Food resolutions for the Nepali palate
Nutritionist Dr Praniti Singh shares that the majority of patients who come to her have a similar diet regime; tea for breakfast, generous servings of rice for lunch and then directly back to some more rice for dinner. In her experience, this routine, more or less, defines most Nepalis daily food intake and as any medical personnel would admit, it’s a cause for concern.
However, perhaps to many people’s relief, Dr Singh’s suggestions aren’t exactly drastic. Once again her experience has taught her better.
“We have grown up with a certain lifestyle and developed a certain palate so it is important to incorporate all these factor while recommending a change in food habits. I have seen that many foreign diet plans fail among Nepalis because they fail to do just that,” she says.
So in case you are looking to usher in a healthier lifestyle along with the New Year, The Week here with some help from our contributing nutritionist has some helpful tips. If you are not in favor of making drastic changes, there might still be a way. There are some amicable additions and alterations that you can make to your daily diet to ensure better health and lifestyle.
Kanchan Sharma Regmi
“It seems most Nepalis just can’t function without their morning tea.”
By now we have read enough articles and experts opinions to know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Yet many Nepali households don’t have the culture of serving breakfasts. According to Dr Singh, most of her patients’ definition of the perfect first meal for the day is tea and biscuits. Now while she always makes it a point to educate them about the significance of a hearty breakfast and also recommends options for dishes that can be made in the morning, Dr Singh shares that there are always people who due to various reasons, be it their habit or hectic schedules, can’t always stick to these regimes.
In these cases, Dr Singh recommends a simple yet very effective food supplement – satu. These are grains that have been roasted into flour thus are commonly also known as multigrain flour. They are easily available in our market and come in a variety of flavors. There are satu made of basin, chickpeas, and even lentils. Further you can have them with milk, Horlicks, lemon water or just plain water as per one’s taste.
Dr Singh’s advice is to have a glass of satu every alternate morning at least. It shall help make any morning meal so much healthier.
“If rice is your go to lunch option, you don’t have to change it.”
Again, here comes the issue of Nepali taste and palate. From her experience, Dr Singh says she knows better than to recommend tuna or similar protein for lunch because this option simply doesn’t work for most Nepalis. The preferred lunch option has always been rice, pulses and curry and, the fact is, Dr Singh also doesn’t see the point in changing this menu.
She explains the main problem isn’t the choice of our dish but the quantity of it. Nepali culture is such that we eat a lot at once. The idea generally is to eat a heavy lunch, get a cup of tea in the afternoon and wait till dinner. But is a wrong concept that can wreck havoc in your health. Breaking down your meals is very important.
Thus Dr Singh recommends watching your serving portions. Often people tend to cover half their plates with rice but she suggests filling just a quarter of the plate with it. Also since many people complain about not liking the taste of brown rice, Dr Singh suggests trying single polished rice. This isn’t brown rice but neither it is white rice. But single polished rice is much better than the different kinds of white rice available in the market.
“We have to learn the importance of snacking.”
Now since we are decreasing the portion of our servings, we are bound to be hungry sooner. In these instances you simply cannot ignore your cravings. We need to snack in between lunch and dinner. Small frequent meals are the way to go. Dr Singh explains that this not only helps us keep our energy levels up but also aids our endeavors to lose or maintain weight. We might have heard many celebrities swearing by this mantra, and according to Dr Singh it’s highly effective.
She recommends you carry a fruit or two to work so that you can snack on them a couple of hour after lunch. Similarly, all you need is a small pocket to carry a handful of nuts (almonds, walnut, pistachios) with you. Though patients with Hyperuricemia are advised not to have them, for all the others, this is another snack with a lot of health benefits.
Dr Singh reveals that, these days, even patients in their early 30s are showing signs of hypertension, an issue that used to plague 60 year olds, and these snacks can really help avoid this scenario. Another snack that can do wonders to one’s health is apparently, flax seeds (aalas). It’s locally grown in many parts of Nepal and can be easily found in the market but for some reason, it’s still hasn’t caught up among the masses.
In conclusion, it is apparent that the changes you choose to make in your dietary lifestyle don’t need to be drastic. Food resolutions are achievable after all. Dr Singh stresses that we can greatly improve our health even with these small alterations and additions to our food habits and some positive lifestyle changes such as exercising and maintaining a proper bedtime. At the end of the day, it’s all about being conscious of the choices we make. And believe it or not, it is as simple as that.
