Anuradha Sridharan

Ever since Rujuta announced this book, I've been eagerly awaiting its launch. Having read all her previous books, I resonate with her approach towards nutrition, fitness and health. Though I may not agree with every single tip/guideline that she shares in her books, I totally subscribe to her underlying philosophy of eating local, seasonal and traditional foods.

A few months back, I was at a book store and was skimming through another popular book on kids nutrition written by another celebrity nutritionist. I knew this book wasn't my type when I came across a strict calorie-based approach and suggesting 2 rotis for lunch, 150 ml of milk for after-school drink etc, all measured to the T. We are raising children, not robots.

Coming to "Notes for Healthy Kids", Rujuta in her trademark style describes the various factors that are impacting the health of today's children. And parents alone cannot be blamed for it. It is a systemic failure due to poor regulations, biased policies and lack of efforts from the Government.

The book gives equal importance to nutrition, exercise, physical activity and sleep. Apart from addressing parents on the importance of each of these aspects, there are also chapters that elderly kids and teens can read and relate to. Rujuta has also shared some interesting anecdotes from her interactions with her clients. The one on oats noodles with veggies cracked me up. And I was so happy to see her calling out the amounts of sugar and other artificial ingredients in packaged "health drinks" like Horlicks, Bournvita etc. Something that most Indian mothers and grandmothers believe to be quintessential in a child's diet. Towards the end of the book, Rujuta has listed down all packaged foods and she advises not to exceed 1-2 times a month. This includes packaged cheese cubes, yes, the ones which go into the snack box every single day.

Here are three important key take-aways for me from this book.

Rujuta shares 4 important "food fundas" for parents, out of which I'm following 3 of them. I have eliminated most junk foods from my daughter's diet, cook local, seasonal and traditional foods for her and don't talk to her about individual nutrients like protein, calcium, iron etc. I feed her according to her appetite. When she says enough, I stop. I have never force fed her. We eat simple dinners before 8PM on most days. So far, so good. The area I need to work on are

HOW my daughter eats. Rujuta recommends the three S's of eating right - sit, switch off, senses. I need to follow this important rule as well.

Ninety minutes of free play every single day. Given that we live in an apartment with limited outdoor space, she is bored to play in the same place everyday. I'll have to figure out something to encourage her to step outdoors and play often.
Stay active and help around. Involving kids with chores and tasks at home is extremely important to enable them to become more self reliant and independent. Now that my daughter is 7, I should involve her more often in various tasks at home.

The book also gives food guidelines based on different age groups, specific health situations and ailments, which can be a handy reference.

Overall, I loved reading this book and I would highly recommend it to all parents.

Recently, I came across an email campaign by Zomato titled "No cooking January". What the hell, I wondered. Are they urging people to order in all their meals for a MONTH? The email says "This month you can do more of what you like the most –stay in bed, catch an extrasnoozeor two,watch your favourite showsandbingeon all the food you crave."

What a perfect recipe for weight gain and loss of health, that too being prescribed for a month like January when people usually make fitness resolutions!

I vividly remember this conversation that happened a couple of years back at a friend's home. It was a varamahalakshmi pooja day and many women from our apartment were at her place, including me. The friend enquired me about my cooking and then turned to another lady and said, "Anu loves cooking. I have tasted her aviyal, it was yum". The lady then looked at me in disbelief, "What? You like cooking?" in a disgusted tone. I confidently responded, "Yes, I do. What about you?" She casually replied, "No, I don't enjoy cooking. I don't have time for it. I'm an engineer". No kidding, this was her exact reply. "I'm an engineer too", I replied in a calm tone.

Firstly, sly remarks about someone's passions and interests is so uncool. Even if you don't have similar interests, you don't have to voice out your opinion so direct in front of someone's face.

Now wait, what's the connection between the "No Cooking January" and this incident? I can hear you asking.

More and more people, especially those who are breaking the glass ceiling and "going places" demean cooking as a drudgery, bore, time-consuming chore etc. They embrace frequent ordering in, takeaways, ready-to-eat processed foods etc. They are the target audience for such "no cooking" campaigns by food delivery companies.

It is perfectly okay to order in/eat out 1-2 times a month when we are unwell, tired or want to take a break. But if the frequency increases to say, 3-4 times a week, then we should be concerned.

There has been a shift in our mindset towards exercise and fitness over the past 4-5 years. Many of us have taken up either running, gym, pilates, swimming, Yoga etc. We invest atleast 30-45 minutes everyday in engaging in such forms of exercise. The same rigor and commitment is required towards what we EAT as well. Food and nutrition contributes to a significant percentage towards our well-being. Let's not get into a debate on what the exact percentage is. Some say, it is 70%, 75%, 80% etc.

Here are my 2-cents on why I believe cooking is an essential skill for all, irrespective of gender, educational qualification, job title, salary, perks etc.

It is high time we take complete responsibility towards our daily food intake. Outsourcing to food corporations, restaurants or food delivery startups is a recipe for disaster. I have written enough about packaged foods, its ingredients and how we are being fooled by attractive health related claims. With restaurants, the problems are even more harder to identify, as we don't know what goes into making our food - the quality of the ingredients, hygiene of the staff, packing materials used. We can get food at a cheaper price if we order from food delivery providers like Swiggy, Zomato etc, but no one really knows about the quality.
We don't need an elaborate 3-4 course meal every single day. Let's keep our food expectations simple enough. A simple breakfast and lunch menu can be prepared in 45-50 minutes. We have enough gadgets (mixer, food processor, chopper, blender etc) to make the process of cooking faster. "Where there is a will, there is a way" - if we decide that we will ONLY eat home-cooked foods as much as possible, then we will figure out ways to sort out the challenges.
I find cooking to be therapeutic and provides a good break from gadgets/devices etc. The more we do with our hands, the more our minds are engaged. Be it any skill like painting, crocheting, knitting etc. Cooking provides the similar meditative feel. If you are connected 24/7 to your smart phone and other devices, cooking provides the perfect way to unwind and digital detox every single day.
If we can't afford to spend that 45-50 min everyday, then it is time we analyze how we are spending our time on a daily basis. Are we taking up more commitments? Are we being super busy but not really productive? Are we prioritizing wrong tasks?
If you are like the person above who simply hates cooking and just can't afford to spend time in the kitchen, then hire a househelp to manage cooking at home. It is still homecooked food with quality ingredients, much better than ordering in.

Last but not the least, let's stop stereotyping women who love to cook are traditional and homely, and women who hate being in the kitchen are modern and ambitious. Please, this is so ridiculous. The media and ads portray such nonsense.

I cook because I like to take control of my health and my family's health.

I'm a serious Tamil movie buff. Some of the dialogues from popular movies etti paathufy (sneak in) in my articles now and then. So sorry about that.

Junk foods review ve podaama kaanji poi irundha en blogukkuga vandhudhu Instagram sponsored ad from Kelloggs (It's been a while since I posted about any junk foods and my blog looked like a draught struck field. Thanks to Instagram sponsored ads, found this new one from Kelloggs). This time, it is the new product line titled Real thandai badam corn flakes, right in time for Holi.

In Captain Vijayakanth style, "breakfast cereal, junk foods la enakku pidikkadha mudhal vaarthai " (the junk food I hate the most is breakfast cereal)

Ok, enough of vetti pechu (trash talk). Let's get to the facts.

The front side of the packaging states "Energy from real almonds", "created by local chefs". Turn to the back side, the brand tries to invoke a nostalgic memory of drinking a glass of chilled thandai (nostalgia is a powerful emotion, exploited by creative marketers. Remember Paper Boat ads?).

Let's not fall for such traps. Let's decipher the ingredients list and nutrition facts.

