Use millets and seasonal fruits & vegetables instead of food supplements for proper nutrition, says Dr RP Parashar
During the last five to six decades, the nutritional value of natural food items has declined significantly. Processed food, fast food and canned food are becoming a part of our busy life but these are proving to be harmful for health. Such foods are not meeting the criteria of nutrition at all. The amount of nutrients in fruits, milk, cereals, dry fruits, pulses, fruits and vegetables, which used to be four to five decades ago, is constantly declining.
Due to the lack of nutrients in the food, not only our physical ability is being adversely affected, our immunity is also decreasing. Its clear impact is visible more on the health of children.
If you are not eating home-cooked food, it is more likely that your food may have high amounts of fat, sugar, salt and carbohydrates, but very little amount of minerals, vitamins and proteins. For good health all these elements should be present in a balanced quantity in our daily diet.
According to Ayurveda, a person should eat food according to his body constitution, age and season; so that the food eaten proves to be beneficial for health and gets digested easily. We should start our day with soup and juice instead of tea and coffee. We should never skip breakfast because the fire element in our body remains strong in the morning. Due to the predominance of fire element in the body, whatever we eat will be digested quickly.
That's why we use milk, fruits, sprouted grains and pulses in breakfast. One can use curd or buttermilk with lentils, rice, chapati and vegetables in lunch. It is better to mix the flour of other cereals.millets and pulses with wheat to make chapatis so that the food becomes more nutritious and digestible. Cereals and millets like grams, barley, oats, bajra, jowar, ragi, maize, etc. can be mixed with wheat. People who are allergic to wheat should use millets instead of wheat.
Due to the predominance of fire till afternoon, we can eat heavy foods in sufficient quantity. One can use curd or buttermilk till lunch. In the evening, juice, soup, milk, tea and coffee can be used along with fruits, poha, upma, peanuts, makhana and linseed seeds. By night time, due to predominance of phlegm in the body, the fire has slowed down, so light and digestible food should be taken for dinner.
In winter, use of mustard, bathua, fenugreek and gram greens provides good nutrition, while in summer, use of gourd,, Zucchini, apple gourd, ivy gourd, pointed gourd, etc. also provides good nutrition. Spinach is a vegetable available throughout the year which contains minerals in sufficient quantity. Among fruits, pear, plum, peach, mango etc. should be used in summer season while grapes, sapota, orange should be used in winter season. Apple, banana, pineapple can be used throughout the year. Children who do not like the taste of milk should be given mango shake or banana shake. Patients with lifestyle disorders like diabetes, obesity, anaemia, high blood pressure, calcium deficiency, kidney and heart diseases, are increasing due to insufficient intake of minerals and dietary fiber in the diet. Based on the nutritional and medicinal properties present in millets, they are being seen as the super food of the future.
Millets are important from the point of view of prevention of lifestyle related diseases, food security and nutrition. Keeping the above facts in mind, the government has declared this year as International Year of Millets.
Millets can play an important role in meeting the nutritional needs of the growing population, especially youth and children, and in preventing lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease, hypertension, etc.
Minerals, vitamins, enzymes and fiber are found in higher amounts in coarse grains and millets as compared to wheat and rice. Minerals like calcium, beta-carotene, niacin, vitamin B-6, folic acid, potassium, magnesium, zinc etc. are found in abundance millets like jowar, bajra, ragi, kodon, sawa, etc.
Bajra or the pearl Millet keeps the stomach healthy and makes the bones strong. Due to it's better digestion, weight also remains under control. A good amount of calcium is found in ragi or the finger millet and it is also beneficial for diabetics. Being a good source of calcium,
it strengthens the bones. Jowar or the Sorghum also keeps the weight under control and relieves constipation. Due to high level of calcium, it strengthens the bones. The iron present in it helps in curing anemia. Vitamin-A and folic acid are found in maize. It benefits heart patients by reducing cholesterol.
Ragi has a high amount of calcium. Eating ragi is recommended for diabetic patients. Ragi is traditionally used in dishes like khichdi.
Food supplements available in the market can be harmful to health. So instead of food supplements, use coarse cereals and millets like jowar, bajra, ragi and seasonal fruits and vegetables to overcome nutritional deficiency.