Ladies! Here Is Your Healthy Diet Plan For A Day

Ladies! Here Is Your Healthy Diet Plan For A Day

Women have very specific nutritional needs, and these must be met through specific foods. Below is a simple way to follow a day-wise plan to ensure that essential nutrients are consumed in plenty.

Early Morning

Lemon water makes the gut alkaline and is anti-inflammatory.

For Keeping Blood Sugar Stable - Lemon Water with Cinnamon

Cinnamon keeps the blood sugar stable, diabetes away and also helps cut cravings for sugar effectively. Lemon water makes the gut alkaline and is anti-inflammatory.

Also Read: Lemon Scent Helps You Feel Thinner, Lighter

Breakfast

This enables the body to get the proper sequence of amino acids.

For Complete Protein - Peanut Butter Sandwich

This is a nutritional powerhouse as pairing peanut butter with whole wheat bread enables the body to get the proper sequence of amino acids, which are important in making protein. Wheat lacks some amino acids but peanuts have the amino acids lacking in wheat. So, together they make a whole – a synergistic whole.

Also Read: Alert: Giving Babies Peanuts and Eggs Cuts Future Allergy Risk

Mid-morning

Don’t forget to add a pinch of iodised salt.

For a Happy Heart - Fruit Salad

Next time you whip up a fruit salad, make sure to include both grapes and apple. Apples contain the flavonoid called quercetin, and grapes contain catechin. Pairing the two compounds helps stop platelet clumping (which could be bad for your arteries and heart) and keep your heart smiling with health. Don’t forget to add a pinch of iodised salt to get the much-needed electrolytes and trace mineral iodine most of us tend to be deficient in.

Also Read: A Thyroid Diet: Adding Colour to Your Fruit Plate and ‘Going Nuts’

Lunch

It is a protein-packed combination (legume and grain = complete protein) that delivers all essential amino acids.

For Guts Health - Kadhi with Chawal

Kadhi made with sour curd and besan (gram flour) is a bonafide comfort food loved by many. It is a protein-packed combination (legume and grain = complete protein) that delivers all essential amino acids. Plus it is gluten-free so when combined with rice, it gives the gut a break from gluten to everyone, not just those who are gluten intolerant. Thanks to the yoghurt base, it also delivers good bacteria for the gut and helps boost our digestion, maintain gut-flora and also helps in nutrient absorption (the body absorbs food well when your digestive system is clean). Besan and curd both are rich in calcium and phosphorous making this a fabulous bone health meal.

Also Read: Eat Fruits, Yogurt Daily to Reduce Stroke Risk: Study

Evening Snack

To Bust Fatigue - Chickpea and Tomato Salad

Chickpeas are chockablock with iron but they don’t have it in a readily available form. So pair it with a Vitamin-C rich food like tomato and get in enough iron.

Also Read: Try Our Green Chickpeas Hummus Recipe This Winter

Dinner

Magnesium is a known stress-buster.

For Muscle Health and Weight Loss - Palak Besan Cheela with Turnip Sabzi

Magnesium is a known stress-buster and a natural muscle relaxant and spinach is loaded with it. Besan delivers much-needed protein and complex carbohydrates and multiple other nutrients.

Turnip is extremely low calorie (250 gm gives only 70 calories), so is a great addition to an effective weight loss program. Plus, it delivers heart-healthy potassium, lots of fibre to keep our gut happy, a significant amount of iron and calcium, enough Vitamin-C, an immune booster, a healthy dose of B vitamins, and some effective antioxidants - Vitamin-E, manganese and beta carotene.

Also Read: Spinach-Protein May Offer Solution for Alcohol Abuse, Chronic Pain

Bed-time

For Staying Happy - Haldi Milk

This simple concoction of haldi (turmeric) and warm milk at night can work wonders. Turmeric contains an antioxidant called curcumin which has been linked to a lower risk of some cancers and Alzheimers’disease, and also helps lift levels of the neuro-chemicals: norepinephrine, dopamine and serotonin, which make us a little happier. Adding black pepper - which most Indian cooks do intuitively in curries anyways helps boost curcumin absorption. And milk delivers the much needed calcium for the bones and keep osteoporosis away.

(Kavita Devgan is a nutritionist, weight management consultant and health writer based in Delhi. She is the author of Don’t Diet! 50 Habits of Thin People (Jaico) and Ultimate Grandmother Hacks: 50 Kickass Traditional Habits for a Fitter You (Rupa).)

(For long, women's health has been sidelined and put on the back burner, not taken seriously, not researched, not explored, silenced. FIT is launching its 'Her Health' campaign, that will focus on health stories that put women and their health issues front and centre. What would you like us to talk about? Write to us at [e-mail])

Also Read: Want to Sleep Peacefully at Night? A Healthy Diet May Help