Source: https://www.amazon.in/Kelloggs-Cornflakes-Real-Thandai-Badaam/dp/B07LC82S52/

Corn grits (60.5%), Sugar, Sliced Almonds (10%), Malt extract, Iodised Salt, Vitamins, Minerals,

Colours (INS 100(i), INS 160a(i)),

Condiments (Cardamom powder (0.005%), Fennel powder (0.002%)),

Antioxidant (INS 320)

The quantity of almonds is ONLY 10% and the % of condiments is so negligible. Thandai is such a flavorful, aromatic drink with spices like cardamom, dry ginger, saffron, fennel and rose petals, not to forget the good proportion of nuts like cashew, pista, melon seeds and almonds. It is an insult to our traditional drink "thandai" to have its name being associated with such junk food.
The second listed ingredient is Sugar. A 30 gm serving size contains 9.5 gm of sugar (around 2.5 tsp of sugar) whereas a 30 gm serving size of original Kelloggs corn flakes contains 2.5 gm of sugar (around 1/2 tsp of sugar). What a premium we are paying for the extra sugar!!
A 30gm serving size contains a meagre 0.7 gm of dietary fibre and 1.7 gm of protein. One can get higher fibre and protein by eating 10 plain almonds. Why put our bodies through such sugar load?
The colour INS 100(i) is the yellow colour extracted from turmeric. This is similar to the "unga toothpaste la uppu irukka?" moment (does your toothpaste contain salt?). We have been including turmeric in milk, thandai and most dishes on a daily basis. Now the global food corporations extract the colour from turmeric and sell it back to us.

These 4 reasons are more than enough to not buy such products in the first place. We deserve real food and not such gimmicks. Make a glass of real thandai and enjoy it guilt free this Holi season.

The last 2 months seem like a blur. Winter is definitely not my favorite season. The dullness, fatigue and the chill made me feel very down. I was lethargic and didn't have the motivation to do anything. Added to that, the new Netflix connection unleashed the couch potato in me. Tougher questions like "what next?" started creeping in, ever since my last consulting contract ended in Dec. I also felt stuck at home because of the cold weather. The afternoon sun rays just didn't seem to give any warmth.

Thankfully, I see a hope of light in the past few days. My Yoga mornings are back to being regular. The winter is slowly packing its bags and bidding goodbye (thank you very much!). I just decided on a whim to go for a walk on my apartment terrace this evening. The beautiful sunset, pleasant weather, cloudy sky and fresh air brought a lot of cheer to my heart. I stopped my brisk walk now and then to look at the busy road - people returning from work, cars gliding through at a slow pace without honking madly and the day slowly winding up.

After a few minutes, I settled into a good rhythm of walking and the thoughts that were bothering me started to make a comeback. I spoke to the universe, "What should I do? I don't want to get into a full time job. I want flexibility and at the same time, meaningful work. I want to work at my own pace and want to create an impact, blah, blah, blah". The usual talk. By now, the universe would have got bugged with the same thoughts from me ;-)

As I continued my walk, a thought just popped in my head, "Give priority to learning". Yes, these exact 4 words. And there it was, the light bulb moment that I was waiting for. The truth hit me hard. I realized over the last few months, I haven't learnt anything new. Sure, I was reading a few books but I haven't pursued learning with rigor, focus or discipline. Whatever I "want" are the outcomes but the means to achieve the same is through learning.

Learning doesn't have to be tied to an outcome such as exams, interviews, course completion, job etc. But learning just for the sheer joy of learning without any external pressure. It could be anything that captures my interest and curiosity at this point of time. I asked myself, "What are my current areas of interest? What do I want to learn more about?" And the list started growing.

Physics
Evolution and anthropology
Epigenetics
Climate change
Japanese culture
Behavioral psychology
Mental wellness
Nutrition, more on the role of gut
Pranic healing.....it's not because of Petta 😉
Buddhism
Upanishads
Neuro-biology
Minimalism
Growth mindset
Organic gardening
Power of Focus, attention, deep work

It felt so good to have come up with this list. All it needed was a brisk walk outside for 30 minutes by myself, without any gadgets in hand. It is a proof of the amazing power of just being with our thoughts.

After lunch, I stepped out and sat on the swing in my balcony garden. My cat was resting peacefully as usual, soaking in the sunshine. There was just a slight tingling of her ears because of my footsteps. After realizing it was me, she went back to her nap. I sat there, without any book or gadgets in hand. It was blazing hot but I needed that warmth. I quietly started observing the various sights and sounds around me - gentle swaying of palm leaves, distant sound of helicopter, honking from cars on the road (yeah, even at 1PM), bees buzzing from one flower to the next, my cat nicely stretched and her breath so rhythmic and relaxed, a tiny jasmine flower that has just bloomed this morning, announcing that summer is nearing. As I was taking in all these through my senses, a pigeon dropped by from nowhere and was curiously looking around. I turned towards my cat and as expected, she was all alert but for only a few seconds. She might have thought, "nah, I already had my food. Not hungry enough to grab a pigeon. Why waste my effort?" and she continued her nap.

These 15 minutes felt like meditation to me. We don't need fancy apps or wellness retreats to feel the inner peace. Just by being ourselves in the present moment, being aware of our surroundings, being conscious of our senses and just observing nature - so simple but we have complicated our lives so much that these ideas sound so alien and strange. As I was taking a walk in the terrace last evening, this incredible view of sunset just brought so much happiness.

Slow living, mindful living, conscious living - whatever may be the term for it, this is the way I'm going forward with my life. I don't need to be busy every single waking minute - jumping from one task to next, reading a book, watching a video, cooking, scrolling through social media feed etc. I need these "do-nothing" moments too.

And for those who ask me, "What are you upto these days?", my answer is going to be "living my life", as simple as that.

Source: BigBasket

The chocolate and nut based spreads have become a staple in many urban households, ever since Nutella set its footsteps firmly in the Indian market. As though Nutella isn't enough, there are quite a few similar chocolate spreads that have been occupying the supermarket shelves the past few years.

A few weeks back, I heard a mom saying casually, "My daughter CANNOT eat idli, dosa or chapathi without ketchup, jam or choco spread". Her 5-year old daughter is a sweet child but OBESE at such a young age. How did our kids reach that "CANNOT EAT FOOD WITHOUT CHOCOSPREAD" state? It is us, parents who introduced them to such junk in the first place. If the child protests that she won't eat regular food, why do we succumb so easily? What worse could happen? They might throw a tantrum or skip a meal. So what? After a few days, they would forget and move on. Instead, what do we do? We indulge them, we fulfill their every single demand for such sugar loaded junk without any limits. If they won't eat regular foods, we immediately end up opening the bottle of Nutella, just so they eat atleast something.

This habitual consumption of sugary foods is extremely harmful for our children's health. Here's a quick comparison on the amount of sugar and unhealthy refined fats in these choco-spread brands.

As you can see, more than 50% of the product is SUGAR. This one reason is strong enough NOT to buy and stock up these spreads at home. I had earlier written in detail about Nutella and Hersheys Choco spreads. Do take a look if you haven't.

If your kid is 1-2 years old, then do not serve them idli/dosa with sugar or chapathi with ketchup. They get used to the sweet taste at such a young age. Serve plain idli with a little ghee and chutney/sambhar without any chilli flavour.

If your child has started to read, show them the pack and ask them to read the first 2 ingredients.

For older children, sit down, have a chat and make them understand the sugar and chemicals in these spreads. They can calculate the % of sugar if they are familiar with division, fractions, percentages etc. This helps them to start reading labels and understanding the nutrition table right from the age of 8-10 years. Instead of just following orders from parents, they start to take responsibility and become more involved in the shopping decisions. Also helps to put Maths concepts to practical use :-)

P.S. If you are thinking about using them in moderation or keeping them for "emergency" days when the kid wouldn't eat anything, sorry that ain't gonna work. What I have learnt is that if there is junk sitting in the fridge, kids would remember and reach for it all the time. If there is no stock at home, they would eat whatever is available. As simple as that.

Let me share with you a perfect example of how celebrities/influencers promote junk as "healthy" by spurting out attention-grabbing numbers/stats.

