Obesity

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232.   Cut out fizzy drinks and colas – According to a study by Boston University School of Medicine published in “Circulation”, it has been found that persons who drink one or more fizzy drink a day had about 50% higher risk of “metabolic syndrome” – a cluster of risk factors including excessive fat around the waist, low level of good cholesterol, high BP etc, all likely to lead to heart disease and stroke. This finding was true for both regular and diet varieties of fizzy beverages. The clear message is: go for natural fresh fruit and vegetable juices and other traditional drinks, like “nimboopani”, “lassi” etc. as far as possible.

233.   Scan ingredients and nutrition information on food labels – Generally, most people are interested and look for just two things when buying convenience food – how much it costs and how it tastes. We need to learn how to decipher labels so that we don’t fall for marketing gimmicks. One should check the ingredients and nutrition information carefully. Avoid foods that have too much fat (especially saturated & trans fats), sodium and have a host of harmful chemical additives, preservatives, flavourings, colourings, stabilisers etc. etc. – there are more than 4,000 chemicals used in the food industry.

234.   Watch your blood sugar levels – Reducing food cravings by eating small and frequent meals also keeps your blood sugar levels stable and wards off the risk of diabetes. Choose foods with low glycemic index like complex carbohydrates and proteins from whole natural foods, which also help to stabilise sugar levels as these are digested and absorbed slowly in the blood stream. Cut out high glycemic index foods that cause hike in your sugar levels, particularly sweets and refined starchy and processed foods. Each meal should be a combination of proteins and carbohydrates. But try and skip carbohydrates, especially starch at dinner as then your body does not produce insulin that causes starch to be stored as fat but ends up using stored body fat for its night time energy needs. Pair fruits with protein, which slows down the absorption of sugar into your blood stream and prevents it from becoming fat right away.

235.   Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper – In other words, make breakfast the biggest, lunch the big and dinner the smallest (light) meal of the day as you are more likely to be active during the morning and the day and burn off more calories to offset obesity.