Make Sabudana Khichadi out of Pearl Barley

Dear Friends, it's been more than a year since I interacted with you through this blog. My heart is filled with sadness as I lost my  beloved husband, Vishwas on 19th Jan, 2017, to sudden cardiac arrest. Slowly and steadily, I'm coming out of it through pain management of the heart. Which means taming the sorrow with good diet, exercise, meditation and lots of work. The moment there is empty time, grief gathers. So, my motto, without choice, has to be - get busy, not lazy. 

My book `Grieving To Healing' has been a kind of catharsis. Do read it and God forbid you have to go for a condolence visit or has and don't know what to say or someone you know is still grieving, some of my friends have told me they have gifted `Grieving To Healing' to the near and dear ones of the lost one. It is available on Amazon.com as hard print and it is also available as Kindle version, worldwide. In Pune, it is available at the Popular Book House, Deccan Gymkhana. I had to give this backdrop as I've not been in touch with you for too long. 

Today, I want to introduce you to making Sabudana Khichadi, not out of Sago but out of Pearl Barley!

Benefits of Pearl Barley : A recent study from Lund University in Sweden shows that barley can rapidly improve people’s health by reducing blood sugar levels and the risk for diabetes. The secret lies in the special mixture of dietary fibres found in barley, which can also help reduce people’s appetite and risk for cardiovascular disease.

Also, Barley may be an even better breakfast choice than oats for persons with Type 2 diabetes. In a study conducted by the Agricultural Research Service at the Diet and Human Performance Laboratory in Beltsville, MD, barley was much more effective in reducing both glucose and insulin responses than oats.

Remember, Sabudana is full of carbohydrates and starch and is therefore not recommended for Diabetics. 

Pearl Barley is easily available in departmental stores and online grocery stores. 

Recipe for Pearl Barley

Ingredients

1 cup                  Pearl Barley

2 to 3 tbspns      Roasted groundnut powder

2 to 3                  Green Chillies

1                         Boiled Potato (pl note: potatoes are not recommended for Diabetes but                                   once in a while 2-3 small pieces is fine. Ideally, you should substitute it                                   with sweet potato but I'm retaining potato here to get the authentic taste,                               very akin to Sabudana Khichadi).

1/2                      Lemon

3/4th cup            chopped corriander leaves

1 tbspn               freshly grated coconut (optional)

1 tbspn               grated carrot (optional)

1 tbspn               oil/ghee (milk & milk products not recommended for Diabetics, but once in                             a `rare' while, you may indulge; here, to get the taste like Sabudana                                       Khichadi, though it tastes as good with oil).

salt to taste

Method:

Soak Pearl Barley overnight or for 3-4 hrs at least.

Add one cup water and pressure cook - 2 whistles on high and 2 whistles on low.

If water is excess, drain it through the strainer.

Heat til oil/groundnut oil or pure ghee in a pan.

Add jeera. When they splutter, add green chillies.

Allow green chillies to brown a bit. 

Add boiled potato slices. Sprinkle bit of salt.

Add the boiled Pear Barley, groundnut powder, salt and lemon juice.Mix well.

If you find the Pearl Barley a bit sticky, add a bit more of roasted groundnut powder.

Add chopped corriander leaves.

Put a cover and leave it on low fire for 2-3 minutes.

Serve piping hot. You can garnish with fresh grated coconut and grated carrot.

Absolutely yummy! You will begin to hate Sabudana Khichadi. Just jump on to i

this healthy alternative. You can relish it without feeling guilty of consuming the

unhealthy carbohydrate and starch that is in abundance in the traditional Sabudana Khichadi!

Do try it out and give me feedback in the comments below!

Soak Pearl Barley in water overnight or at least for 3-4 hours

Boil it in  pressure cooker and remove excess water through a strainer

Lo and behold, this is the Pearl Barley Khichadi, much more nutritious and safe for Diabetics than Sabudana Khichadi

You can garnish with grated carrot too! 

Laziness is Detrimental for Diabetics

They say, Problems are Opportunities, and this very aptly applies for those who have Diabetes and have to constantly battle erratic blood sugar levels. Being Lazy to exercise, not being physically and emotionally active and turning away from eating the right kind of food for the sake of convenience, is absolutely detrimental to your Diabetes. Popping pills only, does not drive away Diabetes. But yes, if you shrug away your laziness, you will be surprised at the remarkable improvement in your blood sugar levels. So, take your Diabetes as God sent. The body is signalling you to get up and just keep moving. Just shake off that laziness, that boredom and quickly sprint back to life. You can, no matter what pains you have in your body. Just counter them, for remember, most of our pains are psychosomatic so if you tell your mind, hey I'm gonna climb up the staircase, you will, for you can! Remember, only YOU can be the healer of your Diabetes, not the Doctor!