As I was scrolling through my Insta feed a couple of days back, I stopped at a sponsored ad. It was from Unibic Cookies that showed a video of Shilpa Shetty making a fruit parfait with Unibic Digestive cookies as the base/crumble. This particular line in the caption caught my attention - "To give it a healthy twist, we are making this recipe using Unibic Daily Digestive cookies which has 26% fibre"

Woah, 26% fibre? seriously? I have never seen a packaged food with that high an amount of fibre. I immediately opened my Amazon app, searched for this pack and looked at the nutrition facts table. 100 gm of these cookies contain 6.1gm of dietary fibre, which means it has 6.1% fibre. So the number quoted in Insta caption is clearly misleading.

Source: amazon.in

I then opened the video from Shilpa Shetty's Insta page and carefully listened to what she says - "to make the fruit parfait a tad bit healthier, we are going to use Unibic Daily Digestive oatmeal cookies which has 26% fibre of your daily requirement" and then she proceeds with her recipe.

If you are going to talk about daily requirement, you would ideally say "these cookies meet 26% of your daily fibre requirement". They don't contain 26% fibre.

Let's presume that our daily fibre requirement is 25gm approx.

26% of that would be 6.5gm, which means we would have to eat around 100gm of these cookies in a day to meet the 26% fibre requirement claim.

I'm not sure how many cookies add upto 100gm. I'm guessing it would be around 7-8. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Long story short, the fitness enthusiast/wellness influencer Ms.Shilpa Shetty (with 9.5 million followers in Instagram) claims that eating 7-8 unibic daily digestive cookies in a day is healthy because it gives us 26% of daily fibre requirement.

Let's look at the ingredients:

Source: amazon.in

Wheat flour, Edible Vegetable Oil (palm), Sugar, Rolled Oats (8%), Liquid Glucose, Wheat bran (3%), Milk Solids, Leavening agents (E500 ii, E503 ii), Salt, Emulsifier (E322 from soya).

As expected, the first three ingredients are maida, palm oil and sugar. Rolled oats is ONLY 8%.

I'm so glad that FSSAI has brought in the regulation that mandates food companies to print "refined wheat flour" for maida and not "wheat flour". How ridiculously misleading it is currently!

100 gm of these cookies contain 23.4 gm of unhealthy fats and 18 gm of sugar. If we eat 7-8 cookies in a day so that we get 26% of daily fibre requirement, then we are also consuming around 6 tsp of unhealthy fats and 4.5 tsp of sugar. How does this make us "tad bit healthier"?

I had earlier written about McVities Digestive and Britannia Nutrichoice cookies. All these so-called "digestive" cookies are totally unhealthy and addictive because of the high amounts of fat and sugar.

In this age of short attention span, it is very easy to be misled by claims made by celebrities, brand endorsers and food influencers. If someone uses "health tags" and highlights individual nutrients like fibre, protein, calcium etc, be extremely cautious. Read the ingredients list, nutrition facts table and make a conscious decision for yourself and your family. These food/fitness influencers don't care a hoot about our health. If they do, they won't be promoting such junk in the first place.

Products that are being promoted as "Sugar-free", "no-added-sugar" are on the rise. As people are getting aware of the consequences of high sugar consumption, food industry wants to tap into the new demands by launching sugar-free products. Until a few years back, only diabetic patients were seeking such products, but nowadays many health-conscious people who don't want to be trapped by lifestyle diseases are looking out for sugar-free products.

Whenever I accompany my in-laws for grocery shopping, I get very concerned with the way they scout for sugar-free foods in every aisle. Be it ice-creams, jams, biscuits, cookies etc. All they would check for is the label "SUGAR FREE" on the front side of the pack. Both of them have diabetes and hypertension. They have been on artificial sweeteners for decades.

The intention of this article is NOT to talk about artificial sweeteners and their ill effects per se but more about the label "sugar free" and how it can mislead consumers into buying unhealthy products.

Take for example, this pack of Unibic's Daily Digestive sugar free ajwain cookies.

The first two ingredients are maida and palm oil, both are unhealthy, more so for people who are diabetic. Why? Because of the high glycemic index of maida and the inflammatory properties of refined oil.

Instead of sugar, this pack contains maltitol (E965). Maltitol is a sugar alcohol (a polyol) used as a sugar substitute. It has2.1 calories per gram(white sugar has 4 calories per gram) anda glycemic index of 52(table sugar has a glycemic index of 60). Since maltitol is a carbohydrate and contains calories, it affects blood glucose levels. Some of the side effects of maltitol include abdominal cramps and intestinal gas. It is also mentioned in the pack - "polyols may have laxative effect".

To increase the fibre level, the brand has included fructooligosaccharide. I didn't understand the need for it, given that the pack already contains 7.2% rolled oats and 4.5% wheat bran. Then as I flipped to the front side, I noticed this tagline "33% daily fibre". 100 gm of these cookies contain 8.2 gm of dietary fibre, which is definitely on the higher side. Instead of blindly going with the "high fibre" and "sugar-free" taglines, it is imperative that we also look at the source of fibre.

Dietary Fructooligosaccharides are a form of sugar that is naturally present in onion, garlic, artichokes, banana etc. They act as a prebiotic, as they go undigested into the intestine and feed the gut bacteria. Sounds all good but whether the lab processed fructooligosaccharides provide the same result is something to be questioned.

Most sugar-free products will have either high levels of fat or salt to compensate for the lack of sugar. 100 gm of these sugar-free ajwain cookies contain 22gm of unhealthy fats. The other unhealthy additives in the form of leavening agents, emulsifiers and artificial flavors are also present.

This is yet another junk masquerading as healthy. Let alone diabetics, it is not a healthy choice for fit people either.

I'm listing down a few other popular brands which use "sugar-free" as their value proposition along with their respective artificial sweeteners.

Horlicks Lite => Acesulfame Potassium (950)

Women's Horlicks => Acesulfame Potassium (950)

Bournvita for women => Sucralose (955)

Brittania Nutrichoice Digestive Zero => Maltitol (965) and Sucralose (955)

Unibic Sugar free Butter cookies => Maltitol (965) and Sucralose (955)

McVities Digestive No added sugar => Maltitol (965)

Let's not blindly pick such "sugar-free" labeled junk. Let's read the ingredients and understand the nutrition facts.

I came across this product in Instagram when a popular food blogger lavishly praised it as "tasty and healthy with the power of 5 superfoods". This new product "Fittify Gourmet Hi-Protein Meal Soup" by Saffola is trying to capitalize on the latest high protein craze with the claim "up to 10x protein vs regular soup". The front side of the pack of Spanish Tomato flavor lists other claims - "11g protein, 6.3g fibre, 26 vitamins and minerals". What caught my attention was this phrase

"With 5 plant-based superfoods - quinoa, moringa, amaranth, buckwheat and turmeric".

All the right words to grab the attention of today's health-conscious, time-starved urban consumer, isn't it?

Firstly, we need to understand these 10X protein claims. In tiny font, it is mentioned that 10X protein comparison is with regular powdered instant soups available in the market, the ones like Knorr that hardly have any nutrition. All I can think of is the classic Goundamani-Senthil dialogue - "naa ezhaavadhu pass nga, neenga SSLC fail nga...pass perusaa, fail perusaa?" (Folks who don't understand Tamil, this is a dialogue from a Tamil movie Gentleman).

In other words, one who claims "I have scored 15 marks and I'm better than the student who scored 5 marks" when the pass percentage is 50% and the distinction percentage is 90%.

Next, let's turn our attention to these superfoods. The back side of the pack states the benefits of these five superfoods to reinforce the fact that this soup indeed contains these magical ingredients. Now we need to know how much of these ingredients are actually present.

