Healthy foods

Healthy Vegetable foods in South India

Recommended Healthy Diet Vegetables from South India:

All fresh seasonal green leafy & colorful vegetables. Variety and minimum quantity (450-500 gms) of fruits & vegetables to be ensured.

Moderate Healthy Foods in south India

Starchy vegetables (potato, sweet potato, yam colocacia etc.)

Advisable Vegetable Foods to avoid

Deep fried vegetables, (bhajji, pakoda, banana chips, potato chips), ketchups & sauces, ready made soups & commercially prepared vegetables.

South Indian Healthy vegetable Advise

Prefer boiled/steamed vegetables.

Fruits In South India

Available Healthy Fruits form South India

All seasonal fresh whole fruits (citrus fruits should also be included). Variety and minimum quantity to be ensured (450-500 gm of F&V)

Fruits that need moderate consumption for healthy living in South India  Home made fresh fruit juices.

Fruits not advisable to eat in South India

Canned fruits, commercial juices, fruit milkshakes

Healthy Fruit of Healthy diet from  South india

Eat fruits with the peel, whenever possible, after washing/scrubbing them well. Avoid sprinkling of salt on fruits. Hygiene to be ensured when eating fruits outside home

Eating Cereals        

Healthy Living Cereals for South Indian people

Whole wheat &its products, semi polished rice, ragi, bajra, maize, jowar, oats.

Moderate use of Cereals

Polished rice and its preparations (puttu, idiappam, appam),sooji, bread, unsweetened breakfast cereals.

Avoiding fatty wheat food from South India

Parota, poori, semiya, rice based deep fried snacks, instant noodles, macaroni, cakes, biscuits, patties, burgers, pizzas, sweetened breakfast cereals.

Healthy living recommendation for people in South India

As the diet is primarily Rice based try & include whole wheat products in the diet. Dosa and idlies can be made of semi polished rice. Use flours ground from chakkis than buying it from the grocery shops. Avoid sieving of flours.

Pulses & Legumes

All varieties of whole & sprouted dals, defatted soy products are preferred to husked dals.

Eating Dal Pulses Legumes cautiously

Deep fried dals (bhajjis, vadas), & commercially available cooked dals

Maintain healthy body by consuming Indian pulses (dal)

Use variety of dals (pulses) in rotation rather than preferring one dal. Sprouted dals are also very healthy. Non-husked dals should be preferred.

Available healthy FISHes in South India

Fatty fish (hilsa, oolum, purva, vanjaram etc.), white fish (e.g.vavval, murrel, theppu meenu, rohu, kanankeluthai etc.)

Is healthy to eat Fish in South India?

Fish should be eaten in boiled/ grilled/ baked /steamed form for better health benefits.

Egg

Egg white most recommended food for healthy living. Limit the use of whole egg to four times a week. Fried eggs, egg halwa, french toast, puddings and mayonnaise.  Always eat eggs in boiled or poached form. Cook omlettes, scrambled egg in a non stick pan with minimum oil.

Deep & shallow fried fish (cutlets, pakoras), fish eggs, dried fish, oysters, fish pickles, tinned fish.

Recommended Fish Eating for health conscious in South IndiaPrawns, shrimps, crabs. Fatty fish (hilsa, oolum, purva, vanjaram etc.), white fish (e.g.vavval, murrel, theppu meenu, rohu, kanankeluthai etc.)

Doctor Advise to avoid following sea food  

HYGIENE

                         HYGIENE

• Thoroughly wash your hands with soap, once you have used the used the toilet, changed diapers, or handled pets. Hands should also be washed before you deal with food.
• Keep the eating area clan and well elevated.
• Make sure that the kitchen clothes and the washing, cooking and the general utility area are kept clean.
• Make sure to protect your food items and the kitchen as a whole against animals, pests and insects
• Use insecticides only during the night time, after having removed all the items form the shelves and drawers. Before storing the stuff again, wet mop the area once.
• Follow the First in First out (FIFO) method while preserving raw foods (like dals, vegetables, powdered spices, i.e. masala, cereals), especially in high humid areas. Do not keep them stored for too long.
• Keep the food stuff in airtight utensils or containers, to shelter against insects, moisture and dust.
• Divide ready to consume, raw and cooked food items, as you shop, prepare and store them.
• Wash repeatedly (after de-weeding) leafy green vegetables, in fresh water, until they are absolutely mud/dirt free.
• To remove worms form Cruciferous vegetables, soak in water that has been boiled.

