What comes to your mind when you hear ‘FOOD’ ?
Until last year the following were the dishes that I had been really fond off:
Pasta, Pizza, Cakes, Ice-cream, Burgers, Noodles, All kind of mouth-watering restaurant dishes, and the list goes on & on. Plz. note that in most cases I would actually not prepare them myself (from fresh ingredients)! That means many were purchased from stores, the dishes came frozen (ingredients were frozen to-death) and were over-loaded with additives, preservatives, artificial sugars and all that stuff which can be really harmful to our delicate system. By system here I mean our digestive system, and YES all other organs pretty much react (in good or bad way) to what you eat.
& then something happened that changed my eating habits drastically. Although I was never concerned about getting heavier (or in my terms, Healthier) 🙂 But I started noticing that I wasn’t the same ME! Was becoming more & more lazy, my energy level was almost nil and I was munching all the bad stuff (that was way too high on calories). By that time I was already processing in my mind if I was going the right way? I was already subscribing to dieting-related blogs, Dr. OZ show (http://www.doctoroz.com/) and was reading through all the available information that i could get from internet about the Do’s and Donts of a healthy lifestyle ( I am not going into the details of it, as they are available widely on internet). After reading about the adverse health effects one can get by eating those tasty cakes and processed pizzas, I finally decided to make an exit from this greasy/fatty broadway.
But I must say, if I had jsut looked more carefully, the healthier options were also on the internet, or should I say in my kitchen, in the grocery stores. It was just that i did not peek through that window 😛
So now my daily diet consist of Musli, fresh juices, rice, fresh veggies, pasta and noodles (home-made), yogurts and two important things that i really want to mention here:
1. Saurekraut: which is finely cut cabbage that has been fermented by various lactic acid bacteria. Sometimes it may include garlic, carrots and other vegetables like broccoli, beans and onions. They are sour but with time you can start developing taste for it.
I have mentioned Saurekraut because it is actually the BEST friend of your stomach and a good source of Vit. C. We eat all sort of food, and there are very few food products that provide us with the perfect nourishment for our stomach, that needs some xtra support now and then. Saurekraut is actually eaten in different forms around the world, for eg. in Korea (as Kimchi). I eat it around 3-5 times in a week, and my stomach feels lot more healthier than b4. Its also good for people who eat or have eaten antibiotics. Actually antibiotics kill the good bacteria of our stomach, and it takes a long time for the healthy fauna to come back in the stomach. Here, saurekraut can play a vital role in supporting the stomach in these crucial times. I prefer saurekraut that is non-pasteurized and has a shelf-life of a week or so, as these do actually contain the live bacteria that can do wonders to your stomach. Here in Finland you get the saurekraut by the name of Hapankaali and its always available on the grocery shelves (cold ones) in the S-market or K-market.
2. Sprouted lentils:
These are also a good source of Vitamin C and a good side dish with anything you eat. The shelf-life of these should also be a week or so. Its also always available on the grocery shelves (cold ones) in the S-market or K-market.
I though it will be nice to give my own opinion about such products that can be helpful to many. I will try to write about such similar products as and when i start eating them 🙂
Till then Eat Healthy & Stay Fit!!
Eva’s diary 