Let's search for these superfoods in the ingredients list (picture source - Amazon)

Quinoa (0.1%), Buckwheat (0.08%), Amaranth (0.08%), Turmeric (0.01%), Moringa (0.004%)

Such minuscule quantities! How ridiculous is that! Since there are no regulations, brands can add a teeny tiny amount of any of these and use them in their promotions. As consumers, we need to be wary of such claims and really understand the quantity of these ingredients. The food bloggers promoting this soup are being sent a hamper with these superfoods in cute, little glass jars. Yet another visual fooling strategy used by brands to create a false image. Earlier, brands used to send only their product (and the exact phrases to be used) to food bloggers/influencers. Now they seem to be sending the appropriate props to use in the pictures.

What are the top ingredients then?

Soy protein isolate, maltodextrin, inulin, sugar, Edible Vegetable Oil, Edible Common Salt

I haven't done enough research to share my thoughts on soy protein isolate, which is being widely used in protein shakes. What I have read so far is that soy protein isolate is chemically extracted from soy. Given that more than 90% of soy is genetically modified, I avoid soy products or its extracts. There are enough protein-rich sources in a traditional Indian diet. I don't see a need for such chemically processed protein extracts.

The source of protein is mainly soy protein isolate. Quinoa, buckwheat and amaranth are protein-rich sources but given their quantities are so less, we are not getting protein from these natural ingredients.

Maltodextrin is highly processed, artificially produced white powder, derived from starch. It is used as a thickener and binding agent in many processed foods. Our body absorbs it quickly, giving instant energy. It has a high glycemic index and spikes up glucose levels. It might be suited for athletes, but definitely not for someone looking to lose weight or managing lifestyle ailments like diabetes.

Each serving contains 6.8gm of sugar (approx 1.5 tsp of sugar). What's the need for sugar in a soup? A pinch should suffice to enhance the flavor, why 1.5 tsp of sugar?

Each serving contains a whopping 1189 mg of sodium. To give you a comparison, Knorr sweet corn vegetable soup contains 543 mg of sodium per serving. This is extremely high for a single meal soup.Why aren't the food bloggers talking about this fact?

As usual, this soup also uses the term "real vegetables". If you check the ingredients list, it is a measly 1.3% of dehydrated vegetables(tomato, onion, coriander and parsley). The soup is called Spanish tomato but there is hardly any tomato present.

Artificial additives in the form of flavor enhancers (INS 627, INS 631) are also present. Yes, the same flavor enhancers used in Knorr soups. Please check my post on Knorr soups to know more about these flavor enhancers and their side effects.

Apart from the soup mix, it also comes with "multigrain crunchies". Yeah, obviously....when you add "gourmet" to the name and want a premium positioning, there has to be "multigrain" in it, isn't it?

What are these crunchies made of? Oat flour, corn flour along with a few other ingredients. And yes, the same 2 flavor enhancers (INS 627, INS 631) are present here as well.

Each pack comes with 4 servings and MRP is Rs.375. Current selling price in Amazon is Rs.300. So each serving costs Rs.75. Quite a high price we are paying for hardly-any-good, mostly-bad ready-to-eat soup.

There are other variants like Mexican sweet corn, Italian mixed vegetables etc. The ingredients are pretty much similar. And the same story repeats itself.

Yet another junk masquerading as healthy, that is launched to fool urban consumers, curated by a celebrity chef.

A bowl of healthy and tasty tomato soup can be made in 15 minutes with a 2-litre pressure cooker and a hand blender. The minimum ingredients needed are 4-5 tomatoes, 1 onion, 3-4 garlic cloves, butter/oil, salt and pepper powder. That's it, not a long laundry list of thickeners and flavor enhancers. You can skip the butter/oil and make it vegan, oil-free. If you want to add protein-rich foods to this soup, add a handful of moong and/or masoor dal, which will also give a nice, creamy texture without the need for any thickeners.

If you want to make a nice moringa soup, here's my recipe, using real drumstick greens. You might need around 2 handfuls of the greens, not 0.004% as present in this pack of instant soup.

All my homemade soup recipes are tagged in Instagram here. Do take a look, these are quick and simple.

Let's stop relying on celebrity chefs to curate junk meals for us. Let's stop falling prey to tall health claims.

Let's learn to cook and invest time in cooking every day for our good health. And yes, as always, READ THE INGREDIENTS LIST AND NUTRITION FACTS TABLE.

There is a new trend in marketing these days - creating a new need. A decade ago, marketing was catering to the prevailing needs of consumers by positioning products/brands accordingly. This involved understanding consumers' needs (both expressed and latent needs), current alternatives used and the struggles consumers faced with those alternatives. The promotions - ad narratives, taglines and messaging all revolved around these aspects.

But if you see the latest trends in marketing, it is all about creating new needs in the minds of consumers. Packaged food brands achieve them in two ways - one based on instilling fear and the other based on aping Western trends. Once the new needs are established, the product category gets created and new brands get launched.

Since the last 3-4 years, Indian media has been abuzz with articles stating that Indians don't eat enough protein and publish statistics/research to substantiate those claims. This is the precursor to create a new product category in the market, which is protein supplements/shakes. Brands are jumping on this bandwagon big time.

The latest is this new Fittify Gourmet Hi-Protein Slim Meal Shake by Saffola, which the "food influencers" have started to promote it on social media.

There are multiple flavors of this meal shake. Let's look at Pistachio Almond flavor, which seems to be the favorite among the food influencers.

Ingredients:

Whey protein concentrate (44.5%), Skimmed milk powder (26.1%), Inulin (chicory root extract), Thickener (INS 412), Garcinia Cambogia, Edible vegetable oil (sunflower oil), Almond Flakes (1.1%), Mineral premix (0.9%), Vitamin premix (0.3%), Quinoa (0.15%), Buckwheat (0.13%), Amaranth (0.12%),Sucralose, Turmeric (0.02%), Moringa (0.01%).

Contains permitted natural colour (INS 140) and added flavors (nature and nature identical flavoring substances)

The source of protein is whey protein concentrate, the first ingredient. When milk is processed to form cheese, the remaining liquid is called whey. This liquid undergoes several processing steps and then dried to form a whey protein concentrate powder.

Given that most commercial milk is adulterated and the cows raised in large-scale dairy farms are given antibiotics, growth hormones and what not, I don't consider "dairy products" procured from a commercial large-scale industry as a reliable nutrition source for protein (or calcium). I would urge all these protein supplement brands (that use whey protein isolate/concentrate as their protein source) to first prove that their supplements are free from antibiotics/growth hormones residues.

The flavor is called "Pistachio and Almonds" but the quantity of almonds is so less (1.1%). And I'm searching for pistachio in the ingredients list. In Goundamani's voice, "avan kedaikka maattaan". There are NO pistachios but there is green colour added in the form of INS 140 (and maybe a few drops of flavor). They are so confident that consumers wouldn't read the ingredients list that they chose to skip adding real pistachios.

Similar to their meal soup, the slim meal shake also emphasizes on five super foods but the percentages are so less here as well - Quinoa (0.15%), Buckwheat (0.13%), Amaranth (0.12%),Turmeric (0.02%), Moringa (0.01%). In SJ Surya's words, "irukku aana illa".

Last but not least, this meal replacement shake uses artificial sweetener - sucralose. All artificial sweeteners affect the gut bacteria, impairs appetite regulation and causes weight gain. I had shared more details in my earlier post on Brittania Nutrichoice Digestive Zero biscuits that use sucralose as the sweetener.

I avoid ALL products using artificial sweeteners. They come with a laundry list of repercussions such as weight gain, sweet cravings etc. They impact our gut bacteria, intestine and liver.

Meal replacement shakes sound all hip, cool and modern, but they are never wholesome. There is very little dietary fibre (2.9gm) in this drink, how can this be considered a meal? The product page in Amazon shows that 1 serving equals 3 bowls of dal, 1 bowl of curd, 1 bowl of spinach etc. Why not EAT those regular staple foods?

I'm NOT falling for such traps. Yes, protein is important and I'd rather eat my bowl of dal, nuts (including real almonds and pistachios) and seeds on a daily basis than gulp this pretentious drink.

