Food for thought

There are many,like Menon,who have fallen prey to slick marketing gimmicks and false promises made by these so-called healthy food manufacturers. Speaking about the same,Isha Nair,a dietician and nutritionist,says,“These food items like diet sodas,and low fat foods can cause more damage than they do good to anyone’s metabolism. In fact most of the health bars,the health foods,are all made from processed sugar,or corn syrup,which is not healthy at all. The high percentage of preservatives in the diet sodas,might not actually,as the companies claim,have more than one calorie,but the sheer amount of damage they do to the bones,the internal digestive system is disturbing.”

And disturbing it really is. With the market being flooded with readymade products like the diet bhel and diet khakras,it’s becoming difficult to decide between what is genuinely healthy and what is merely a gimmick.Ironically they are a huge hit amongst the figure maintaining and the health conscious section of the society,of which most of them fall in productive age group of 20-40.

Laaxmi Patil,a fashion-designing student,says. “I loved noodles for many reasons. It is easier to cook and tastes great and can be improvised upon with the least amount of effort. However,I am aware of its hazards and knew that it is not good for the body. However when the wheat-enriched version of the same hit the supermarket shelves I literally threw a noodle party for all my friends and I feel no guilt now after having a bowl full of the same everyday.”

Dr Dilip Sarda,president of the Indian Medical Association,Pune chapter,says,“Any cold drink,junk food or fast food,irrespective of their claims of less calories,cannot claim that they are good for health. This is because of two basic ingredients,salt and sugar. Excess of these two ingredients causes half of the known problems affecting people and most junk food items have them in abundance. Even saccharine,which is artificial sweetener,is equally bad as it is technically more sweeter than sugar.”

Adding more about the same Babu Joseph,director,National Institute of Naturopathy says that there is some truth in the fact that vegetable oils do not contain any cholesterol . “Cholesterol is basically found in animal fats,and not in plant oils,and that is true when companies promote vegetable oils as being cholesterol-free. However when this oil is used for cooking,or when it is processed,the extra additives,and chemicals that are added do have a negative impact on the oil rendering it unhealthy. It revolves around the food choices that we make,coupled with our cooking habits that make a food healthy or unhealthy to eat.”