Everyday Superfoods

By Nandita Iyer

The Essential Guide to Adding Superfoods to Your Diet, One Easy Step at a Time.
In Everyday Superfoods, bestselling author and nutritionist Dr Nandita Iyer brings to you everything you need to know about easily available local superfoods and ways to incorporate them into your diet. Through 60 simple recipes using an arsenal of 39 superfoods easily found in Indian kitchens, this book will not just help you understand your relationship with food but also show you how to improve your eating habits and enrich your daily meals with the goodness of superfoods.
This book includes:
-Details on specific superfoods for boosting immunity, treating diabetes and for better skin and hair;
-Daily meal plans, how to shop for the right superfoods, the kind of utensils to use for cooking, superfood swaps, creating your own recipes, cooking for lunch boxes and how to set up a kitchen garden;
-A serious look at sustainability in superfoods, including more biodiverse produce, reducing food waste and being a conscious consumer.
At a time when living healthier is paramount, this book will act as an essential guide to unlocking the very best attributes of your food.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Release date: Mar 18, 2021
• ISBN: 9789389611410

Book preview

1

Our Relationship with Food

The earliest available fossil evidence shows that Homo Sapiens diverged from the earlier Hominin species around 2,00,000 years ago. The Hominins were hunter-gatherers, moving from place to place in search of food. The hunter-gatherer diet was made up of wild plants and animals, but they mostly relied on plants as they were easier to come by and required less effort–except in higher altitudes where there was not much vegetation.

The gathering was done by the women and children, while hunting was typically left to the men. Their foraged diet mainly consisted of fruit, berries, nuts and some wild vegetables, including roots and tubers. The meat came from mostly hunting smaller animals like rabbit, goat or deer, fishing or scavenging the meat of larger animals.

The hunter-gatheres moved about in small groups comprising a few family units. They stayed in temporary shelters until much later, around 20,000 years ago, when they finally started living in stone-built houses¹ in some parts of the world. The foraged plant-based foods and meat provided just enough energy to fuel their high level of physical activity that included climbing trees, hunting, running away from wild animals, walking long distances and so on.

This period continued for around 1,90,000 years till the Neolithic Revolution, which started around 11,000 to 12,000 years ago. During the Neolithic period, humans moved towards settled communities and started to grow crops. This probably started in the Fertile Crescent (present day Middle East) between 10,000 and 8,000 BCE. A settled lifestyle enabled them to experiment with growing plants, which led to a spurt in agriculture followed by selective breeding of crops. This period saw the domestication of plants and animals in different locations around the world. It was also the start of irrigation, deforestation and a narrowing of biodiversity.

The hunter-gatherers used their sense of hearing, sight, taste, touch, and smell to survive the wild and to avoid picking any poisonous foods while foraging. Mindfulness was the key to their survival, and it came to them reflexively. It would not be excessive to say that we humans have almost lost this mindfulness to guide us in our eating habits due to prolonged disuse.

Today, the Aboriginal communities around the world, who predominantly depend on the forests and surrounding nature for their food and livelihood, continue to exercise their senses. However, such communities in the forests of India are also inching towards an urban lifestyle as their foraging and hunting habitat continues to shrink due to deforestation and encroachment of tribal lands² to exploit its mineral wealth.

Present-day humans share a multilayered relationship with food

At its most basic, food is a means to counter hunger and keep us alive. When we say ‘roti, kapda aur makaan’ (bread, clothes and shelter) are the three basic needs for humans, roti is always on top of that list.

Food is also one of life’s joys, be it indulging in a ghee-rich gaajar ka halwa (carrot pudding) in the winters, partaking in the wedding feast of a loved one or planning a party menu for your child’s birthday. Food offers pleasure to all the five senses.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us have taken a refuge in home cooking. Our favourite comfort foods have been helping us get through through lockdowns and are also fuelling family-bonding over meals.

Thus, it is safe to say that food often swings between the two extremes of sustenance and indulgence. It is the social grease of our present-day lifestyle. It’s always ‘let’s catch up over coffee or a meal’ as much as I wish it were catch up over a run in the park. All around the world, food is deeply intertwined with social and cultural life.

Food has also become a trend to keep up with. Cooking, which was earlier seen as a mundane chore, is now seen in a new light as an exciting hobby to pursue. Popular cooking shows like Masterchef Australia have brought the fanciest ingredients, equipment, techniques and dishes into our everyday lives and conversations. Even children know culinary terms like croquembouche, al dente, sous vide and chocolate soil. However, food as a trend or hobby is more common in urban households in India.

To quote Hippocrates, ‘Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food’. Food is also seen as a medicine and as a means to a healthy lifestyle. While it is true that certain foods eaten over a while can lead to some health complications, there are many other foods that prevent as well as alleviate certain other health conditions. Vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fibre are some of the components in food that qualify it to be healthy.

