5. What according to you & Divija are the challenges to follow a healthy diet for teenagers & college students? With PMS becoming a common health issue, suggest lifestyle tips to manage it?
According to Divija and I there are a couple of factors that can pose as challenges for teenagers and college students to follow a healthy diet.
Number one, the most common factor, this stress, anxiety cut throat competition and to cope up with all these emotions they resort to emotional eating and depend upon junk, sugary foods.
Second, teenagers are at an age where they go through a lot of hormonal changes. They are exploring themselves, understanding the changes around them. And college students are at a stage where they may have a heart breaks. They have to make career choices or financial problems where their main focus is to eat something that pampers their emotions. Hence, they resort to emotional eating, not knowing that this is a vicious cycle which will in turn adversely affect their emotional state.
The third, the trend nowadays is to socialize over food with the rise of restaurants and a variety of cuisines the youngsters want to go out and eat with their friends. And these restaurants serve unhealthy but very tasty food. And hence they opt for the taste over health. Sometimes healthy food is sold at a premium rate and students who are living on a budget find it easier to source junk and a pocket friendly food which is found in abundance all around
Fourth also, we live in a world where every celebration, be it a birthday or wedding or graduation. Everything calls for, junk, sugary and unhealthy food like cakes, pasteries, fried, colas etc. There is a culture of associating eating junk food with celebrations and happiness. And for youngsters, every day is an occasion so the whole problem is because of the system, lack of correct education and knowledge about the right kind of food.
Hence, I feel that if they can be guided by a professional at a very young age, then they would be able to make better food choices and live a healthy life. Creating awareness and showing them the right path is the key to all the problems.
6. Share three 5 minute healthy recipes to try on the go?
Recipe one: Besan Cheela high in complex carbohydrates and protein. Add one cup of Gram Flour in one bowl. Add a little water to it and make the Chela Batter. Then add an onion, tomato. Capsicum, salt, turmeric powder, ginger, coriander leaves to it. Mix all the ingredients. Now heat the pan and add one teaspoon of mustard oil to it. Put the batter on the pan and spread it evenly. Let it cook till it becomes nice and crispy when ready. Serve it with green chutney. It’s healthy, tasty and filling.
Recipe number two: Ragi Malt recipe mixed three to four tablespoons of Ragi with some water and make a paste out of it Then take a pan add some water, some rock salt and Ragi paste to it then cook for two to three minutes and let it cool. Then add it two to three tablespoons of curd. Do it and mix it will add your gluten free high fibre, vitamins, and minerals. Indian smoothie is ready.
Recipe 3: Overnight Oats. This is no cook method of making oatmeal, soak raw oats with some coconut milk and some honey and rested in the refrigerator for at least six hours overnight. The next morning you have ready to eat a delicious, creamy bowl of oatmeal topped up with some seeds, nuts, dried fruits or fruits and enjoy this delicious power packed breakfast.