From a price perspective, a pack of 12 servings costs Rs.1190. So per serving is around Rs.100. For the same price, one can easily buy a day's requirement of organic milk, organic fruits and vegetables.

In my not-so-humble opinion, such meal replacement shakes are a lazy way to eat, one that doesn't require chewing, one that doesn't require any attention to be given to food (work/drive and sip your shake) and of course, one that doesn't need any time to cook. It is a shame that food bloggers who "cook" promote such unhealthy options.

Frugal living is a concept that I grew up with. It offers various benefits - to our pockets, our mental well-being and peace and of course, to our environment. Before I talk about ways to reduce expenses, let me share my views on why we should reduce consumption.

The less we buy/own, the less time we spend in managing them, organizing them, the less money we spend in buying organizers to manage them, the less energy we spend in maintaining them. This applies to all categories of purchases we make.

The bottom line is - The fewer expenses we have, the less complicated our lifestyle becomes.

A few weeks back, I had attended a personal finance workshop, where the financial advisors spoke about increasing your income potential and increasing your investments. But none of them spoke about reducing expenses. In fact, some of them go on record and say, "Don't think about expenses. Don't calculate how much you are spending".

I completely disagree with such viewpoints. When these financial advisors talk about retirement corpus, the key input factor is your "monthly expenses", which is then extrapolated based on inflation to compute the corpus required. If the monthly expenses are less, then the retirement corpus required would obviously be less.

Yes, income and investments are important to think about, but it is also equally important to think about expenses. A penny saved is worth a penny earned.

In this article, my focus is on food-related expenses. Here are 10 ways by which we can reduce expenses by embracing healthy eating habits for life.

1.Avoid processed/packaged/ready-to-eat foods

Duh, what else will be my first point? ;-) A decade ago, my family's weekly shopping cart used to be loaded with muesli, instant oats, act II popcorn, lays chips, cookies, biscuits, packaged tetra pack juices etc. Over the past 5 years, we have stopped buying packaged foods completely. They give an illusion of convenience but they add up to our expenses quite a lot. Breakfast cereals alone will cause a significant dent to your monthly grocery bills. There are additional costs linked to their consumption - healthcare costs that you'd eventually be spending on because of health issues. There is a cost to the environment as well, thanks to the huge amounts of plastic that we dispose off, after eating packets of junk.

2.Avoid food wastage

This is a topic that is extremely important to me. Many of us bring home loads of vegetables and fruits during our weekly grocery shopping and dump them into our fridge. During the busy weekdays, we hardly keep track of what's in there, which eventually ends up rotting and we had to throw them out. Similarly, we buy provisions/dry groceries in bulk and don't keep track of the half-opened/not-yet-opened packs, which also results in duplicate purchases and wastage. Over the past few years, I have put in place several processes at home that helps me to prevent food wastage.

Whenever I go shopping, I prepare a list beforehand and avoid impulse purchases.
I ensure I keep myself aware of the dry groceries and fresh produce so that I don't end up stocking the same thing twice. Shared a few ideas in this blog post.
Making a list of veggies and striking them down after use has now become an ingrained habit. Wrote about it in detail in this blog post.

3.Plan your weekly meals

I wrote a post on meal prep and planning a couple of years back, where I had mentioned that weekly meal planning is a tedious process. How wrong was I! It has made my weekdays so much easier. For the past three months, I have been doing weekly meal planning that has really helped me to plan and use up groceries and veggies based on the purchase date. Because of the plan, I know exactly what to cook, there is no wastage and my grocery expenses have also reduced considerably. Will do a separate post on how meal planning has helped me in detail.

4.Do-It-Yourself (DIY) basic essentials

Convenience products cost quite a bit. For eg, roasted flaxseeds cost almost double than raw flaxseeds. Spice powders are expensive when brought from the store but they cost very little when made at home. I make most of the spice powders, batters, pickles etc. I prepare and stock up coriander powder, pepper powder, jeera powder, chai masala, sambhar powder, rasam powder, idli chutney podi etc for a month. The costs of buying such packs are quite high, compared to the tiny amounts of time spent in making them. Moreover, we are aware of the ingredients used. A few more ideas shared in this post.

5.Allocate a budget for eating out

As a family, we have set a monthly budget for eating out in restaurants and we try to stick to this limit. Keeping track of our expenses helps us to know our cash flows better. So if we are already nearing the limit towards the end of the month, we stick to eating homecooked food.

6.Choose eating-out wisely

This is in continuation to point #5. Identify what eating out means to you. Is it convenience, change of routine, social gathering, exploring different cuisines? Since I cook all meals at home, I would prefer to take a break 1-2 meals a week, which is usually lunch on a Saturday/Sunday. We go out to run errands or plan a casual family outing. We decide on the restaurant to visit in the locality where we are headed. This way, we eat all our meals at home on weekdays and go out during weekend afternoons.

We rarely order from Swiggy/Zomato etc. We would rather eat dosa with molagapodi at home on busy days than order food that comes packed in cheap, plastic containers.

Both my husband and I love our tea and filter coffee. We don't like to have them at expensive cafes. I'd rather have a small tumbler of filter coffee at a Darshini/Sagar/A2B than a cream-loaded latte at CCD or Starbucks (seriously overhyped, not my kinda coffee). Why do we need such large "mugs" of coffee, I wonder?

Source: TownEss

7.Embrace local produce

It is really sad to see the line up of imported fruits and veggies on supermarket shelves. They are so damn expensive and on top of that, there are hardly any nutrients left, because of high food miles and chemicals being sprayed to extend their shelf lives. I'm a big believer of eating local fruits and vegetables. Since they are grown locally, the prices of such items are lower as compared to imported veggies like zucchini, kale, baby spinach, Washington apples, California grapes etc. For eg, 1 kg of violet brinjals cost around Rs.50 (Bigbasket) and 1 kg of cowpea beans cost around Rs.70. Compare that to broccoli (Rs.170 per kg), asparagus (Rs.372 per kg) and zucchini (Rs.110 per kg). Yes, they might be healthy but the question is do we need them when we have options that are equivalent or even superior in nutrition profile? Similar to fresh produce, I prefer to buy local grains and pulses - millets (that cost Rs.80-Rs.90 per kg) compared to quinoa (Rs.500 per kg). Elaborated more on this point in my article from 2015.

Hope these points were helpful. Do share your thoughts on how you cut down on food-related expenses. Would love to hear your perspectives.

Things happen for a reason - I'm starting to believe this idea more and more these days. The people you meet on a random day can bring in new ideas or change of perspectives. This incident narrated below happened last October. I was traveling in a BMTC bus with my daughter D. An elderly lady was sitting next to us. She was reading a magazine titled "Heartfulness" and I was peeping to see what it was all about. Let me admit, I have this uncontrollable urge to find out what book/magazine someone is reading while at a public place (Anyone else does this?). Then she started talking and was telling me about a form of meditation and a book that has been translated into multiple languages. She also told me that there is a discount going on in Amazon for this book if I'm interested. As she was getting down at her stop, she turned to me and said, "We were meant to meet and I'm happy to have introduced this concept of meditation to you".

She didn't try to persuade me to buy this book. The conversation didn't sound sales-y. It felt genuine and I could sense a calmness around her. After we reached home that evening, I checked in Amazon and bought this book at a discounted price. The book arrived a few days later but I didn't start reading it immediately. It was happily lying on my bookshelf for a few months.

Last Thursday, as we were about to leave for our Kerala mini-vacation, I quickly grabbed this book without a second thought and dumped it in my handbag, hoping I could read a few pages during the travel times. Little did I know that I would get so hooked to it that I ended up finishing the book in 2 days.

The book "The Heartfulness Way" talks about a 3-step process that lets us connect within and feel the divine source through meditation. The 3-step process prescribed maps to the 8 stages of Ashtanga Yoga and I really liked the explanation given for each of these stages. I'm not going to elaborate on this process but what worked for me in this book is that there were many lines and passages that felt like they were written for me personally. Some of the lines were so relatable, that I was literally nodding my head, taking a pause, looking at the beautiful scenery all around me and absorbing the message.

