress induced or type 2 diabetes.
Sweets and desserts are high on the glycemic index because they are high in everything that is processed; sugar and flour.
you can safely eat your brownie, gulab jamun, etc without getting fat. Two things: eat them not more than once a week (and that’s the most you’re allowed!) and don’t eat them with a meal.
if you want to have the gulab jamun with all the sweet juice and have developed the discipline to eat just one, then eat it by itself as an in between meal. This way, the high glycemic index will be set off by low glycemic load (less food at one time) and this will improve the chances of your body not converting the sweet treat to fat. (There is a good chance there is no conversion to fat, in fact.)
Where the glycemic index is very high, reduce the load. As I have mentioned, the best time to eat high GI food is post exercise.
We should eat fruits when we are in a fasting state or when our liver store is empty: so, first thing in the morning on an empty stomach, or immediately after physical exercise. Any time aside from this, the body converts the fructose from the fruits into triglycerides
