PUNCH
A reader sent me some chats. I would like us to benefit from it. He said, “I stopped bread and all pastries two months back completely. I also cut out starchy carbs to a very low level. I noticed I feel a lot better, more alert, and sleep better but reduced power for long exercises which is alright by me. The biggest advantage is that I can read and concentrate for a long without getting tired, unlike when I ate bread and pastries. But I’ve had to increase a lot of fat like groundnuts, eggs, etc to replace the carbs. I feel good, but I don’t know if the fat increase is risky”.
Let me talk about this. Our discussion on glycaemic index was not meant to stop us from eating carbohydrates. It was meant to guide us on portion control and how to choose our carbs wisely since some can cause a high spike in blood sugar. There is no way you can do without carbs since they are energy-giving foods. If your fats are plant-based, there is nothing to worry about. Plant-based foods do not contain cholesterol. Eggs are good but that does not mean they should be consumed excessively.
Recently, I added millet, popularly known as jero, a low glycaemic index grain to my diet. So, one day while I was washing it, I was faced with a lot of difficulty while trying to remove sand from it. Somehow, my mind just created a picture of where it is used in large quantities to make meals. Will they have the patience to wash it thoroughly and remove the sand just like I did?
This particular experience is what gave birth to this week’s discussion. Before I proceed, let me share some unwholesome practices done during food processing with you.
Let us take locust beans (iru) as an example. To aid softening, some people add human urine to the water to boil their locust beans!
Some people use dusting powder for preservation. Sometimes ago, I was told that some people add bleach to their fufu. To tenderise meat, some people boil it with a particular brand of painkiller.
These are the ones that most people know. Do you know how many harmful ingredients that are secretly added to your canned foods? It is even going to be worse now that things are pricey, people will be cutting corners just to maximize profits. They smile to the bank while your health declines.
What are the issues with eating out? Often, these meals can be fast food choices that are high in fat and calories, there is no control over cooking methods or added ingredients, you may accidentally eat something you are allergic to, and people are more likely to let their guard down and choose “unhealthy” foods as eating out is seen as a “treat”, there is more of a chance of eating extras, this may encourage eating more, some foods or drinks contain hidden calories, pre-prepared meals are likely to have lost some of their vitamins, vegetable portions may be small or non-existent.
Nutrition and Dietetics Specialist Nurseda Hatunoğlu stated and warned that “One of the main differences between cooking at home and eating out is better nutritional hygiene. In cases where hygiene cannot be ensured, foods can be contaminated for various reasons and cause food poisoning.”
When cooking at home, you can control every aspect of what you’re preparing—the ingredients, cooking methods, portion sizes but this is not always the case in restaurants” says dietician Julie Balsamo, MS, RDN, owner of Nutrition By Julie.
Although I wouldn’t always make this assumption, home cooking tends to be lower in sodium, calories and unhealthy fats [than restaurant preparations],” Bonnie Taub-Dix, RDN, a registered dietician and the author of Read It Before You Eat It—Taking You From Label to Table.