A few lines that I really loved:

"Everything starts with the heart. When the heart is at peace, the mind is at rest. When the heart is content, the mind gains insight, clarity and wisdom. We often think that the heart and mind are two distinct entitities that are often in conflict with one another. In heartfulness meditation, we use the heart to regulate the mind, thus bringing them both into alignment."

"Meditation is not concentration. Concentration is forceful, while meditation is effortless, involving no force at all"

"Our thoughts, emotions and activities leave traces in the atmosphere. When entering any place, we resonate with what we feel there"

"If you spend your money wisely, then why would you need so much of it? When you truly value a resource, you want to make the very most of it. You conserve it"

"Sight is the most prominent sense. We tend to focus upon whatever we see, so closing the gate of sight helps us reorient our awareness inward"

"The greater a thought's emotional intensity, the stronger its subconscious influence"

"As we become more receptive to the voice of the conscience, we find that it holds us accountable for smaller and smaller matters. Even at the subtlest hint of a wrong thought, we find that the conscience pricks."

In today's world, we are reacting to each and every external stimulus. This has taken us so far away from realizing the divine source within. This book prescribes a spiritual process to look inward, that not only helps us to dive deep into our inner consciousness but also helps us to tackle the challenges of the external world. I loved reading it and am planning to incorporate the meditation process in my routine.

"Meal replacement" is the new buzzword these days. Meal replacement smoothies, meal replacement shakes, meal replacement soups etc. Breakfast bars and snack bars fall under this category too.

Recently, I spotted this "max protein replacement bar" from a brand called RiteBite in Namdharis supermarket. I can spend hours at Namdharis mainly because I find so many hip, junk-pretending-to-be-healthy products. 😉

The front side of the pack has all the right words to grab the attention of today's health conscious, time starved consumers.

Protein - 20 gm

Fiber - 5 gm

Vitamins - 21

But turn to the ingredients list and you'll know the real facts.

Ingredients

Protein Blend (soy nuggets, whey protein concentrate, soy concentrate, calcium caseinate),

Corn Syrup,

Edible Vegetable Oil,

Dietary fiber (wheat fiber, fructooligosaccharides)

Whole grain (rolled oats),

Almonds, Cashewnuts, Raisins, Cranberries

Yoghurt powder,

Honey,

Invert syrup,

Fructose,

Glycerin,

Flaxseeds,

Emulsifying agents (INS 322, INS 471)

Edible Gum (INS 412)

Salt

Citric Acid

Added vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and amino acids

Contains natural and nature identical flavors

As you can see, various avatars of sugar are present - corn syrup, invert syrup, fructose etc. Each bar contains 11.4 gm of sugar (close to 3 tsp of sugar).
The percentages of healthy ingredients like rolled oats, almonds, cashews, raisins, cranberries, flaxseeds etc are not mentioned. So I presume they are quite low.
A pack containing ONE breakfast bar costs a whopping Rs.120. For the same price, we could easily buy more than a handful of nuts and dry fruits. Why eat a breakfast bar with unhealthy ingredients having a 9-month shelf life when you can eat a handful of nuts and dry fruits that are natural, containing proteins and healthy fats for the same price?
Emulsifying agents - INS 322 (Soy Lecithins) and INS 471 (mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids (glycerol monostearate, glycerol distearate)) are being used. Soy lecithin being extracted from soy has a higher chance of being genetically modified.
Last but not the least, the source of protein is both from soy and dairy. These are my personal thoughts on these two ingredients.

First let's focus on soy. More than 93% of soy planted in the United States is genetically modified. In India, only cotton is genetically modified as of now. Unless brands explicitly confirm that soy used is non-GMO or they mention that the source country of soy is India, I'm extremely skeptical of consuming soy products.
As I had written in my earlier post, these are my thoughts on using dairy as a protein source. When milk is processed to form cheese, the remaining liquid is called whey. This liquid undergoes several processing steps and then dried to form a whey protein concentrate powder. Given that most commercial milk is adulterated and the cows raised in large-scale dairy farms are given antibiotics, growth hormones and what not, I don't consider "dairy products" procured from a commercial large-scale industry as a reliable nutrition source for protein (or calcium). I would urge all these protein supplement brands (that use whey protein isolate/concentrate as their protein source) to first prove that their supplements are free from antibiotics/growth hormones residues.

Even if you don't agree with me on the last point, I hope you would make a note of the sugar levels in such meal replacement bars that promise high protein.

I believe we can get enough protein from plant-based sources, following a typical Indian balanced diet. I had compiled a list of plant-based protein sources, along with their protein values. Please do take a look.

If you still believe dairy to be the uber source of protein (and calcium), try to get organic milk that is free of antibiotics/growth hormones from a local dairy farm - the kind of milk that our grandparents used to procure.

I'm currently reading Cal Newport's Digital Minimalism. Halfway through the book, I'm just blown away - too many "aha" moments, evoking so many emotions as I'm nodding my head and underlining powerful lines in every single page. Will do a detailed review once I finish reading the book. As I was reading, many thoughts came gushing from the top of my mind on why digital minimalism is important to me.

Cal Newport's earlier book "Deep work" had made such a huge impact on me when I read it in 2017. Since then, I have taken multiple breaks from social media and I have also realized that I'm not as addicted as I thought to be. One of the powerful takeaways for me was to set an intention for every technology we use - why am I using it? How is it aligned to my goals?

Since then, I realized my goals for using social media were related to spreading awareness about healthy eating, food and nutrition and also share my perspectives on topics that are important to me - productivity, parenting, writing, learning etc. I stopped posting personal updates on social media - vacation pictures, important events like birthday/anniversary, funny memes, forwards etc. I uninstalled FB and Twitter apps from my phone and access these accounts only when I'm in front of my laptop. My time spent in these two social media platforms had come down a lot in the past two years. But I had also started to spend a lot more time on Instagram around the same time. I was convincing myself that I have found like-minded people and have made friends through this platform. Though the posts I was posting and the people whom I'm connecting with through this platform tie closely to my goals, it certainly doesn't justify the ridiculous amount of time I had been spending on it. I do take Insta breaks often by uninstalling the app from my phone for a few days. Surprisingly during such breaks, I don't feel fidgety or seem to miss it much.

Let me admit, my 7-year old daughter D had told me a couple of times, "Why are you seeing your phone always?", "Are you in love with your phone?". It felt like a tight slap and I knew I needed to do something to reduce my phone usage. I installed an app to measure my phone use timings and I learned that I use my phone 2-3 hours per day on an average. The main concern is that the phone use has been staggered throughout the day, which explains the 50-60 times screen unlocks per day.

I do believe that deep, focused work is extremely important to get anything worthwhile accomplished. Whenever I'm working on my blog posts, I'm completely in FLOW - I can sit for 2-3 hours at a stretch without getting distracted and finish my posts. So I had to come up with ways to be in FLOW on activities that matter to me, apart from writing.

When you seek something, a solution appears. I stumbled upon this app called Forest a few weeks back. You can set a timer whenever you are involved in something. During this time, you cannot use your phone. For each focused sitting, the app rewards you with a grown plant/tree (virtual of course!). If we check our phone while the tree is growing, it withers. What a great use of gamification!

I decided to get D involved in this activity as well. We would sit together and read our books while the Forest app grows our plant during the time we are focused. She is super excited about this app and would pull me often during the day, "Come, let's use Forest app". Thanks to this app, I have been spending more time on reading these days.

I also realized that whenever I'm traveling, I hardly use my phone, except for clicking pictures. I'm engrossed in observing new places and surroundings. But when I'm at home, I mindlessly check my phone whenever a tiny flash of boredom strikes.

During our last vacation to Kerala a few days back, my husband and I were sitting in the balcony of our hotel room, admiring the beauty of nature all around and sipping chai one afternoon. I said to him, "It is so nice to sit here without our phones". He then asked me, "What did we used to do back in 2007-08 without our phones when we are on quiet vacation like this?". I replied, "We used to read a lot, go for walks or just sit idle". Such idle moments of nothing have become such a rarity these days.

