The Hindu Business Line : Watch what you eat

Some executives are also trying to be disciplined in their eating habits: in Mumbai and Delhi, for example, it is possible to sign up for a healthy lunch service, where a nutritionist supplies a well-balanced lunch in a dhaba, and suggests how you can also eat sensibly for breakfast and dinner. Dr Vijaya Venkat's Health Awareness Centre supplies lunch dhabas to well over 5,000 people in Mumbai, at Rs 1,000 per month. The food is nonoily, and includes salads and is a healthier option to grabbing a sandwich or a vada-pav, says an executive who signed on six months back. The service has also made him more mindful of what he eats through the day, even if he is eating out with clients, he says. "Even before I signed on, I used to run, and didn't have any health problems, but I feel a lot better now, and have even lost weight," he says.

However, without the guidance of a nutrition or health expert, it is easy to be misled, and even cause harm with haphazard diets and exercise regimens. For example, our fondness for rice is not healthy, says Dr Tusna Park, a Chennai-based weight management expert. Rice contains 78 per cent of carbohydrates and 7 per cent of protein, and polished rice _ the kind most of us consume _ has no fibre, either. Wheat is a healthier option, as it contains 12 per cent of protein and fibre _ but its carbohydrate content is only 6 per cent less than rice. "A pizza is made of flour, cheese and a vegetarian or non-vegetarian topping _ we call that junk food," Park says. "Then why not the poori, which is also made of flour and its accompanying subji? Rice is the urban Indian's junk food _ it is not the oil or non-vegetarian food but the carbohydrates that lead to fat accumulation in our diet."

As for the growing popularity of carbonated carbonated beverages and even fruit juices _ soft drinks prevent the absorption of protein and fresh fruit juices are only glucose without the fibre, Park says. Her recipe for a balanced diet includes limiting rice, wheat and daal consumption to once a day, and eating plenty of raw or cooked vegetables, non-fat dairy products and fresh fi- brous and fleshy fruits. Pulses with the skin _ such as green moong daal, tofu and nuts are also permissible.

Of course, anything _ even pizza _ eaten in moderation is fine, as long as we are mindful of what we are eating, adds Jyotsna Radja, consultant nutritionist, Apollo Health and Diet Clinic in Chennai. She believes that the formula to fitness lies in the kitchen, and that it is not fewer calories, but a nourishing and enriching diet that is essential. Even more than what we eat, it is the accompanying habits that are more harmful: "Eating in front of the TV has become a habit, which is definitely bad because you wouldn't be able to regulate your food intake and you are, literally, stuffing your face," she says.

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