So, today let us get cracking on how to shrug off laziness and blossom ourselves into cheerful, active people - the bonanza that comes along with this, is that you will begin to look younger, smarter and more charming! So, come on, here's what you need to do - all, so easy to follow that you will wonder why you didn't do it earlier :

1. Wake up early: Yes,no more being in the bed after 6 am (I wake up between 3 and 4 a am but you need not follow this). Activity should begin from here. Before you get up from your bed, stretch, slowly and steadily. Please do not give sudden jerks to your body. So, first, in the lying on your back position, stretch your hands, then legs, then hands and legs together, do a clockwise, gentle massage on your stomach. Now lie on your stomach, gently lift up your chest, put your hands under your chin and move up your legs knee downwards. All this, very gently and slowly. Get back to lying in your back position and then gently sit up on your bed. Now, rub your hands against your face, upwards. Smoothly, gently. All this should take 5-7 minutes, Then get out from your bed. You will be surprised how lively you will feel as you go to brush your teeth. The secret of fighting Diabetes or obesity or any other lifestyle disease, is to simply make your body active, throughout the day, till you go to bed at night.

2. No, no to bed tea: Now, you have the choice of having Green Tea or Coconut Milk Tea, If you can skip it and straightaway have your Green Smoothie, so much the better. But I just need to have that piping hot Coconut Milk Tea when I wake up, So, you decide. After that, you need to now move your body to plunge your blood sugar levels. So, come on, now do only 7 to 10 minutes of brisk exercise. Begin with a dance. Put on your favourite music number and just start dancing. Begin from slow steps to faster ones, once your body has warmed up. Most of the songs are about 3 minutes. If you are enthused, you can replay the number. After about 3-5 minutes of this dance, cool down and do stretches/yogasanas that would release stiffness of your limbs and stretch your stomach area - this is very important. As I had mentioned in one of my earlier posts - exercising the abdomen is very important. Hence, Kapalbhati kriya is very effective. Do these exercises for 3-4 minutes, followed by shavasan. If you are enthusiastic to go hill climbing or going up and down the staircase instead of dancing, it is just fine.

3.Do it yourself: This is extremely important. In India, we have the habit of asking others in the house to get things for you from the kitchen (even a glass of water) or something from the bedroom. No, please get up and do it yourself. The more times that you get up from the sitting position and walk around the house or office, you are automatically exercising yourself - an integral part of countering your blood sugar levels, Recently, at a family wedding, I met my nephew who is a doctor in UK. I asked him about countering Diabetes through diet and exercise. He said, that Diet and Exercise are the best ways to counter this lifestyle disease and this is highly recommended in the UK. In fact, he recommended that going out to buy the right kind of vegetables and groceries, bringing it home, storing them properly and cooking burns a lot of calories. So do it yourself, as far as you can. You may struggle initially if you are not physically active, but slowly and steadily you will happily be on your toes. Keeping things in place, washing bathrooms, clearing your cupboards, washing your bike or car, watering the plants - all these are a part of being physically active which aid in beating Diabetes. Go window shopping in malls - this keeps you walking, which is just great as it combines pleasure too!

4. Keep things away from you: Very important and very importantly, just keep your mobile phone away from you. Whether you are at home or office, keep your mobile about 10 steps away from you. Just get up and answer it, everytime it rings. Or check your WhatsApp, send messages, surf, whatever - but go to it and do it. You will be surprised at the physical activity involved in this. Similarly, give yourself reason to go from one room to another. At least twice or thrice a day, do sit ups by standing up from your chair and sitting down again - about 1 to 15 times. You can do this in the office too.

5.Be active after lunch and dinner: Generally, we lie down after lunch. It's good to take a quick afternoon nap (not a long sleep please) but do it about half an hour after your lunch. After dinner, get busy clearing the kitchen/ clearing one of the shelves of your cupboard, go for a short stroll if it is feasible or after an hour of your dinner, walk up and down the staircase for seven minutes.

6.Finally, the idea is to keep moving throughout the day: Like I had said earlier, just the right food or addition of a particular food does not alone help in bringing your blood sugar levels down. Being physically active throughout the day is very, very essential. Like they say, just move it Move your body, keep moving till you drop like a log, in bed, at night. All this will ensure that you lose in inches and in your weight too. You will look smarter and feel brighter. Who doesn't want that? And so easy to achieve, isn't it? Just keep chanting - I will and I can!

