Start the New Year on a healthy note

The age of personal nutrition is here, till last year and years before researchers, doctors and dieticians were looking at same solutions and Rx for all patients. Everyone thought the one-size fits all is working because nobody is complaining or remotely understanding its effect. No fingerprint is the same, similarly, no human body is the same nor are the solutions. The development of personal nutrition should be considered so we have 10 nutrition disrupters lined up for you.

One size fits all- one diet benefits all: Every human is born with a different fingerprint, how can one diet plan seem to benefit all. The consumer is no way buying into the same again. He/she is clever and well-read to demand bio-individuality and personalised nutrition plans based on the missing elements that need to be integrated all together. Like a puzzle can’t be complete if a few pieces are missing.

It’s not about NO’S anymore: Reach out to a more YES-YES approach nutritionist than someone who uses NO in her attitude more than required. No sugar, no junk or no cheat meals can’t be sustained for very long or for life. Accept the fact that these comfort foods are allowed when on holidays, celebrations or in stressful situations at times. We are more human than we think we are. Let’s accept it, acknowledge it and own it, once away we need to binge to feel human and not robotic or plastic. Even athletes, celebrities all binge, if you ever checked out The Rock’s (Dwayne Johnson) Instagram account and his cheat meals of sushi trails or his pancake mountains it makes him look and feel more real. So, make sure there are more yes’s than Nos.

Health is not only about food: Mental wellness is also a part of health and wellness. Not tapping into what bothers you internally and only focusing your energy on what is next on my plate is missing the point entirely. Emotions drive everything, what you would like to eat, wear or how you want to behave. A bad mood can throw you off a healthy plan, but a happy mood can make you eat the healthy stuff! If you thought otherwise, think again, be mindful and try to understand your moods deeply.

I can work out and eat anything I want: Well that’s absolutely disappointing when you don’t see the weighing scale move lower at all. You can be a gym rat, but if you ate more calories than what you burnt the scale will go up no matter what form of workouts you are unto. So, nutrition is key to losing those pounds and not the other way around.

Salads help me lose weight: Salads do help us lose weight, as the fibre is low in calories and keeps us feeling full for hours. But if that salad has a dressing loaded with sugar, unhealthy fats or too many dried fruits it’s not a healthy salad anymore. It might be a dish of 800-1000 calories cause of the sugary dressing and unhealthy fats. So, beware of the dressings in the salad, pick a balsamic vinegar or olive oil dressing along with cruciferous green leaves. Cucumber alone is not a salad!

Vegan diet will help me lose weight: Vegan diet is super popular these days, most people turn vegan to lose weight, very few for ethical, environmental or health reasons. The ones who do it for faddish reasons are at the receiving end of the diet, excess weight gain and nutrient deficient. Although there are various health benefits like a trimmer waistline and improved blood sugar control. So, be careful why you pick the diet. Don’t do its trending, do it cause it's working for you not against you.

Buy expensive fruits & vegetables to lose weight: Our ancestors remained slim and fit even until they were 80. All they ate were seasonal and local fruits and vegetables. They never spent on expensive international produce! They typically ate a healthy eating plate regularly and experimented with herbs and spice all their lives. The good fats, protein carbohydrate combined meals. Everyone ate together and chatted about how the day was spent compared to the new age modern humans with head buried in their phones that cost an arm and a leg.

Trying different fad diets will help me lose weight: The Keto craze is the best example of fad diets. It’s got cholesterol raised and the only conversation at all parties is who supplies Keto deserts and meals. Anyone claiming they do or adding keto to their social media is being sorted after and everyone is ready to hire them. A diet is the kinds of foods a person, community and animal eat traditionally, naturally and locally and not follows a particular diet.

Sweet veggies: It is said that sweet vegetables like beetroot, sweet potatoes should not be consumed. All eyes are raised when I suggest these for a salad plate, easy and effective salads. Every dietician has advised against these, but I recommend them to all my clients including diabetics so that they crave less sugar and these starchy fruits and vegetables help the bacteria to multiply and feed the gut well. So, my darlings please go ahead and feed your gut.

Sparkling water is cooler to drink: Drinking sparkling water can lead to gas and indigestion. Drinking water from the plastic bottle is not a great idea as the toxicity of plastic could lead to fake estrogens being absorbed by the body. The cool factor would be to drink water with some lemon slices in it.

Payal Kothari – The writer is an integrative and functional nutritionist