World Health Day: 7 useful tips from celebrity nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar to keep you fit

It's World Health Day today and what better way to start the day than get some great advice from none other than celebrity nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar. In her audiobook, Secrets of Good Health with Rujuta Diwekar available on Audible, she guides her listeners to follow a path of sustainable and healthy living with simple advice delivered in conversational Hinglish. Here's the gist for you:

Fruits and nuts

To stay energised throughout the day, it is important to start your day right. Rujuta recommends that you begin your day with either a fruit or soaked almonds or soaked raisins with 2 saffron strands for improved health in the long run. 

Never set a weight loss goal 

She stresses that one of the most useless things in life is to set a weight loss goal. Instead one should aim at reducing stress, ignorance and lack of education about health and fitness. Rujuta says bodyweight is not an indicator of fatness or fitness, it only shows what’s the relationship between Earth’s gravitational force with your body mass! So if we want to be healthy and beautiful it’s necessary to understand that good health has nothing to do with bodyweight, rather one should commit to healthy habits like exercise, good sleep and eating right!

Eat local

Rujuta suggests that you should always opt for local food, which is available close to you; at least within 100 km and choose food that is ecological and economical. She stresses on eating seasonal food, for example, during summer we should have watery fruits like watermelon or grains like ragi, and more.

Keep those gadgets away

An ongoing issue, especially during the pandemic, screen time is something that we all need to be mindful of. Rujuta urges listeners to keep mobile phones or any other gadgets away while having a meal.

Ghee for a healthy me 

Rujuta forever busts the “ghee will make me fat” myth!  She says a teaspoon of ghee in every meal including lunch, dinner and breakfast helps in providing fat-soluble vitamins like Vitamin D, A, E, K to the body! Ghee to dissolve fat? that's really wow!

Exercise for good health

Like food, exercise is important too. Rujuta says, “If you have a body, you have to exercise.” As per Rujuta, exercise has four pillars: Strength, Stamina, Stability and Stretching. She further adds “At least 30 min of exercise or 3 hours a week is necessary for everybody.” Always remember to do a warm-up followed by a high-intensity workout and then other exercises and end with a cool down.

Eat well and sleep well 

Rujuta’s mantra for good health is to follow up exercise with recovery. A good night’s sleep ensures that your body recovers. Her tips for sound sleep include eating wholesome food, like a banana, between 4  and 6 pm, reducing stress, and having dinner by 8 pm for a peaceful sleep. Local and hand pounded, single-polished rice and anti-inflammatory drinks like turmeric milk with 2 cashews, a pinch of jaifal and 2-3 Kesar strands are also recommended for a sound sleep