For Diabetes, make Flaxseed your best friend

So sorry, due to extensive travelling, I was unable to write this blog. I'm back again and let us together push away Diabetes from our system, with natural means. Like I said, once we are not psychologically disturbed about our sugar levels, often imagining, the worst happening to our different parts of our body, that often sets in fear, it becomes easier to think and act on how we can bring our sugar levels down. Allopathic medicines for Diabetes give you the psychological satisfaction of controlling sugar levels. However, we never question the fact that despite medicines, you have to do jugglery with the doses or then finally latch on to Insulin to get your numbers, right. So, why not do the same, in a more effective and exciting way, by choosing the right kind of food, with a dash of exercise? Remember, once you decide to depend only on medicines, the medicines become your crutch - you lean on it so heavily that you often qualify eating the wrong kind of food particularly those made of wheat, milk and sugar. So I suggest that help your doctor reduce your doses and hopefully finally eliminate them, by eating mostly natural food than processed food.

One of the most important food in your diet is Flaxseed. It is called Javas in Marathi and San Ka Beej in Hindi. It is very much a part of the Maharashtrian diet in the form of Javas Chutney. Why Flaxseed is too important for you, if you are Diabetic, is because it contains Omega 3, fibre,protein, vitamins, minerals and amino acids and it is good for anti-inflammation. As I have experienced, inflammation is caused by indigestion and inflammation spikes your blood sugar levels. Flaxseed has a lot of fibre, so it also adds to your roughage and helps you counter constipation. Three to four teaspoons of Flaxseed should be good for you - however, begin with one or two teaspoons and then increasethe quantity to three to four teaspoons a day. Flaxseed is known as a low GI food too and is supposed to reduce your craving for unnecessary food. To know about the amazing goodness of flaxseed, go to this link of authoritynutrition, a website that I rely on-  https://authoritynutrition.com/foods/flaxseeds/  

I love the taste of Flaxseed, be it in the roasted or the oil form. I swear by it and include it in various ways, Here are some ways you can include Flaxseed in your daily diet. You must definitely make it a part of your daily food habit. By the way, the market is flooded with Flaxseeds in raw and roasted form as well as in the form of oil. So, you will have no difficulty in procuring it. You can order online too.

Roasted Flaxseed

This is the simplest way to eat Flaxseed. Roast it at home and have a teaspoon after your three meals - breakfast, lunch and dinner. You get readymade roasted Flaxseed in the market - make sure you do not get the one that is sugar coated. Roasted Flaxseed is very tasty to eat.

Flaxseed Oil

Use Flaxseed oil as salad dressing or spread on your bhakri or split green moong dal dosa. I specially recommend use of Flaxseed oil for the Nitric Oxide salad, the recipe of which has been mentioned in my earlier post, and which I have every morning. One teaspoon of Flaxseed oil in it, enhances the taste of the salad. You can also add two teaspoons of this oil in your soups. I have Dudhi (Bottle Gourd)-Carrot soup every evening and I add 2 tspns of Flaxseed oil to it. For those of you, who would be having Flaxseed oil for the first time, you may or may not like the taste. Please do develop the taste; do not give it up.

My friend, who has very successfully has brought down her sugar levels through food and exercise, has shared a recipe, which is very tasty. In a juicer/mixer, take 4 tspns of Flaxseed oil, add four tspns of onion juice and an apple, cut into pieces. Add four glasses of water to it and salt to taste. Consume it, three to four times a day, during the day at regular intervals. It helps in reducing your blood sugar levels. You can add one teaspoon of Flakseed oil in your green smoothie too. You can think of various other ways to include this oil in your diet.

Flaxseed Powder

Roast Flaxseed. When cool, it grind it fine or coarse (whichever you prefer) through the grinder/mixer. Now, sprinkle it on your subzis or dal. It adds to the taste. 

Flaxseed Chutney

ingredients

Flaxseeds - 100 gms

Sesame (Til) seed - 50 gms

Curry leaves - 15-20 leaves

Red chilly whole - 1 or 2

Salt to taste

Roast Flaxseed, keep aside. Roast Til seeds, keep aside. Roast curry leaves, keep aside. Roast slightly, red chillies. When cool, put the ingredients in the the mixer, add salt an grind. The chutney is ready and remains good for over a fortnight in normal room temperature. You need not refrigerate it.  

Flaxseed Raita

Ingredients

Soya Curds - 1 cup

Roasted groundut powder - 2 teaspoons

Flaxseed chutney or Flaxseed roasted powder - 3 teaspoons

Red chilli powder - 1/4th teaspoon

Mix all the above ingredients and add salt to taste. Mix it well. It tastes delicious along with dosas and bhakris.

I am hooked on to Flaxseed oil and chutney. It's goodness is too good to be ignored. Go buy it today itself and include it in your daily diet.

