How we eat at home with our nearest and dearest directly impacts how we look and feel in both the short and long run. When you change the way you eat as a family, your habits are not only more likely to last but you’re investing time and energy into a wealth we can’t put a price on: Your Family’s Health.
So take up this challenge together, share your story and support others. Make an investment to last a lifetime.
Our goal with this challenge:
1) Work on eliminating foods from your diet that cause unnecessary inflammation, lethargy, weight gain and even dig the ditch of chronic disease deeper by causing constant inflammation.
2) Make simple sustainable dietary changes: That can help you maintain your ideal weight and even get rid of diet related acne, bloating, acidity, indigestion, fatigue etc.
The Drop and Swap
To get started with the challenge we've listed out 5 categories of food to drop over the next 2 weeks and 5 alternatives to swap those foods for!
Don’t worry about missing these foods, we've got everything covered and at the end of 2 weeks both you and your family will be feeling the difference.
P.s: Moms try and switch out these foods from your fridges and cupboards at home, less access is less temptation for the whole gang.
Food Groups to Cut:
1.) Cold Cuts and Frozen foods :
DROP
No Bacon, No Salami, No sausages, No ham, or any type of breakfast or luncheon meat No frozen or cured meats at all (this includes pepperoni, salami etc. No cheese corn nuggets, frozen paneer tikkas, Aloo tikkis, ready to fry frozen samosas, chicken nuggets, French fries and the like. If it comes in a ready to eat frozen form- it’s on this list.
SWAP
Opt for lean meats, low fat diary, lentils or eggs for that added protein boost in the morning. Make snacks at home from scratch and freeze them yourselves, chicken cutlets, veg cutlets and even French fries are easy to make and even easier to freeze with the help of a zip lock bag. This way you are certain the food you’re feeding your family is preservative-free and as full of nutrients as it could possibly be.
Why:
Current research shows that there are certain chemicals in red and processed meats – both added and naturally occurring – that cause these foods to be carcinogenic. For example, when a chemical in red meat called haem is broken down in the gut, chemicals are formed and these have been found to damage the cells that line the bowel, which can lead to bowel cancer. These same chemicals also form when processed meat is digested. In addition, the nitrite and nitrate preservatives used to preserve processed meat produce these chemicals and can lead to bowel cancer.
Frozen foods are processed foods stored at low temperatures to suppress spoilage, and increase shelf life. But food processing introduces fat, sugar, and sodium into natural produce, decreasing its nutritional value. Further nutritional loss happens when we reheat or cook such products. So even though these foods are easily accessible and quick to cook, they might not provide the intended health benefits.
2.) Tetra Pack juices and Soft drinks:
DROP
No ready to drink juices, fruit concentrates, sodas, aerated beverages etc. all fall into this category.
SWAP
Try opting for freshly made juices at home instead or even better yet try combining fruits with veg to increase the nutritional quality Eg (spinach and apple, carrot and orange etc.)
Why:
Most if not all tetra pack juices contain added sugars and or preservatives. The sugars not only cause inflammation but also feed bad bacteria in your gut as well as spiking insulin levels. While the preservatives contained in them disturb your gut health causing sodium-potassium imbalances.
3.) Processed foods:
DROP
All processed foods or rather anything inside a packet or factory produced should be avoided these will include biscuits, nankeen’s, rusks, banana chips, muffins, pastries etc.
SWAP
If you’re craving for banana chips, French fries opt instead for homemade versions. Try healthy tea time snacks like makhana or chana chaat, veg cutlets, boiled peanuts etc.
Why:
Processed foods often contain not only higher amounts of preservatives but also are stripped of natural nutrients to allow for better shelf life.
4.) Readymade Dairy Products:
DROP
This category includes, pre-packaged yogurt, paneer, chocolate or flavoured milks (tetra pack cold coffee, thandai)
SWAP
Wherever possible source local milk, and failing all else make your favorite diary drinks at home. Curdle milk to make Paneer, use the left over fluid from this (whey water) to make chaas or knead chapatti atta. Opt to make your kids their favorite milk based beverages, mango flavored milk from fresh mangoes, lassi from homemade curd etc
Why:
While most people assume giving their children a flavoured carton of milk is healthier than a juice, it often times contains the same amount of sugar as a can of coke or a handful of candy, including preservatives and synthetic (chemical) based flavours.
5.) Mithai:
DROP
Readymade sweets such as jalebi, pedas, barfi’s, gulab jamuns etc. all fall under this category.
SWAP
Opt instead to make homemade sweets, this way you always sure about the integrity of the ingredients you are using and also making sure that there are no added preservatives etc.
Instead try home made shrikhand, halwas, besan/til/coconut/ rajgira ladoos- which although are painstaking to make at home are well worth the extra effort.
Why:
Mithais today often contain large amounts of sugar, preservatives and sub quality fat to make the delicious bites both cost effective and tasty to those producing them.
