Never Exclude These Items From Your Diet Completely

Some dishes and food ingredients always find a place in the ‘notorious list’ of weight gaining or unhealthy items, and if you are health conscious you may isolate them as ‘true enemies’. Before you completely leave a food item, know their health benefits also. Most of them, though have some negative effects, supply many nutritious contents to our body.

Potatoes – As potatoes are rich in calories, most of us fear that excess take of potatoes increases our body weight and invites many diseases. For the same reason, a few completely exclude potatoes from their daily diet. In true sense, health factors of potatoes differ the way they are cooked. Potatoes contain potassium, calcium and magnesium in plenty. Instead of frying or cooking potatoes adding oil, boil potatoes and use. If you bake potatoes and use, its fiber content can reduce bad cholesterol.

Big Sized Kerala Banana (Ethapazham) – Magnesium and Potassium needed for bone health are found in plenty in this banana, and it also supplies protein. It also supplies fiber, minerals and anti-oxidants. If you completely exclude banana from your diet, it adversely affects the energy production of body. Try to make Kerala banana a habit, at least once a week.

Cashew nuts – Minerals and vitamins needed for the health of teeth and eyes are found in abundant in cashew nuts. If you make a habit to chew one or two cashews a day, it keeps body healthy.

Coconut – It’s a myth that cholesterol present in coconut invites a lot of diseases and hence never try to exclude coconut completely. It helps in the health of skin, eyes and hair. Coconut oil which contains saturated fatty acids, and vitamin E & K is healthy. It improves metabolism and thus helps in reducing body weight.

Coffee – Caffeine is present in high levels in coffee and hence not advisable to drink in plenty. But if you drink two cups a day at regular intervals, it gives several health benefits too. It resists cancer of liver and many more diseases, and also depression, Alzheimer’s disease, mental pressure etc. Anti-oxidants present in coffee beans – the reason behind this. As per later news, green coffee is trending, which is believed to have several health benefits similar to green tea. Researches on green coffee are still going on and its health benefits are still to be proved. 

Rice – Rice is the staple dish of many Asian countries. Yet due to the presence of carbohydrate as the main ingredient, many people completely avoid rice. If body is deprived of energy supplying carbohydrates, it drags to serious health issues and diseases. Brown rice with less or no processing stays at position 1 among healthy foods.

Ghee – Ghee contents fat in excess, the reason why ghee is not the favourite of many. But cow’s ghee play a magnificent role in catalyzing the brain functioning. For hormone reactions and health of skin and hair too, ghee plays an important role.

Non-vegetarian dishes like chicken, Fish and eggs are often misunderstood to be weight gaining food items, and many exclude these items completely from diet. But you can include all these energy giving & body building items in your diet, but need to check the quantity intake and cooking oil used for preparation. In short, almost all normal food items have some health benefits, and if kept intake under control, you can enjoy the benefits.

Disclaimer: I have prepared this column based on a health magazine. Kindly seek your doctor’s opinion and never blindly follow whatever it’s written here. Please use it as reference only.

Image source: Pixabay

Also read a few more articles on healthy food habits everyone need to follow. Click on the images in the gallery to read