If you are diabetic, definitely woo your Dentist

You may say, it sounds so funny, perhaps unconvincing too. What has a dentist got to do with Diabetes? How can he or she be more important than your Diabetologist or your family doctor who monitors your blood sugar levels, your medicines and Insulin? Well, it is through my experience that I have learnt the vital role that a dentist plays in your reversal of your Diabetes.

According to the American Diabetes Association, ``if your blood glucose levels are poorly controlled, you are more likely to develop serious gum disease and lose more teeth than non-diabetics. Like all infections, serious gum disease may be a factor in causing blood sugar to rise and may make diabetes harder to control. Other oral problems associated to diabetes include: thrush, an infection caused by fungus that grows in the mouth, and dry mouth which can cause soreness, ulcers, infections and cavities.
- See more at: http://www.diabetes.org/living-with-diabetes/treatment-and-care/oral-health-and-hygiene/diabetes-and-oral-health.html?referrer=https://www.google.co.in/#sthash.mhF6yLAc.dpuf

I totally repent now about the way I ignored the health of my teeth. Although you have been taught since school days that you must visit a dentist once in six months, I've always ignored cavities and even chipping off of teeth. As a result, I have before me this great problem and expense of at least three implants and some fillings. Now, I've taken it seriously, when it is a tad late, but like they say, better late than never. 

so, why is the dentist so important, besides what the American Diabetes Association says? Very simple. As I had mentioned earlier, chewing and digestion of food is very important in your path in the reversal of diabetes. Now, it is a known fact that if your thoroughly chew your food (which is wheat-free, dairy-free and sugar-free) it becomes easy for your stomach to digest. Good digestion of food prevents any inflammation of the stomach. Medical experts now point out to the fact that indigestion and inflammation due to indigestion are one of the major causes for your blood sugar levels going haywire. 

 Health Expert, Chris Kresser states, ``inflammation is both the cause and the result of diabesity. Once obesity and/or insulin resistance have been established, each can further stimulate the production of inflammatory cytokines, forming a vicious cycle of inflammation and diabesity. It follows, then, that the key to preventing and treating diabesity is reducing inflammation. Unfortunately, few clinicians treating diabesity today understand this. Focusing exclusively on regulating blood sugar and fat hormones without addressing other potential causes of inflammation is bound to produce inferior results.

What are these “other causes” of inflammation? In a phrase: the modern lifestyle. Specifically, dietary triggers (fructose, wheat and industrial seed oils), stress, poor sleep, gut dysbiosis and environmental toxins all cause inflammation on their own. When combined together, they are an explosive mix.'' (www.chriskesser.com)

We’ll talk about each of those factors in future articles. For now, the takeaway is that inflammation is probably the single most important mechanism driving the diabesity epidemic.

As per an article in www.health.havard.edu, ``Body's response system is key driver of heart disease, diabetes and chronic conditions. Inflammation is an essential part of the body's healing system. Without it, injuries would fester and simple infections could be deadly. Too much of a good thing, though, is downright dangerous. Chronic low-grade inflammation is intimately involved in all stages of atherosclerosis, the process that leads to cholesterol-clogged arteries. This means that inflammation sets the stage for heart attacks, most strokes, peripheral artery disease, and even vascular dementia, a common cause of memory loss.

``Inflammation doesn't happen on its own. It is the body's response to a host of modern irritations like smoking, lack of exercise, high-fat and high-calorie meals, and highly processed foods.

``Medical researchers and pharmaceutical companies are hot on the trail of inflammation-busting drugs. Don't bother waiting - they are a long way off, are bound to be expensive, and will almost certainly have side effects. Instead, you can turn to simple tools that ease inflammation. We'll focus on diet here, but don't forget about avoiding cigarette smoke (yours or someone else's), exercising, watching your weight, and taking care of your teeth.

Simple changes

What you eat may fan the fires of inflammation. Here are some suggestions:

Get an oil change. Swap saturated and trans fats for olive oil, which has potent anti-inflammatory properties, or polyunsaturated fats, especially omega-3 fats from fish.

Don't be so refined. The bolus of blood sugar that accompanies a meal or snack of highly refined carbohydrates (white bread, white rice, French fries, sugar-laden soda, etc.) increases levels of inflammatory messengers called cytokines. Eating whole-grain bread, brown rice, and other whole grains smooths out the after-meal rise in blood sugar and insulin, and dampens cytokine production.

Promote produce. The more fruits and vegetables you eat, the lower the burden of inflammation. Why? They contain hundreds, perhaps thousands, of substances that squelch inflammation-rousing free radicals; some act as direct anti-inflammatory agents.

Go nuts. Adding walnuts, peanuts, almonds, and other nuts and seeds to your snacks and meals is another tasty way to ease inflammation.

