No more cheat days? It’s never too late to switch to healthy eating habits

Several eateries in the city — big and small — have been redoing and changing the way food is cooked, to ensure people don’t think twice before they head out to eat
Any meal composed of protein, a healthy fat, a source of complex carbohydrates and vegetables is good for up to four days, if stored properly. (Representational Photo)
Any meal composed of protein, a healthy fat, a source of complex carbohydrates and vegetables is good for up to four days, if stored properly. (Representational Photo)

Why settle for the tasteless, boring and bland salads when you can gorge on your favourites? Restaurants and brands in towns are more than willing to alter their cooking to ensure you get the best of taste and health.

If you’re someone who has promised yourself to go on a diet from a tomorrow that never arrives, just because you fear missing out on the joy of consuming scrumptious food, especially at the many popular cafes that Hyderabad is dotted with, then here’s some relief. You have the restaurants in town to thank — since more and more people are looking for the right and balanced mix of taste and health and restaurants and brands are listening.

Several eateries in the city — big and small — have been redoing and changing the way food is cooked, to ensure people don’t think twice before they head out to eat. So no more cheat days, even when eating out, they say. Chef Vikash Vumudi, head chef at Voila, Jubilee Hills, says, “Instead of creating an entirely different menu to cater to health freaks, we thought it is better, and is our responsibility too, to feed all our customers the healthiest of foods.

And who says watching your weight means eating tasteless greens? There are alternative cooking methods to solve that problem and we’re doing that here. For example, we are very wary of the kind of oil we use and the amount of it. Second, our cooking techniques are healthy and mindful — despite our menu consisting of 75 per cent Indian food (rest being fusion), all of them can be cooked and consumed the healthy way.”

He explains how taste and health are possible, saying, “We make our double zero flour pizza using healthy flour — it’s expensive and imported from Italy, lighter in taste and texture and good for the stomach. Our Donne chicken pulao, made of jeera and our Chitti Muthyalu rice too, have authentic ingredients. Even our desserts have less oil and jaggery instead of sugar and other unhealthy additives.”
While the place doesn’t have an entirely gluten-free menu, their pasta and sourdough pizzas, etc., are mostly diet-friendly, he asserts. He lists Amaranth-crusted Ratatouille, Tofu edamame kebab, pan-tossed wood ears, and tandoori pineapple as other healthy options at their restaurant.

It’s never too late to switch to healthy eating habits. By replacing your unhealthy snacks with the options mentioned above, you can certainly progress towards a healthy tomorrow. The transition is not difficult as there is a range of healthy snack options available in the market today. The best part is that these options are pocket-friendly and well within reach of most customers. So, what you have been waiting for, make a pledge to a healthier living and start the vow by replacing your fried snacks with healthier options today.

With the Keto diet being one of the most popular fad diets Hyderabadis are trying out, Tandoori is a top favourite option. Anna Native in Secunderabad, another favourite of those craving south Indian-fusion restaurants, is capitalising on such a crowd. Ilmas Baig, head chef, says, “Our kali mirchi kodi kebab, gongura paneer tikka and pachi mirchi fish tikka sell like hot favourites by those eating healthy. Fish, especially, is one of the richest sources of protein and good fats that people swear by. These dishes are made in tandoor, roasted on a skewer with a dip of very less oil.”

And this trend is not limited to eateries alone, snack brands, that are looked down on by health freaks, are rising to the occasion. They are making people replace old, unhealthy snacks with new-age ones, full of healthy options. We often succumb to those mid-day hunger pangs or late-night cravings. Snacks often come in handy in such situations — though consuming chips, biscuits, bhujia, and other fried products affects our health badly. High in fat, cholesterol, and artificial flavours, conventional snacks burden our system with toxins and their long-term consumption leads to many lifestyle diseases. Thankfully, brands in the city are coming up with a range of healthy snack options. Offered by new-age startups and companies, these healthier products promise to take care of your hunger needs without affecting your health negatively.

“Among the key benefits offered by healthy snacks are their high nutritive value, low-fat content, and no-compromised taste. Whether you talk about popped potato chips, protein energy bars, vacuum fried munchies, or tender coconut dried powder, all these healthy options have zero trans fat. Further, the use of wholegrain and multigrain ingredients make them a powerhouse of energy and good carbs. Our keto peanuts, keto chakli, Keto murukku, Keto bhujia, namakpara etc., lead the popularity charts among fitness enthusiasts,” says Apoorva Gururaj, a food technologist and CEO of Foodio.fit.

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