Another experience that made me feel bad about how times have changed was during the same Kerala trip. We were waiting in KR Puram railway station one evening. I was so excited to be at the train station that day as I was traveling by train after a long time - the sight of trains arriving and departing at different platforms, vendors shouting "chai, chai", book shops selling magazines etc. Watching the hustle and bustle in an Indian train station is just so exciting and makes me quite nostalgic. Growing up in the 80s, train travels have always been very special. But when I looked around that evening, it made me feel sad to see a sight like this - everyone on their phones, some watching youtube, reading WhatsApp forwards, one of them watching a movie on Amazon Prime, all eyes hooked to their smartphones.

Addiction to phones/gadgets is quite similar to addiction to junk foods. Just like how junk foods are carefully designed with the right balance of sugar, salt, fats and other flavor enhancers which make them addictive, many apps that we use on our phones are carefully designed with the right reward mechanisms and continuous streams of validation that we seek because of our inherent psychological triggers.

Going forward, I'll share my progress on how I'm embracing digital minimalism. It is certainly the need of the hour to claim back our TIME - the ONE resource that is given equally to all of us on the planet.

Having loved Cal Newport's earlier books - Deep work and So good they can't ignore you, I was awaiting the release of his latest book, which is based on a topic of interest to me - Digital Minimalism. It was such an amazing read and certainly life-changing in many ways. Absolutely well written, thought-provoking and so relevant for our generation who lead a connected life 24*7.

I had already shared my personal views on why I'm embracing digital minimalism. Will continue to share more on the practices I'm putting in place going forward.

Coming back to the book, in Part I, Cal Newport in his typical style sets the context so beautifully on why our current relationship with technology is unsustainable. He highlights many reasons on how certain platforms are exploiting our psychological vulnerabilities, leading to behavioral addictions. He has also expanded on this context with relevant examples and case studies from the past 2 decades - the entry of iPhone, the rise of FB and other social media platforms and the widespread adoption of smartphones. Some of the comparisons he brought out are so powerful - smartphone resembling a slot machine where we keep trying our luck to see what we get, checking for "likes" is equivalent to addiction etc.

The chapter on how tech companies encourage behavioral addictions was brilliant, where he talks about intermittent positive reinforcement and the drive for social appeal (Pages 17-24). I'm sure all of us who are active on social media will be able to relate to these reasons.

Many of us have tried various tips and tricks under the sleeve to control our social media use or smartphone use in general. But Cal emphasizes the importance of identifying our "philosophy of technology use". He had also written about the same in Deep Work.

As a first step, he proposes going on a 30-day digital declutter, where he suggests that we take a break from optional technologies in our lives and engage in activities that are meaningful and satisfying. After the 30-day period, we reintroduce the optional technologies slowly, based on how it adds value to our goals.

In Part II of the book, he explains certain practices that are so important in leading a meaningful life outside our smartphones. The first practice he recommends was to embrace solitude and spend time alone with our thoughts. This is one of my favorite chapters, mainly because of the fact that our generation hasn't valued the importance of solitude. We check our smartphone or engage ourselves in some activity or the other "as a knee jerk response to boredom".

The second practice on "conversations vs connections" is also extremely crucial for us. We tend to believe that we can replace real conversations (in-person or call) with casual texts/likes/comments etc through social media or texting apps. But Cal reiterates that humans are wired to be social BUT not through social media.

This book doesn't advocate abstinence from social media or anti-technology; rather the author emphasizes on adopting technology with intention and using social media as a support/enabler for actual conversations.

My most favorite passage in this book

"The human brain has evolved to process the flood of information generated by face-to-face interactions. To replace this rich flow with a single bit (in reference to LIKE) is the ultimate insult to our social processing machinery. To say it's like driving a Ferrari under the speed limit is an understatement; the better simile is towing a Ferrari behind a mule."

Finally, Cal recommends the importance of high-quality leisure in our day-to-day routines. This chapter talks about identifying our offline leisure activities - craft where we use our own hands to create something valuable.

If you hang onto your smartphone for every fleeting moment of boredom, I assure you - this book will change your life. Go for it without a second thought and thank me later - in person or via a phone call ;-)

These days, I spot this pack of crackers often in the shopping trolley of the person standing before me in the billing counter, especially if they are senior citizens. My sample size is too small to reach a conclusion but based on my observations, biscuits feature significantly in the diets of senior citizens these days, irrespective of their health ailments.

The pack quotes all the right phrases to capture today's urban consumers - sugar-free, honestly good biscuit, no added artificial colors or flavors, zero transfat etc.

Let's look at the ingredients list:

Refined wheat flour (91%)

Edible Vegetable Oil (Palm),

Yeast,

Iodised Salt,

Raising agent [503(ii)]

Milk Solids

Emulsifier (472e)

Improver (1102)

The first ingredient is maida which constitutes a whopping 91%. Dietary fibre is not even mentioned in the Nutrition Facts table. Such highly refined/processed foods are NO good for any age group.
There is no SUGAR listed in the ingredients. There is no artificial sweetener either. The "sugar-free" claim seems to be fine BUT what about salt/sodium? If there is no sugar, there should be enough salt added to compensate for the lack of taste. Iodised salt is the fourth listed ingredient BUT sodium is not mentioned in the Nutrition Facts table.
The fat content in these lite cracker biscuits is relatively low (16%) as compared to digestive biscuits (21% in Nutrichoice Digestive). Irrespective of the quantity of the fats, we should be concerned about the source of fats used - palm oil, which is unhealthy for our body as well as for our planet.
The other artificial additives in the form of raising agent, emulsifier and improver are present in these "honestly good" biscuits.

I have noticed that many senior citizens avoid fruits and veg salads with the reason that they won't be able to bite them but are happy to indulge in similar such biscuits (and other crunchy, packaged snacks). And the irony is that they take artificial fibre supplements every night to avoid constipation related issues. My personal experience - It is easier to convince kids and help them understand the perils of junk food than to convince senior citizens about the harmful effects of biscuits and "health drinks".

As I keep reiterating, it is okay to indulge in ANY junk food once in a while but what we should be most concerned are the "habitual" foods - the ONEs we consume every day. Biscuits are one among the top habitual foods in many households. Let's be mindful of the ingredients in ALL "health" biscuits.

Ever since I read Cal Newport's Digital minimalism, I have reduced my phone usage drastically. For the past 10 days, my usage is less than an hour per day, which is a significant reduction compared to my earlier usage of 3-4 hours. One of the most important takeaways from this book for me is that we have replaced real conversations with short bursts of interaction happening in social media. And the worst part is that we think this substitution is equal and we seem to be okay with it. I have been making this mistake and it felt like quite a revelation while reading the chapter on conversations vs connections.

As I sit quietly and contemplate, the reason why I'm active on Instagram is not that I like the "hearts" or I want more followers. Either of them doesn't motivate me to post or check my phone frequently. What I have realized is that I CRAVE for conversations. I get excited to see comments on my posts or DMs. In a typical day, I have most of my real conversations with my 7-year old daughter. There is hardly any opportunity to have deep conversations with my husband on a daily basis as work takes away most of his time.

When I used to go to a full-time job a few years back, there have been many opportunities of having deep conversations with colleagues, though mostly related to work. This is also one of the key factors that is pushing me to opt for a work-from-office role next instead of a work-from-home role. I'm HOPING to meet a few like-minded people and share meaningful conversations on topics I care about. Those topics definitely aren't about fancy cars, abroad trips, latest gadgets, investments, buying retirement homes, Keto diet, new fancy pubs/eateries in Bangalore etc. In one of my last work assignments, these were the common topics of discussion around the lunch table. I would sit there, feeling utterly bored.

