Reality vs Marketing Gimmicks

We come across a lot of food items day in and day out which promises innumerable health benefits. Some of them may definitely live up to the labels mentioned onto it. But do you really think eating baked chips are healthy? Or the “Fresh” tetrapack juices are really fresh? Let's find out in my next segment, where I would introduce you to some of the products available in the market are worth eating or not!

• Cholesterol Free oil:

Let’s get our basics right first. Cholesterol is not to be found in any plant sources. Whether its fruits, vegetable, nuts, oilseeds – none of it has cholesterol content except for the animal or the non vegetarian sources. Only 20% of the cholesterol in your blood stream comes from the food you eat. Your body makes the rest!

So that means, whether you using sunflower oil, canola oil, olive oil, coconut oil, groundnut oil, rice bran oil etc etc. None of it has cholesterol content in it as they all are derived from plants and oilseeds. The ideal recommendation for any of the above oils should not exceed more than 500 ml/ Person/ Month.

Cholesterol buildup in the body is due to many other factors diet being the predominant one followed by your physical activity, genes or heredity, stress etc. So next time you go for grocery shopping, I am sure you would not be lured by the “cholesterol free” tag on the cooking oil!

• Baked Chips:

We have a lot of celebrity endorsing baked chips and wafers as “being healthy”. Even though the chips are baked , they forget to tell us how much is the sodium[Salt] content in it ,Which is equally unhealthy for the body. Too much of salt intake takes a toll on your kidneys as they are the ones to filter it all the time, plus salt doesn’t allow you to lose weight as it causes water retention in the body which not many of us are aware of. As we have been blaming carbs and sugar for our weight gain since ages. For a healthy individual salt intake should be 5-6 gm/day i.e. 1 tsp/day and for kidney patients it is much lesser as per their recent parameters.

Potato on the other hand has been in the bad lime light due to is fattening or weight gain issue or for diabetes. Let me tell you Potato is not the problem, our eating habits and inadequate exercise is the culprit. If you manage your daily intake of carbs and divide it wisely throughout the day, you would never blame potatoes for your weight gain or for your blood sugars.

But why just potato chips for snacks? To get only carbohydrates? Enjoy high protein snacks like Roasted chana , Puffed jowar/ bajra, Boiled chana chaat , Tossed Mixed sprouts ,Tomato Omelete Or Moong Dal chilla etc.

P.S.Try these snacks and thank me later for your weight maintenance!

• Low Sodium Salts:

There are specialized salts available in the market that claims to be less in sodium content as compared to the regular table salt. Although the sodium content would be less, but what about Potassium? All these salts automatically contain high potassium into it which we don’t realize due to lack of awareness.

Patients with kidney disorders unknowingly buy such salts from the market due to its low sodium content not realizing about their potassium levels. Kindly spread the word if your family or friends have patients with kidney disorders. These patients have weaker kidneys and thus kidneys are unable to flush out extra potassium from the body which may lead to many other issues.

Which salt to be used then?

Each kidney disorder differs from the other. Based on the current blood parameters and eGFR levels, the amount of salt in their food is decided. But I would always suggest them to use “salt adjuncts” in their day to day meals to reduce the amount of salt in it.

Salt adjuncts like Amchur [Dried mango powder] , Lemon, Vinegar, tamarind (Imli), Tadka in the foods to get the flavor. P.S. People with high blood pressure should also use it to control their blood pressure.

• Diet coke:

When thirst strikes, majority of the people I know of would order cold drinks or the aerated drinks while travelling or even at home. All the aerated drinks have caffeine content in it. Very prominently mentioned on the pack as CONTAINS CAFFEINE.[ My next blog would be on food label reading which would enlighten you on the content of each packed items].

So a dehydrated body when given a diet coke makes it all the more dehydrated, Thanks to the caffeine content in it. Also it contains aspartame, an artificial sweetener which is 200 times sweeter than the sugar. There are no beneficial effects on the body. All the aerated drinks and fast foods are categorized as “Empty Calories”, I.e. they are not providing your body with any other vital nutrients but just the unwanted calories which gets stored in your body as extra fat and leads to many detrimental disorders like Obesity, Type 2 Diabetes, Hypertension, Cancer etc.

What drinks to choose from? Refresh yourself form Nimbu Paani , Milk based sherbet, Jaljeera, Pudina sherbet, Buttermilk or chaas or fresh fruit juices.

• Atta Noodles/ Multigrain Atta

Another group of products that we get is the one who claims to give you “atta” in the noodles. How much of it but? What’s the percentage of whole wheat flour in it? Hardly. They are another examples of empty calories for our kids. Why would I want to give my kids atta in the form of almost refined noodles? Why not give them a Frankie made out of whole wheat flour and stuff it with chicken or paneer filling! A best combination of carbs and proteins and other vital nutrients for our growing kids.

Multigrain Atta available in the market of different brands also claim to give you multi grain mixed with whole wheat flour. Have you read the percentage of each? I Suggest you should! I agree it’s better than the other flour available, why not make it at home?

Since multigrain is a mix of two or more grains, its nutritional value is more than that of a single grain flour like wheat. It provides you with many other vital nutrients of each grain added into it. So let’s mix either 1:1 or 1:1:1:0.5 however you like it. Take all the benefits and give me the credits!!