Cocoa lovers rejoice? In laboratory studies, cocoa and dark chocolate slow the production of signaling molecules involved in inflammation. The trick is to get them without too much sugar and fat.

Alcohol in moderation. A drink a day seems to lower levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a powerful signal of inflammation. Too much alcohol has the opposite effect on CRP.

Spice it up. Herbs and spices such as turmeric, ginger, garlic, basil, pepper, and many others have anti-inflammatory properties.

I have experienced great changes in my digestive power after I have now been regularly visiting the dentist since the last year or so. He has declared that, ``your teeth will fall apart if you do not care.'' That scare motivates me to visit him. The benefits I find are that, I chew my food much better than before. This has resulted in lesser load for my stomach to digest it. I also eat only that food that I can chew. For example, mushroom pieces tend to slip down your mouth if you do not have enough teeth to bite them. So, I avoid them - mushroom soup is fine. Thankfully, I am able to chew on nuts - if you don't then get them ground them coarse and then have them. Remember, it is very important that you do not have indigestion or inflammation or indigestion because of eating wrong food, or eating the right food, without chewing. 

Chew, chew, chew. And eat only the right kind of food. It helps MAJORLY. Just do it and visit your Dentist regularly. He is your biggest saviour to fight Diabetes.

This evening, God willing, I would be going for Dr PramodTripathi's `Muktotsav' event wherein he is going to celebrate the victory of those patients who have cured themselves of Diabetes after successfully passing the GTT (Glucose Tolerance Test). Will write about it tomorrow.

Cheers and a Happy Sunday

World Diabetes Day: More than drugs, use the power within you to fight Diabetes

Just relax, there is something called pre-diabetes condition too and the good news is that you can overcome it by diet and exercise alone and actually keep away full blown Diabetes for the rest of your life. In fact, international medical experts advocate that you need your blood sugar levels only once in a year or two years if you are a pre-diabetic.

As per the American Diabetes Association and the UK Diabetic Association, did you know that you are a Diabetic patient when your 2 hour Post-Prandial test shows over 200 and that your are pre-diabetic if it is between 140 and 199? That you have diabetes only if your Fasting figures are beyond 125 and that you are fully diabetic only if it reads 126 or more? I am not saying that you should be complacent, just that you should worry more about your wrong diet and bad lifestye instead of being fearful about numbers. Following are figures culled from both the Association websites.

Blood sugar levels in diagnosing diabetes
Plasma glucose test	Normal	Prediabetes	Diabetes
Random	Below 11.1 mmol/l  Below 200 mg/dl	N/A	11.1 mmol/l or more  200 mg/dl or more
Fasting	Below 6.1 mmol/l  Below 108 mg/dl	6.1 to 6.9 mmol/l  108 to 125 mg/dl	7.0 mmol/l or more  126 mg/dl or more
2 hour post-prandial	Below 7.8 mmol/l  Below 140 mg/dl	7.8 to 11.0 mmol/l  140 to 199 mg/dl	11.1 mmol/l or more  200 mg/dl or more

(https://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes_care/blood-sugar-level-ranges.html)

Results indicating prediabetes are: An A1C of 5.7% – 6.4% Fasting blood glucose of 100 – 125 mg/dl An OGTT 2 hour blood glucose of 140 mg/dl – 199 mg/dl - See more at: http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/diagnosis/?referrer=https://www.google.co.in/#sthash.dKxZJbFI.dpuf

``Preventing Type 2 Diabetes

You will not develop type 2 diabetes automatically if you have prediabetes. For some people with prediabetes, early treatment can actually return blood glucose levels to the normal range. 

Research shows that you can lower your risk for type 2 diabetes by 58% by:

• Losing 7% of your body weight (or 15 pounds if you weigh 200 pounds)
• Exercising moderately (such as brisk walking) 30 minutes a day, five days a week

Don't worry if you can't get to your ideal body weight. Losing even 10 to 15 pounds can make a huge difference. 

If you have prediabetes, you should be checked for type 2 diabetes every one to two years. -

- See more at: http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/diagnosis/?referrer=https://www.google.co.in/#sthash.dKxZJbFI.dpuf 

So today on World Diabetes Day, it is important not to fear about your blood sugar levels - instead build up courage and confidence to bring the levels down, through the right kind of diet and a little bit of exercise. Here are 10 motivational tips to change your food habits and lifestyle:

1. You so easily change your clothes, homes and cars. Just as easily, change your food habits. 

2. Opt for wheat-free, dairy-free, sugar-free diet. Instead of thinking about your blood sugar levels, think about how this diet is being advocated by nutritionists for weight loss and being followed by stars who you idolise. Think of how you are going to look younger and fit into stylish clothes once you slim down. And as you do that, you are taking care of your pre-diabetes/diabetes too, Isn't it a two-in-one victory?

