Grocery Shopping for a Healthy and Balanced Diet

 Hello Friends!

Welcome to the Healthy Humans blog site.

To keep a body fit, it’s most important to have a healthy and balanced diet. It doesn't matter whether you work out or not, but your fitness level depends on your kitchen. 

Today, I have done a lot of grocery shopping. So I thought why I shouldn’t share with you what I eat. A balanced diet means proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals, dietary fibre, all these should be in your diet in adequate amounts.

Firstly, let’s talk about Proteins.

Proteins are body-building foods. But this doesn’t mean that if you don’t work out you don't need proteins. Friends, it’s very simple. Minimum protein intake daily should be 1g/kg body weight. 

Let me now tell you the protein sources that I consume.

 Egg Whites: (Egg White = 3g protein, Whole Eggs = 6g protein)

I eat 1-2 whole eggs every day, rest egg whites.

Studies show that you can eat 3 eggs if you are completely healthy.

 Chicken Breast: (100g chicken breast = 30g protein)

 I eat 150 grams of chicken breast almost every day.

 Fish:  I eat fish 1-2 times a week.

Now let’s talk about vegetarian protein sources.

100g Paneer = 18g protein

100g Black Beans = 21g protein

100g Chickpeas = 19g protein

100g Black Chana = 19g protein

100g Lentils = 10g protein (Approx.)

100g of Nutrela Soya Chunks = 52g of protein. It is a very rich source of protein.  Perhaps, eating soya mimics the activity of the hormone estrogen in males. This is however a debatable issue. I have read many articles about this. Some studies suggest it, others are against this notion. I eat soya chunks once a week. 

There are so many protein sources. Why just depend on soya chunks?

Meat and Eggs contain all the 9 Essential Amino Acids. On the other hand, vegetarian protein sources are incomplete sources of protein (Quinoa is an exception). This is why it is recommended to keep varying your vegetarian protein sources.

Now, let us talk about the primary energy source, Carbohydrates.

In general, there are two types of carbohydrates. Simple carbs and complex carbs.

Simple carbs i.e. refined flour which burns very fast and then gets stored as fat.

On the other hand, complex carbs burn slowly and provide energy for a longer period of time.

So, Undoubtedly, complex carbs should be preferred over simple carb sources.

Let me share with you the complex carb sources which I use.

Firstly, the natural oats. Whenever I prepare oats, I add fruit to them for the flavor.

Then I have Brown rice

I have whole wheat porridge. I got this prepared myself at the flour mill. It is really good. 

I don’t prefer brown bread because if you check its ingredients, refined flour is mixed with it. I prefer multi-grain bread.

Next is sweet potato. It is a very good source of complex carbs.

Next, we will talk about Fats.

Now, fat is one area where we falter. This is because junk food is readily available and we depend too much upon animal fat sources. It is disheartening that India ranks 3rd in the Obesity level list. Especially, In Punjab where dairy fat is excessively used.

So, let me now tell you the fat sources that I consume.

Foremost, the Nuts.

Walnuts, Almonds, Cashews, Peanuts. The experts recommended having 28g of Nuts per day. Actually, good fat cuts bad fat.

Another very healthy source of fat is Peanut Butter. (For Homemade peanut butter recipe Click Here)

Next is olive oil. I do not use any oil for cooking. This is for topping.

Also, I have avocados. These are not easily available in India but whenever I found them in the market I bought them and eat. It is an excellent source of healthy fats.

Next, we will talk about Vitamins and Minerals.

We get vitamins and minerals from fruits and vegetables. We do buy all the vegetables but we temper them so much that in the process, vitamins and minerals get extremely reduced. I generally eat steamed or boiled vegetables.

I regularly eat Carrots.

Also, I have broccoli. Broccoli and chicken make a very good combination.

French Beans, Spinach. and other green leafy vegetables. 

You can add other vegetables also to your diet. Try to avoid tempering them too much.

Let us now talk about the fruits.

Certainly, eat all the seasonal fruits. The fruits that I regularly eat are Bananas, Watermelon, Pomegranate, Apples. Also, I have Gooseberry.

Can you believe that one gooseberry has about vitamin C equal to that of 20 oranges? So if you eat a gooseberry a day, your immune system will get robust.

If you eat all these fruits and vegetables then you will get almost all the required vitamins and minerals.

Now, let us talk about dietary fibre.

It is recommended to have 30-40 grams of fibre every day. If you are eating whole grains, fruits and

vegetables regularly then you need not worry about fibre. Still, I would like to share some of the specific fibre sources which I use.

Firstly, flax seeds.

100g flax seeds = 27g fibre, 18g protein, 42g healthy fats.

You can add them in oats, shakes, etc.

Also, I am having dates. I suggest you regularly eat 5-6 dates. Not only it has fibre but it has many other health benefits.

Also, I have Cucumber, Beetroots. red cabbage. You can add it to salads. It is really good. Try to eat salad at least once a day.

Friends, try to keep yourself away from sugar, salt, and other spices.

Last but should be first, Water.

Drink a minimum of 3 litres of water every day. If you are drinking less amount of water,

then try to increase it gradually. I used to drink 3 litres of water. I have slowly increased it to 5 litres.

Friends!

Your health is very precious. Take care of it. So that is pretty much what I eat.

Thank you so much for reading.