• Scrape the fruits and vegetables after soaking them in water. This is because soaking only removes from the surface preservatives and pesticides. The engine oil with which the vendors often polish food items like apples and brinjals (to give a shining look) can be removed thoroughly only after proper scrubbing.
• Thoroughly wash, under running water, fruits and vegetables before cutting them for preparing salads.
• Cut fruits, sold be street vendors should be avoided.
• Before soaking or cooking cereals and dals, make sure you have washed them for two to three times.
• Before consuming any food, transfer it to a well cleaned serving utensil, so as to avoid the effects of any erosive actions of aluminum, brass etc, with lemon, tamarind, turmeric and salt.
• Instead of raw milk, consume boiled milk. Store it away in a cool place like a refrigerator, to avoid curdling.
• Buy only freshly cut meat, poultry and fish.
• Before cooking and consuming, thoroughly clean meat/poultry/fish.
• During summer, avoid storing food outside, for too long. Prefer food that has been freshly prepared.
• Promptly refrigerate perishable food items. The prepared stuff and the left over items should not be left to remain out for more than 2 hours. In case refrigeration is not possible, regulate the food in hand, to avoid any necessity for storage.
• Avoid long storage of food in freezers or refrigerators.
• Always boil or filter your drinking water. Store this in a clean and covered vessel. Instead of inserting your hands in the vessel for drawing water, use a spoon or a glass with a long handle to pull it out. Drinking water directly form bottles shred by others should be avoided.
• Never consume food beyond its date of expiry, of stuff packed in puffed or leaking tetra tins and packs

                                                                                                                                                                            

Daily Diet Foods for South Indians

Breakfast options

Idli, dosa, sooji/semiya/avval uppma, brown bread sandwich, puttu, iddiappam, appam, boiled tapioca, wheat dosa, and raggi items.

Salad options

Onion, cucumber, salad tomato, raddish, cabbage, carrot, sprouted dals without Salad dressing.

Snacks options

Nuts like ground nut (roasted/soaked), almonds, walnut, dried figs, dates, puffed rice, roasted chana, any fruit.

Fried snacks

Like home made bhajji, banana/jackfruit/tapioca chips, murruku, vadas to be taken occasionally.

Sweet meats options

All sweets to be made in low fat milk with out adding condensed milk. Sweets made with ghee to be taken occasionally, sweets and with vanaspati to be completely avoided.

Southern Diet Foods

• Consumption of junk food is considered as status symbol.
• The daily cereal consumption is more than the recommended dietary allowance.
• The consumption of refined cereals like polished rice, maida is more than whole grains like unpolished rice & whole wheat flour.
• In spite of the affordability & availability people prefer only particular dals like toordal, moongdal. Dal is prepared to a watery consistency.
• Rigid unhealthy dietary practices are followed like draining of excess water while cooking rice, preferring one type of oil.
• Fruit consumption is less even in the higher class and monopolized by few seasonal fruits.
• Inclusion of salads in the diet does not exist. Though seasonal vegetables are available, vegetables like raw banana, brinjal, drum sticks etc are repeatedly used.
• Consumption of milk and milk products is very less.
• Awareness of different types of nuts is less. Coconut is used excessively in their food preparations.
• Its commonly believed that refined oil is good for health and can be consumed in large amounts.
• Increase in unhealthy food choices like parrota, bhajjis etc.
• Consumption of pickles, salted dried fish, papads is a norm.
• Chicken is consumed with skin, and mostly in deep fried forms.
• Excessive consumption of coffee.