3. Pre-diabetes/diabetes is an opportunity to completely overhaul your health, Just like you do spring cleaning for Diwali, do a spring cleaning of body - only give body spring cleaning 12 months of continuous treatment so that it becomes a way of life with you.

4. Enjoy inhaling more oxygen, pump in the iron like they say, through small bouts of exercise - a short walk, climbing up stairs or a hill, Pranayam, 15 minutes of cardio at the gym, dancing, shaking your body, playing with little - think of a variety to activate your body. The pleasure of feeling energetic and positive is all yours!

5. Such a good opportunity to break your bad habits of having too much tea or coffee. Opt for Black Coffee, Green Tea, Coconut Milk Tea, Almond tea,

6. Bring back natural foods in your kitchen, in bountiful. Vegetable juices, Green smoothies, salads, sprouts, fruits in moderation - wow, their colours, aroma and taste will bring joy to your living.

7. Such a good way of not getting confused when you visit grocery stores in malls. Thanks to cutting down on processed foods completely, you will pick and choose only the correct food. It saves you money and gives you that extra zing in your health.

8. This automatic reversal to a simple lifestyle so beautifully makes your day to day living so easy and uncomplicated. You know what you should eat and when and how so you do not indulge in popping food in your mouth every now and then.

9. You automatically become stress-free. There is no stress if you are not eating the wrong food, if you are not eating it when hungry. The body is not loaded so the energy that otherwise goes to digesting your extra food will be diverted to keep your mental faculties healthy and stong.

10. You are start loving the abundance of nature at a time when we have started loving `Brands' that churn out harmful, processed food and we buy it like we have become parasites of the system.

So, come on what are you waiting for? Just keep those blood sugar levels to where they should be, more by switching over to healthy and delicious good food and by being active. Slowly and steadily your doctor will be compelled to reduce your medicines and you may thereafter be motivated to simply get rid of them. Before that of course you have to switch over to this new lifestyle with great perseverance and self-belief.

Cheers

2nd sample of One Day Diet Plan

Steamed vegetable salad
 

The best tip for Diabetes is to eat when hungry and when hungry, to eat tasty food. It is how you perceive your dietary changes to control your sugar levels - either you say you are being denied of tasty food (which often means Indian or Western junk food which you have to abstain from, even for weight loss) or say this is an opportunity to go on an exploratory journey to have that nutritious and delicious food, which will support you to control your sugar levels and at the same time give you the pleasure of eating. That, food habits and being physically active are the key notes for countering Diabetes, is being reiterated by medical experts the world over. Hence, I say, instead of getting panic attacks with your blood sugar levels and believing that medicines are the ONLY way out, why not help your doctor to reduce your medicines by indulging in the right kind of food with low GI and one that is wheat-free, dairy-free and sugar-free? And finally get rid of your medicines, if possible, either through self-motivation, under your doctor's guidance or by joining programmes of medical experts like Dr Pramod Tripathi, Dr Biswaroop Chowdhury and so on. 

Today, I chart out a One Day Diet plan which is easy to follow. This is what I did yesterday.

I started the day with Coconut Milk tea. Did not have Green Smoothie or Nitric Oxide Salad as I was down with such a heavy,running nose that I had a kerchief to it all day. A bit better now. My friend asked me what did I take for a cold. I said, what can one take anyway? Except that I decided to go on a largely non-spicy diet.
Top notch journalist and my friend, Sucheta Dalal has strongly recommended Kara Coconut milk cream as the best option for your tea, as it does not contain emulsifiers and is pure. Here is the pic, do opt for this

Steamed Vegetable salad
For breakfast, I had Steamed Vegetable salad (see photograph at the beginning of this post).
Ingredients
Cauliflower - 100 gms
French beans - 50 gms
Carrot - one
Matki (or any other) sprouts - 2 tablespoons
Fresh Lime - 1/4th or depending on your taste
Corriander leaves and salt to taste

Method
Boil water and add all the vegetables and sprouts and boil for 2 minutes and close. Remove them in a bowl. The vegetables should be crunchy to eat and not over-boiled. Add salt, fresh lime and mix well. Garnish with chopped corriander leaves. Chew and eat. If the portion is too much, keep aside and have it as a 4 or 5 pm snack.

