Monday, June 1, 2015

10 reasons why ancient #Indian #food/lifestyle may have been best #AntiInflammatory #diet for #ChronicDiseases and #Obesity.

1.Terrific Spices

Turmeric
Cardamom big and small
Cumin
Fenugreek
Fennel
Cinnamon
Coriander
Black Pepper

2. Probiotics
Chach(buttermilk)
Home made yogurt
Fermented bajra in north India and fermented rice and lentils in south India in form of idli and dosa

4.Glutenfree grains
Jowar
Bajra
Millet
Ragi
Besan(gram flour)
Rice
Amaranth(Ram Dana)

5. Lean proteins cooked in low calorie ways was a common thing
Tandoori Fish
Tandoori Chicken

6.Herbs
Cilantro sprinkled on most dishes
Mint used with yogurt and and low calorie dressings called chutney

7. Nuts and seeds
Kashmir for its almonds, figs
Goa for its cashews (used in curries as well as snacking)
Coconut used in South India and western India.
Grand mother's pumpkin and water melon, melon seeds(called magaz) even the new chia which in native language( Subza) resembled chia seeds.
Flax seeds are also very ancient seeds(Alsi). Their oil was used for cooking.

8. Fruits
All kind of fruit was the usual snack! We didn't have 100's of options in snacks that time.
Banana and mango is feared as a weight gainers now but was a full breakfast in older times.

9.Oils:My grandma told me they used only ghee for cooking.
Refinement of cooking oils is likely because of industrialization and to meet demand of heavy consumption. Ghee (clarified butter) remains expensive even now.
 Unrefined sugar was used for desserts.

10. Fasting was a common phenomenon at least twice a year and was limited to super foods like Amaranth and fruits. Now there are zillion snacks, fried and processed for these fasting days.

And obviously there were no cars and they used to walk for miles.

Makes us think..... Has modernization done more harm than good?


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