BLOGS

5 White Poisons

Anything in excess is a ‘’ Poison”, whether nutritious or not, Surprised? For example Protein intake for prolonged period can cause kidney failure.Calcium is good but excess can lead to stone formation .

Anything in Moderate is good for physical health. 5 things which I will be talking about shall better be replaced to be on safer side.

1. Sago ( Sabudana) – First of all its orgin is from Brazil. If you will come to know how sago is processed to make it white, you will be surprised why it is claimed as an Indian diet that too holy diet ! It is the Tapioca plant root from which starch is collected, , finally processed & reprocessed to make it small round white pellets. Very starchy food not easily digestible & is acidic too! It is better to be replaced by our native millet food like Variya, Aamarah (Rajgira)!

2. Maida – I have already mentioned ill effects of Maida in one of my previous blogs. It is Processed Wheat Aata, devoid of any nutrition & has only Carbohydrates  (empty calories). It is difficult to digest & acidic. It gives obesity. So better to replace it with Whole Wheat Aata / Millet Aatta.

3. White Rice – The Fashion of eating polished rice has led to underestimation of unpolished rice which is actually good source of fibres & minerals. So Better to go back to red rice /unpolished/Semi polished rice which is good to taste & healthy too as it has low glycemic index than white rice.
4. Salt – Eating Cooked food without salt shall be the punishment to mankind. But white salt causes ‘Na’ retention which causes water retention leading to high blood pressure. In contrast to that Saindhav which is rock salt pinkish in colour, is much healthier version of salt. So replace your white salt with Rock salt.
5. Sugar – Again this is processed food from sugar cane juice where lot of chemical reactions occur \ to make it whiter & white. It is sucrose without any minerals & fiber  & raises blood Sugar Fast. Jaggery too raises Blood sugar but it is much better than white sugar due to its iron & fibre content & due to its complex nature.Time taken to raise Blood Sugar is more. As per Ayurveda, Jaggery has many more other benefits too!

Dr Vidya Kshirsagar

Founder,

Sakas Foods

                                                                                                                  EAT 

                                                             SMART FOR CLIMBING HEALTHY

Awareness
is the first step in healing. When we become more aware of how powerfully our choices in diet and lifestyle affect us for better and for worse, then we can make different ones.

Dean Ornish.

Climbing is relatively tough sport which endorses your strength and stamina. By and large mountaineering includes different set of activities eg . hiking, skiing etc., On an average total calories requirement will defer from person to person and may range from 4000-6000 kcl depending upon the toughness of climb. The diet composition should be such that almost 70% calories should be drawn from Carbohydrates,10% from Proteins & 15 to 20 % from Fats. Climbers should stop focusing on fats & focus on Carbohydrates & Protein intake.

Let us elaborate on each major ingredient one by one. It is clear that climbing needs energy & glucose is the best energy source. Simple glucose consumption like glucose powder shall increase blood glucose level transiently.Hence if climbing for 2 hrs straight then only go for energy drink. In general,you need a steady flow of glucose to prepare muscle glycogen & to recharge ADP to ATP. Hence complex carbohydrate intake is preferred in diet which ensures slow absorption of glucose. By eating high carb diet your muscles better learn to use carbs as a fuel.

Multigrain flour or Millet flour or whole wheat flour will ensure satiety without bloating in contrast to food items made up of maida / Wheat flour [whole wheat flour is ‘gehu ka aata’ where as wheat flour is maida.

 Majority of snack items shall contain sucrose [White crystal sugar] & it has similar disadvantage of inability to provide sustain glucose entry in the blood.

Fructose is another form of carbohydrate & if taken simultaneously fructose will be preferred over glucose by liver to prepare liver glycogen [80 to 100gm] . Many of packaged snacks & drinks contain fructose syrup & loading up food with fructose hamper the metabolism of carbohydrates in liver leading to high levels of triglycerides & insulin resistance.

So,While choosing the snacks / bakery items one need to scrutinize whether it contains whole grains [ and not maida ] and healthy sweeteners like jaggery (and not sucrose / fructose syrups).

Let us consider proteins now. Climbing requires usage of muscles across the body, Proteins are not stored in body. They are basically required for muscle adaptation i.e.to increase size of muscles, to increase tensile strength, all that is required for climbing. So do not restrict intake of protein out of fear of getting bulk.For a climber approximately total 100-120 gm of protein is needed spread across every 3 hrs. i.e. 20 gms protein 6 times a day [ eg. 7am,10am, 1pm, 4pm, 7pm& 10pm). Proteins are digested into amino acids. Some of Amino acids synthesize creatine. Creatine is required for synthesis of creatine phosphate which is major source of energy supply while climbing. Proteins are also imp.
for immunity.

