‘Fasting’ food can make you fat - TimesofIndia

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New Delhi: For the faithful, the nine-day fast during the ongoing navratras is meant to be a time for sacrifice for a healthier body and mind. But is your navratra fast ac

tually turning out to be a fattening feast? Dietary experts say that's more often the case.

It's that time of the year when many restaurants welcome you with boards proclaiming ''vrat food available here''. Delicacies on the menu include kuttu atta puri, paranthas, sitaphal (pumpkin), pa

neer, aaloo ki sabzi, rabri, rasgulla, pakodas, mithai, namkeen — the list goes on. A quick calorie count of these food items reveal they are much more fattening than a typical Indian meal.

Says Dr Ritika Sammadar, senior dietitian, Max Healthcare: ''The real problem is with the choice of food. Kuttu ka atta isn't bad for health and a kuttu ki roti without ghee

would be just as fattening as normal flour roti — which is around 70 calories. However, during the navratras people end up having puris (150 calories) instead of rotis. They also pack in pakodas, mithai and namkeen which are known to be extremely fattening and don't detoxify the body. '' Moreover, says Sammadar, many people end up binging during the navratras — skipping breakfast or lunch but overeating in the evening. Contrary to popular perception, this is actually unhealthier than having regular meals. ''People are having milk and fruits like bananas in any case, which are calorie-rich food. In the end, people end up consuming more than what they do on normal days,'' she adds. It doesn't help that most people tend to eat out a lot during navratras, and end up consuming far richer food than they would at home. Fasting doesn't make up for bingeing: Experts

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New Delhi: The belief that the nine-day fasting during navratras is a form of penance may not be so true, after all. The usual perception about the twin benefits of fasting during religious festivals is that it's the best way to lose some pounds while making gods happy may not work quite that way. Dietary experts say that the fasting phase actually turns into a weight-gaining process. Part of the problem lies with the commercialisation of navratra food. ''The same dishes cooked at home wouldn't be so fattening. The concept of going to the nearest restaurant for a meal during navratra is both ironical and self-defeating. What is served there is nothing but junk food,'' says Sammadar. Dieticians say people feel less guilty about binging during ''vrat'' under the illusion that the fasting would more than make up for the heavy meals they consume. A typical Indian meal with a green vegetable, two rotis (without ghee), lentils, curd, salad comes to be around 500-800 calories depending on the amount of oil used and quantity of servings. By contrast, three kuttu puris, paneer sabzi and sweets add up to 1,000 calories. Dr Sunita Sehgal, senior dietitian, Rockland Hospital says that during navratra people on fast completely stop eating green vegetables and lentils, replacing that with sweets, puris, parantha, salty snacks, milk, paneer to mention a few. ''The food we eat during navratra is also at fault. The diet is completely devoid of fibre and vitamins and full of carbohydrate and fats. This is not only bad for health, but is more fattening as well,'' says Dr Sehgal. She adds that this kind of diet heavy in carbohydrates and fats also leads to poor digestion. ''In the last couple of days I have had a number of people coming to me complaining of poor digestion.'' Many offices and companies have also been serving navratra food for their employees. Some companies have even gone to the extent of giving special food packets for the benefit of those people who don't like to have their food cooked along with food cooked for those not fasting. toireporter

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