Methi parathas with Khapli (Emmer) wheat flour (Sorry don't know how to rotate this image

Methi Parathas with Khapli wheat atta

I wasn't going to be full for a long time with the steamed vegetables and felt like having something spicy so decided to make Khapli wheat Methi parathas for my lunch dabba. I also packed the remaining Steamed Vegetable Salad along with it

Ingredients

Khapli (Emmer) wheat atta: 250 gms

Methi leaves - half bunch

Unprocessed Til (Sesame) - two teaspoons

1 tbspn - cooking oil

Salt, chilli powder to taste

Method

Chop methi leaves, add to the atta. Add til, chilli powder and salt and knead. Please note that Khapli atta is not sticky as the usual atta we eat (which contains high gluten) so you need to add the cooking oil, heated. You have to also patiently knead it as being non-sticky it needs to be made into a consistency wherein your parathas do not break while you are rolling them. Roll out the parathas and cook them on the tawa. They turn out delicious and crisp and healthy too as methi highly recommended for Diabetes. Have it with the following chutneys

Green Corriander chutney and Flax seed chutney

I ended my day with Barley Dalia Upama. Barley Dalia is ideal for your dinner, to replace brown rice or bhakri or Khapli atta chapati. It is very light to digest but you have to get used to the taste. You may not like it for the first time but keep having it and you will get used to it. Upma can be made in so many ways, in the sense that you can add vegetables, sprouts, roasted peanuts etc of your choice. However, to keep it light you may only stick to adding vegetables.

Barley Dalia Upma

Ingredients

Barley Dalia - 1 cup

Vegetables - french beans, carrot, onion, tomato 

Green chillies and curry leaves.

Method

Cook the Barley Dalia in a pan by adding two cups of water. Keep aside. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add jeera, green chillies and curry leaves. Add all vegetables, chopped. Stir for a few minutes and add the cooked Barley Dalia to it. Add salt and mix well. The Dalia being a bit sticky in nature may not appeal to your taste buds so try and make this dish as tasty as possible. My friend says it is a great one for reducing your blood sugar levels. Also, when you cook the one cup Dalia, the quantity is enough for two persons. So, keep aside half of it in the fridge for use the next day, in case you are making it for a single person.

In between these meals, I had my Rajgira flakes and almonds when I felt hunger pangs.

Cheers to healthy cooking and a healthy, fun-filled lifestyle!

Diabetes and travelling? It's the trickiest situation

Just tell yourself that you will strictly, strictly follow the wheat-free, dairy-free and sugar-free diet even if you are travelling, weekend or on long holidays. Just as you prepare your luggage, just prepare your mind that you will try and do your maximum best to stick to your wonderful diet and yet have a wonderful holiday. Once you have made up your mind, you will find there is enough food to choose from. And if by chance there isn't, you will remember that every, every place you go to has abundance of natural foods in the form of fruits and vegetables that can be eaten raw. And yes, if you are too hungry and cannot do without food, do have whatever is available but in modest quantity and chew, chew and chew. Restrain from having Carbs or indulge in bare minimum carbs.

A couple of days back, I had to travel to Delhi to attend the National Right To Information (RTI)Convention, a prestigious annual affair. The added bonanza being that I was a part of the team that has come out with a coffee table book on common citizens using RTI, which was to be released on this occasion. Usually, I carry my Chilkewali moong dal dosa/bhakris/methi parathas (made out of Khapli (Emmer) wheat atta) but this time somehow could not manage that. So, I packed my 250 ml bottle with Rajgira (Amaranth) flakes and stuffed almonds, walnuts and just in case I feel hunger pangs/feel sugar levels dropping, I carried a few almond sweets made by my friend with bare minimum coating of chocolate. I put them all in my purse and off I went to the airport. We took the Air India flight and it was dinner time. I banked upon the non-veg meal - you generally get a small portion of dal and chicken and you can easily ignore the rice. Firstly, the air hostess seemed so lost while serving the passengers. She was running helter skelter every few minutes - I thought perhaps it is her first flight and sloppy orientation by Air India management. She seemed to be taking so much time over every row and I heaved a sigh of relief when she approached our row, as I was really very hungry. ``Please give non-veg,'' I said. She simply shook her head and gestured it is ``over.'' I protested. I said, ``what? Over? Please get me a complaint form.'' I refused the veg meal. I was wondering at the mismanagement as the flight was even full. After about 15 minutes, a crew member, came with the non-veg meal, stating that he has provided me the `crew' meal. I said `what about you or someone who won't be having it?'' he said, ``i shall have the veg meal,not to worry on that count.'' I was happy at this customer service and savoured the meal, slowly chewing on my food, Then comes the hot drink they serve you. Coffee or Tea? I settled for Black Coffee. My point here is, get your way to the meal that you are supposed to eat. Now comes the question if you are a vegetarian. You have no option but to opt for the Veg Meal. Leave out the rice/bread/buns that they serve you and eat the salad, dal, vegetable. Round it up by Black Coffee or Black Tea. Have your Almonds/walnuts for that protein and have fistfuls of Rajgira flakes for giving you a filled up feeling in your stomach. Dr Pramod Tripathi and Dr Biswaroop Chowdhury do not recommend non-vegetarian if you are having Diabetes. However, although I'm largely a vegetarian, I have found non-veg useful when touring or going for parties. In the non-veg, I've found Fish most easy to digest and chicken, hard to digest. However, if you have just one or two pieces of chicken and chew them properly, it is better than going wrong on your diet.