What are the topics I care about, you might ask? Here's my list in no particular order:

Climate change

Zero-waste lifestyle

Mindfulness

Minimalism

Organic gardening

Non-fiction Books

Continuous learning

Productivity

Power of deep work and focus

Spirituality

Ethics and values in work

Nutrition, healthy eating but with unpopular opinions (No calorie counting, macros counting or any diet focused)

Traditional cuisines, embracing local produce

Mental wellness

Positive psychology

Yoga and meditation

Energy/prana and its role in healing

Do more with less

Behavioral psychology

Motivation theories - why we do what we do

Parenting - child nutrition, inculcating values

Music
Passive Income Generation
Results-oriented workplace
Technology that elevates people's lives

Sending out this note to the universe so I could get to meet people who have similar topics in their list.

I'm a minimalist when it comes to clothes, jewelry, shoes, bags etc. But I can't say the same when it comes to books. I invest a good amount of money on books every year. I believe that a single idea or an "aha-moment" can change our lives forever. Such ideas or inspirations can come from interacting with people from different walks of life, which is definitely THE best option. But as I said in my previous post, I need to make time for meeting new people and having conversations that elevate my current thinking models. Given the various constraints (both within and external), books seem to be the second best option.

Every few months, a book lands up on my lap and creates such an impact that I wonder why I didn't read it earlier.

On the occasion of World Book Day (Apr 23rd), here is my list of favorite books in no particular order (well, except the first!).

Harry Potter series (Yes, right at the top always!)
All books of RK Narayan
All books of Ruskin Bond, the latest favorite being "A book of simple living"
Six thinking hats by Edward Debono
New Earth by Eckhart Tolle
Ikigai by Hector Garcia
The Gita for children by Roopa Pai
Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
Deep Work by Cal Newport
Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport
Start with Why by Simon Senek
Drive by Daniel Pink
Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely
Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
Aaraam Thinai by Dr. Sivaraman (Tamil)
The leader who had no title by Robin Sharma
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
The last lecture by Randy Pausch

I'd love to know your list of favorite books. Do share in the comments below.

I usually go by recommendations when picking books to read but this time, it was different. I randomly picked up this book from the Kindle store and am so glad I did.

Om Swami's The Wellness Sense gives a good overview on the basics of Ayurveda, living in tune with mother nature, the role of food in one's health and most importantly, role of our mental thoughts and emotions in modern-day ailments.

The book starts off with the basic premise:

"The health of an individual is not just the state of his physical body but an aggregate of the body, senses, mind and soul. Your immune system is directly impacted by your state of mind. The more positive and happy you are, the stronger your immunity."

The author stresses the importance of mental and emotional health throughout the book.

"How you respond to what life throws at you affects your health in the most significant manner. The way you look at anything and the manner in which you accept or reject are the two most important - if not the only - factors that determine your overall well-being."

On absorption of food and its close relationship with our mental health, I loved this particular passage

"Your physical health is almost entirely dependent on how your body accepts and processes food, which in turn is affected by your mental and emotional state. The body is not just a mechanical machine, for if it were, all stomachs would process food exactly the same way."

The first 3 chapters are similar to that of any Ayurveda focused book - where the author explains about five elements, seven dhatus, our constitution/three doshas and the importance of balance. These might be a good revision if you have already read a few Ayurveda books.

What definitely needs to be stressed upon in today's age where a universal diet with fixed and calculated macro-nutrients is prescribed to everyone is this absolutely crucial point:

"In Ayurveda, nothing is absolute. The utility, value and effect of anything is relative. Hence the efficacy of its healing is dependent on the receiver, the time and the environment. Foods that may be good for you could be catastrophic for another person."

"Mental and physical exertion directly impact your energy flow. Further, other people's energy and the external environment can also impact your energy flow."

There were many takeaways for me, starting from Chapter 6.

"The energy of the food affects our energy. It has a significant influence on our physical, emotional and mental well-being."

The classification of foods into sattvic, rajasic and tamasic categories and their respective characteristics, impact on our body and mind were quite insightful. The chapter on eating sense - the art of choosing what, when, how and how much you put in your stomach is something that we all need to be more mindful about. It's not ONLY about WHAT foods to eat.

"A good sense of eating has five aspects, namely mindfulness, water, quantity, gratitude and time."

Apart from food, the book stresses a lot about negative emotions which according to the author "are unwholesome food for the mind." Mental detoxification techniques such as meditation, visualization, erasing psychic imprints (similar concept was covered in "The heartfulness way") and mindfulness are explained in detail.

Physical cleansing techniques as prescribed in Ayurveda, the importance of fasting etc are also explained in easy-to-understand procedures.

This book will be a ready reckoner to understand wellness in a holistic way from the point of view of Ayurveda and Yoga. It is definitely worth owning a copy and referring to it often. Do check it out. The Kindle version is available for a price of Rs.79.

Whenever something bothers me, I would like to explore that feeling further to see why I'm affected by it. I usually do this exploration through the process of journaling. If it is something personal, involving family or friends, I quickly jot down everything that is troubling me on top of my mind in a "note" in Evernote and delete that note right away. Whether it gives me an answer or not, this process definitely clears my mind.

If it is something that can be shared, it turns out as a post in my blog (where else) tagged under "Ramblings". So here's one issue that is bothering me a bit this evening. Read it at your own peril, share your thoughts/perspectives but without any snide remarks or harsh criticism, please.

I was at a bookstore this evening, perusing through books I want to read. As I was contemplating what books to buy, I couldn't help but check Amazon app for their respective prices. Most of the books in my wishlist are above Rs.500 MRP and the prices shown in Amazon were nearly Rs.150-200 less than what I would end up paying if I buy the same books from the bookstore.

After spending around 30 minutes, I picked up a couple of books for my daughter, trying to comfort myself that I have still given some business to the physical book store. But I felt quite bad that I didn't buy any book from my wishlist.

The price difference was something that I couldn't let go of. Rs.150-200 is still a worthy amount to me. It wasn't about Amazon but more about my price sensitivity.
If price is such an important factor to me, then I would end up buying all my books ONLY from Amazon/Flipkart but not from a physical bookstore. And if everyone does the same, the small bookstores would eventually shut down. I so don't want that to happen. There are very few places in a city that I would like to spend my evenings in and one of them is certainly a bookstore.

Has anyone faced such a moral dilemma? How do you address such issues? Any word of advice/change of perspective you could offer?
Yes, there are regulations that are aimed at protecting small players but what can I as a price-sensitive individual do to maximize value but at the same time not end up trapped to a monopolistic player?

As I was discussing this uncomfortable feeling with my husband, he brought out another interesting point - the time-value of reading a book. If I'm interested in a particular book, I should just pick it up then and there and start reading the same day. I'll be able to apply a few ideas from the book earlier than wait for the right time (read: SALE) to buy it from Amazon. I might lose interest in that book or the ideas in that book would no longer be relevant to me. It made a lot of sense but given my wish list is long, it is not easy for me to narrow down on one particular book ;-)

The solution that my mind is giving me after jotting down this post is that I should consider the additional Rs.150-200 as an "experience" cost that I'm paying the bookstore AND not for the value of the book per se. Hmm, maybe?

Book Review: Notes for Healthy Kids by Rujuta Diwekar

Why cooking is an essential skill for all?

Kelloggs Real Thandai Badam corn flakes review

What you seek is seeking you

The slow afternoon

How much sugar does Nutella and other chocolate spreads contain?

Unibic Daily Digestive Oatmeal cookies review

The reality of sugar-free products

Saffola Fittify Hi-Protein Meal Soup Review

Saffola Fittify Hi Protein Slim Meal Shake Review

7 ways to reduce expenses through healthy eating habits

Book Review: The Heartfulness Way

RiteBite Max Protein Meal Replacement Bar Review

Why I'm embracing digital minimalism

Book Review: Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport

Britannia Nutrichoice Cracker Simply Lite Biscuits Review

Conversations vs Connections

My favorite books

Book Review: The Wellness Sense by Om Swami

The moral dilemma