Depending upon protein digestibility, biological value, leucine content and calories contribution, the proteins are classified into high, medium & low-quality protein sources. High quality protein sources are meat, seafood, eggs, dairy products, legumes, lentils, soybeans, beans, chickpeas, protein powder like whey caseins, soy etc. Medium quality proteins are grains, nuts & seeds.Low quality proteins are Quinoa, almonds, mushrooms & most vegetables. Whey protein is fastest in terms of utilization of body for adequate muscle synthesis.Creatine supplement if taken one should ensure at least 4 Ltrs. Of water intake in a day.

While choosing packaged proteins snack one needs to keep watch on protein content (20 gm per Snack) & quality of proteins (at least one snack with high quality protein)

Let us consider fats now. There is nothing like good fat or bad fat. Saturated fats, monounsaturated fats [MUFA] like omega 3 & omega 6 are equally important for cell wall synthesis. Polyunsaturated fats [ PUFA] are nowadays blamed for its unstability giving rise to free radicals which can damage pancreas,skin, thyroid, immune system & liver. PUFAS are present in liquid cooking oils, nuts & seeds. Only coconut oil, butter, ghee, olive oil are heat stable fats, hence safe to consume.Majority of packaged food containsPalmitic Aciod/ Linoleinic acid/partially hydrogenated oil (Vanaspati) which promote cardiovascular disease ( heart disease Majority of Granola or Energy Bars use Vegetable oils,nuts & seeds which can expose us to PUFA. Unprocessed oil seeds in small preparation is not of  much harm.

So,while choosing granola/energy bar one needs to check whether it contains healthy fats (ghee/butter/coconut oil /Olive oil) in less than 20% proportions & is not loaded with PUFA.

Since you are a climber , adequate hydration and adequate salt intake goes without say.Since you pursue healthy lifestyle what matters most is to give good quality of fuel to your body to get adequate strength and stamina for pursuing your dream to conquer the mountain. You cannot fly Aeroplan with 4wheeler engine.

So be smart while choosing the food, let not food fool you ! 

Dr. Vidya Kshirsagar

 Founder,

SAKAS FOODS                                                          

Is Western Food Really Healthy?

Indian Philosophy is “Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam” meaning whole world is a Family. In contrast to that western philosophy which looks at the world as a Global market . Indian traditional food is systematically being replaced by the western ingredients & Western Foods. It is the same system which had killed our ancient education system, which we are realizing now, after the great loss our nation has suffered!

   Let us take it one by one.

1.   Cereals – Cereals we mistake it for wholegrains. In-fact it is the processed food in which lot of sugar & salt are added.  Indians eat whole grains like Wheat & Millets, Pulses & Sprouts, so there is no need of Cereals in our diet!

2.   Oats – It is used be food for Horses & Pigs in USA. Over Production led to search of new market & Indian affluent society is always fascinated by such foreign things. The claim that Oats is fiber rich should not be the reason, as Bajra (type of Millet) has more fiber than
Oats! ‘Calcium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Magnesium, Iron are more in Ragi & Bajra than Oats. Oats Glycemic Index is quite high (> 75), hence raises blood sugar faster than Dal-Rice-Vegetables combination. It has more sugar, salt & preservatives. Phytic Acid in it hampers Ca, Zn & Iron absorption. It is acidic in nature.

3.   Olive
Oil – We traditionally use Ground nut oil, Sesame oil, Rai oil (North), Coconut Oil (South). All of them are rich in poly & mono unsaturated fatty acids except Coconut oil which has more saturated fats, but of medium chain type hence acceptable. Indian food is with “Tadaka” where we heat the oil for most of the recipes. Smoke point of oil is that when oil starts burning & it forms trans fats which are harmful to our body. The smoke Point for Olive oil is lesser than required for Indian kind of cuisine meaning more chances of trans facts.

4.   
Broccoli – It is appreciated for its high beta carotene (623) & folic acid (63 kg) where as our Dhaniya (coriander) has much more beta carotene (480 kg) & folic acid is much more in spinach & other green leafy vegetables.

5.   
Brown
Sugar – It is supposed to better than white sugar due to its mineral & fiber content but in that case our jaggery is far more super.

 As per Ayurveda anything grown in your region is good for your body. So think Global but eat Local , so that  farmers of our country
will be benefitted !

Dr Vidya Kshirsagar,

Founder,

Sakas Foods