We were put up at the Maharashtra Sadan in Delhi, which has been beautifully renovated on the lines of Vishrambag Wada of Pune. So far, so fine. The next morning, I went to the canteen to have my breakfast. The waiter rattled out the menu - Poha, Upma, Misal-Pav, Bread-Omlette. What's the choice? i asked for Omlette without the bread and Misal without the pav. The omlette was well made and I was quite full with that. Thank God that in one sense, the Misal was so horribly made that it was a big insult to Maharashtrian cuisine. So, I left that. I followed it up by Black Coffee. For a vegetarian, Misal would have been the only choice and here he or she would have been disappointed. This is when one tends to compromise with the diet and I can really understand. So, you take a call in such a situation. Either equip yourself with packed food like bhakri/Chilkewali Dal ka Dosa/Methi parathas with Khapli wheat/ apples. Or if you have no choice but to eat whatever is available as you are hungry and have your official work to attend to, then have whatever is available in very modest quantity and don't forget to chew your food and then try and make up in the next meal by looking out for the right kind of food. Our lunch was at the DRDO auditorium in South Delhi where veg and non-veg was served. I picked the Tawa Vegetable which also had karela in it, dal, one piece of chicken with gravy. I also had two teaspoons of ice-cream to wash away the spicy food that troubled my mouth. Generally, having gravies are not recommended but I have experienced that Indian gravies also act as digestives due to the spices besides acting as natural laxatives. So, I never hesitate to have gravy-laden food once in a while. Remember, whether for Diabetes or weight loss, you need to enjoy your food.

The idea of this narration is to give you my first hand experience of how I go about on tours or holidays. The best part is we need not think this is a diet where you are denied the food that you have been used to since childhood. Today, most dietitians recommend wheat-free food, what they call as gluten-free. A living example is that of my daughter who went to reduce weight and the first thing she asked her to do was to stay off wheat for a few weeks. My friend went to her doctor as she is suffering constant body pain and the  Doctor recommended that she should not touch wheat for three weeks at least. So there you are - keep going with the wheat-free, milk-free, sugar-free diet as much as you can. 

(If you are going on a tour/holidays abroad, then assess the local cuisine there and eat accordingly, within the frame work of the wheat-free, sugar-free, dairy-free diet.)

So here are some suggestions for food that you can have while travelling:

1. Fruits and salads. Buy fruits like apple and papaya and vegetables like cucumber and salad wherever you go. If possible, carry your Nutri Blender/Nutri Bullet so that you can have your Green Smoothie (vegetables and fruit for it would be available in most places).

2. Try and find South Indian (Udipi) restaurants for having Medu Wadas (Wadas made out of udid dal) and Tomato Omlette (dosa made out of besan (chana dal flour).

3. In any restaurant, go in for clear soups, dal, vegetables like Garlic Palak or any other (without potatoes), fish or chicken tikkas/curries/ eggs.

4. Go in for drinks like coconut water and salted Lime water/soda.

5. Carry with you, almonds, walnuts, flax seed chutney/roasted flax seed. Also carry a couple of bhakris/methi parathas out of Khapli (Emmer) wheat atta. Let your innovation flow as you can carry stuff which is healthy and nutritious. You may also carry peanuts and chana.

6. If you have to buy in food malls along the expressway, opt for pakodas, banana chips, soya chips. If you halt at the famous Datta Snacks on Pune-Mumbai expressway, then only have `Kothimbir (Corriander) wadis. These are fried but they are made of besan and are very tasty. You can carry them to the car and continue eating. You can have misal without the bun but try and avoid as you tend to eat fast as you are in a hurry to go back to the car and that does not augur well for controlling your sugar levels.

7. Fasting would be good during travelling/holidaying whenever you can, by having coconut water, Green Smoothie, salted lime water/soda interspersed with few almonds/walnuts/peanuts/chana (Mahabaleshwar ones are the best).

So, as you can see, there's a lot to eat and drink. Do so with cheer and pride. Eat only when hungry. Drink only when thirsty. Chew your food while you eat. Digesting your food, is the most important aspect of beating Diabetes - for that matter, any lifestyle disease or for losing weight. When your food is digested, there are lesser chances of inflammation and indigestion in your digestive system. This is what I have found, after self-study and self-research.

Happy journey and Happy touring/holidays!