However, our relationship with food has become more complicated in today’s world. Conflicting theories about foods like ghee, eggs, coconut oil, bread, sugar, milk, etc., leave us confused about our choices. To top this, there are a bunch of new fad diets that catch the fancy of the media and the people ever so often. In the Digital Age, where everything tends to become viral quickly, there is also fake news and clickbait articles providing sensational but utterly unverified information around nutrition, disease prevention, and cures that many innocent people fall for.

Now, there is also a term for an eating disorder in which the person has an unhealthy obsession with eating healthy—Orthorexia. Some of the other common eating disorders that typically start during adolescence include Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Binge eating disorder. All these eating disorders are mental health conditions that require the attention of qualified health professionals and counsellors.

Today, urban lives are hectic and running a kitchen requires a lot of effort. Stocking up on groceries and fresh produce, managing the perishables, serving freshly cooked food at mealtimes, and post-cooking clean-up are just some of the things that need a lot of time and investment.

Historically, managing the kitchen has always been a woman’s job. As per a data-backed article from 2019 from Pew Research Centre, 80 per cent of married women in the U.S. households with at least one child under the age of 18 said that they are responsible for buying groceries and prepping meals³. As per the India Human Development Survey data quoted in a 2020 paper in the Journal of Cleaner Production, the primary cooks in 98 per cent of the households in India are females⁴. Even though women make up a considerable part of the present-day workforce, the sentiment of ‘ma ke haath ka khana’ (food from the mother’s hands) still exists. Thus, since the beginning of human civilization, there hasn’t been much of a change in the gender skew as far as home cooking is concerned.

In many homes, dinner is usually the only meal that the family gets to eat together. Even that is punctuated with or accompanied by distractions from digital screens. In fact, that is true for all mealtimes. Due to this, cooking and eating dinner is a hasty, distracted and mindless exercise for most of us. It is a chore to get done with. This lack of mindfulness towards our food means we rarely pay attention to its quantity, appearance, taste and aroma. This leads to a lack of satiety and an absence of bonding with the food we eat and the people with whom we eat. A structured literature review on the role of mindfulness, mindful eating and intuitive eating in changing eating behaviours concluded that mindful eating was successful in reducing episodes of binge eating, emotional eating, and eating in response to external cues⁵. Mindful eating also resulted in a positive shift in eating habits and led to reduced quantities of food consumed.

The frequency of eating in a day is also an important thing to note. In the Stone Age, humans were used to eating irregularly after long periods of fasting or whenever food became available. Our bodies are still accustomed to this system, given that this way of life covered a long time period, almost 99 per cent of human history.

Today, food is easily available to us all the time – even in the middle of the night! This easy access to food, paired with eating for reasons other than hunger leads to eating too often and too much in a day, both of which go against the principles of how our human bodies have evolved.

Another new invention affecting our relationship with food is the incessant variety of packaged, ready-to-eat snacks that are easily available in supermarkets and online. High in salt, refined oils, preservatives, and artificial flavours, these calorie-dense, nutrient-poor foods also tend to be very addictive; unfortunately, they have been well-entrenched in our daily diets. The Indian ready-to-eat food industry made over ₹1,900 crores in 2017, and is projected to reach over ₹4,800 crores by 2023. This can be attributed to increasing urbanization and disposable incomes, along with changes in consumers’ taste preferences. According to an article in the Financial Express⁶, since June this year, i.e., in the COVID-19 period, curries, meals, batters, instant mixes, desserts and frozen snacks have seen a 25–30 per cent increase due to a larger number of people cooking at home. While these foods provide a much-needed convenience for families, it is also important to be wary of the nutrient profile of such packaged foods.

Food delivery apps are a big wave in the F&B (Food & Beverage) space. We are now connected to almost every hotel, restaurant, cafe, or a tea stall via a food delivery app. At the touch of a button, food from their kitchens is delivered right at our doorstep. During the COVID-19 pandemic, while restaurants were being forced to shut down, the food delivery business started booming. Even after the restaurants have opened up, people find it safer to order in rather than eating out. The food ordered via these apps is often so discounted that buying from these places is cheaper than buying groceries to cook the same food at home. Not to forget, it’s time-saving too. However, it’s important to remember that mass-produced food tends to be high in salt and oil with a spice overload to mask any shortcomings in the freshness of ingredients used and the hygiene standards that often cannot be vouched for. There is also the problem of serious environmental damage caused by the quantity of single-use plastic waste generated by food deliveries.

‘Don’t eat anything your great-great-great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.’

Take a minute to ponder over this very simple, yet profound sentence from the modern guru of food wisdom, Michael Pollan. Keeping the word ‘great-great-great-grandmother’ in mind, I did this interesting exercise where I compared our present-day food habits to that of my great-grandparents’. My maternal great-grandparents are the oldest people I know and have had the privilege of spending time with them well into my adulthood.

There are five things that I remember clearly with respect to them and food:

Mealtimes were sacrosanct. They stuck to the exact mealtimes every single day—11 a.m. for lunch and 8 p.m. for dinner. There was no multitasking while eating.

