4 Common Foods You Should Avoid for a Healthy Life

 4 Foods to Avoid for a Healthy Life

1. Sugar: Empty Calories, No nutrition

Historically, sugar was used in its unrefined, raw form, taken directly from sugarcane juice. Clarified juice was boiled to a crystalline solid, broken down into gravelly masses and consumed as sugar. Today, however, much of the commercially available sugar is chemically processed and refined. According to the United States National Institutes of Health, such refined sugar provides “empty calories” because the refining process removes almost all vitamins and minerals, drastically depleting the nutritional value of the sugar.

Natural Sugar vs Added Sugar

The American Heart Association differentiates between intrinsic or naturally occurring sugar, which refers to the sugar found naturally as an integral constituent of fruits, vegetables, and milk products, and extrinsic or added sugar, which refers to sucrose or other refined sugars added to soft drinks, food, and fruit drinks. Their report suggests that there may be evidence that high sugar consumption could worsen atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), diabetes control, and contribute to nutritional deficiencies.

Alternatives to Sugar

Jaggery

• Jaggery is the unrefined, raw form of sugar that was used in ancient times. It is widely used in India and South Asia as a sweetener.
• It retains the minerals, nutrients and vitamins present in cane juice.
• It is used in Ayurveda – the ancient Indian medical system – to treat dry cough, improve digestion and to cure a host of other health issues.

Honey

• Honey is a wonderful, natural substitute for sugar.
• Daily consumption of honey can do a lot, especially for people with excess mucus problems and asthma.
• Honey is very good for the heart and brain, and keeps the mind alert.
• Honey has different impacts on the human system depending on how it has been consumed, whether raw, mixed with cold water, or mixed with tepid water.
• When honey is mixed with tepid water and consumed every day, it raises the red blood cell (RBC) count in the circulatory system, enhances the blood’s hemoglobin levels, which takes care of anemic conditions.

2. Milk: Undigestible by Most Adults

Only children below three have the necessary enzymes to digest milk completely. Except for a few regions in the globe, milk is mostly indigestible for a majority of adults worldwide. The undigested milk is mucous-forming and causes lethargy. Yes, milk has traditionally been believed to be a good source of calcium. But there are several other good sources as well.

Milk Alternatives

Whole Grains (see below), lentils and nuts are an excellent alternative to milk, in order to get the daily dietary requirement of calcium. For example:

Peanuts

• These are a complete diet by themselves.
• In India, many yogis go on a 100% peanut diet because it is a complete food by itself, if it is eaten raw.

Horsegram

• A good source of dietary iron and calcium and among the richest vegetarian sources of protein.
• However, the calcium and iron are combined into certain chemical compounds, rendering them un-absorbable by the body.
• Germination of the horsegram is a simple method of food processing that increases the availability of iron and calcium, resulting in increased nutritive value. Sprouted horsegram is also digested much more easily.

1. Tea/Coffee: Destroys Stamina in the Long Run

Tea and coffee are nervous stimulants. Nervous stimulants create a sense of energy for a short while, after which the body’s energy levels drop. Consuming too much of nervous stimulants destroys stamina in the long run, and affects the body’s ability to store energy.

Alternatives to Tea/Coffee

Ashgourd

• Drinking a glass of Ashgroud (wintermelon) juice in the morning would make you very energetic and also keep the nerves very calm.
• Daily consumption of ashgourd greatly enhances one’s intellectual capabilities.

Lemon Ginger Tea Recipe

This Lemon-Ginger Tea recipe could also leave you feeling fresh and invigorated, without the side effects of caffeine:

• Boil 4.5 cups of water in a saucepan.
• As the water boils, crush a 2-inch piece of fresh ginger with about 25 to 30 Tulasi (Holy Basil) leaves.
• Add the paste to the boiling water along with 2 Tsp of dried coriander seeds (optional).
• Continue to boil for 2 to 3 minutes.
• Strain the tea into cups and add a Tsp of lime juice and jaggery to taste. Serve hot!

4. Refined Grains: Stripped of Nutrients, Minerals and Fiber

Before grains are commercially sold, they are often refined to improve texture and shelf life. Known as refined grains, these grains go through a process where the bran and the germ are separated and discarded, leaving only the starchy endosperm. The result is a grain from which most of the nutrients, minerals and dietary fiber have been lost.

A majority of the grains sold commercially today, go through some process of refining. Common examples include white rice and white flour.

Whole Grain Alternatives

Whole grain products such as brown rice and whole wheat are increasingly available these days. Whole grains are rich in many components that have been linked to reducing the risk of heart disease, cancer, obesity, type 2 diabetes and other chronic diseases. Most of these components are found in the germ and bran, which are more or less totally removed during the processing of refining.

It is important to ensure that our diet includes more than just one or two cereals. A variety of highly nutritious, yet oft-neglected cereals are available, which can be important components of our diets.

Finger Millet

• This millet is considered among the most nutritious of cereals.
• Finger millet’s protein content has high biological value, so it is easily incorporated into the body.
• Several amino acids crucial to human health are found in the grain. Some of these amino acids are deficient in most other cereals.
• Dietary minerals are also found in abundance, especially Calcium which is available in concentrations five to thirty times greater than other cereals.
• Phosphorus and iron content is also high.

Pearl Millet

• This millet has high levels of vitamins B, and dietary minerals potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, zinc copper and manganese.
• It is gluten-free and is ideal for those with wheat allergies.
• Pearl millet has been found to be nutritionally superior to rice and wheat.
• A study based on research in India showed that pearl millet and pulses are somewhat better at promoting human growth than a wheat diet.

The Joy of Eating

As important as it is to make sure you get a good balance of nutrition in your daily meals, you need to remember not to get paranoid about the food you eat.