Even though they had moved from their native home in Tamil Nadu to Mumbai in their early 20’s, the everyday menu consisted of traditional Tamil-style vegetarian dishes.

They would hardly ever eat out, except at family weddings or functions.

They used to eat whatever was local, seasonal and cheap. Food was cooked fresh using these seasonal ingredients and the quantity just enough for the meal. Lack of refrigerators in the early days meant that cooked food was never carried forward to the next day. The dishes were simple and frugal. Money was tight, and wasting it on extravagant foods was never an option.

Other than the odd biscuit with afternoon tea (that too in their 60’s), not much of what they ate came out of a packet. My great-grandfather’s favourite teatime snack was a small piece of jaggery with some raw peanuts.

In contrast, our present-day relationship with food looks something like this:

A screen is quite often a mealtime companion for the whole family. It is a common practice to feed toddlers by showing them their favourite cartoons so they can eat without fuss.

We eat an overwhelming variety of foods and cuisines in addition to our traditional cuisine.

Eating out and ordering in is no longer a special occasion but a regular affair.

We pride ourselves on eating foods from around the world, which is, usually, off-season and expensive.

We regularly eat highly processed foods, i.e., far from their natural form.

2

Improving Your Relationship with Food

[T]he quality of the food we put into our bodies matters because it drives our gene function, metabolism and overall health.’

– Dr Mark Hyman

Why is our relationship with food important?

Over the last few decades, the focus of medical research has been on life-saving surgeries and treatments. The developments in the field of medicine and better healthcare facilities (mostly in urban areas) have led to an increased life expectancy. In 2016, the average global life expectancy was 72 years¹. However, coupled with this increasing life expectancy, there has also been an increase in the incidence of chronic diseases such as, cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory disease, and diabetes. Having a constant problem-solving approach does not work when it comes to health; prevention of disease and maintenance of health needs the same amount of focus. Recently, the medical fraternity and people at large are realizing that along with a longer life span, we need a better quality of life. As per a World Health Organization (WHO) report², at least 80 per cent of premature heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes, and 40 per cent of cancer can be prevented through a healthy diet, regular physical activity, and avoidance of tobacco products. A sedentary lifestyle combined with our dietary habits is one of the biggest reasons for many of our problems today. So, improving our lifestyle and diet can help us enjoy a better quality of life.

Medical research shows a strong connection between chronic inflammation and heart disease, diabetes, cancer, arthritis and other chronic diseases. According to an article in Harvard Health Publishing³, the best approach to prevent chronic inflammation in the body is to maintain a healthy weight, choose a good diet, get plenty of sleep, and exercise regularly. Cutting down on simple sugars and processed foods and eating more antioxidant-rich foods are two good dietary practices that can prevent or reduce chronic inflammation. This, in turn, can reduce the incidence of chronic diseases.

While staying active is also very important, all the physical exercise cannot compensate for a poor diet. Table 2.1 shows how a healthy relationship with food and eating good quality nutrient-rich foods makes us look better, feel better, and age better.

Table 2.1: The Effects of a Healthy Relationship with Food

Making smart choices about food also gives us more productive days, more energy to devote to our life and work, fewer sicknesses, and savings on medical bills. It makes us better role models for our children and future generations, who learn how to sustain a happy and healthy relationship with food and make better food choices for themselves.

How to improve your relationship with food

I. Reflection and awareness

Thinking deeply about the food we consume and connecting with our food are the first steps we can take towards making positive changes in our diet and our lifestyle. Nowadays, we are becoming more aware of our damaging food habits, our addiction to processed foods, and the negative impact on the environment due to our poor choices in the last few decades. Many of us are in the midst of re-examining our roots and our food choices. Giving a thought to the provenance of the ingredients we cook with and the people (or factories) behind them is a step in the right direction.

Food awareness helps navigate the muddy waters of information and choice overload. It is important to be aware of the impact of the food we eat on our body and the environment. Taking a closer look at our daily diet and making small sustainable changes where required can manoeuvre us in the right direction–towards a healthier us.

Some of the simple questions you can ask yourself to be aware are:

1.Am I eating a balanced meal?

2.Am I eating enough fruits and vegetables?

3.Am I taking the time to sit down for my meals and chew my food well?

4.How often am I eating out?

II. Empowering with knowledge

Acquiring knowledge about ingredients and cooking techniques is a continuous process. You can take courses, attend workshops, and follow genuine sources of information on the internet to learn about nutrient-rich foods to incorporate them into your daily diet. Staying away from clickbait and sensational information around nutrition or anything that promises instant results is equally imperative.

Eating a diet rich in superfoods is like investing in well-performing stocks. They pack the most nutrition per calorie and have a proven track record in providing many health benefits. The chapter ‘The Superfood Compendium’ on page 25 is a good place to start. If you absolutely must buy processed foods, reading food labels is critical to check for sugar, sodium and trans-fats. This enables one to choose a better product from those available.

III. Home cooking with family involvement

Cooking healthy meals at home on a daily basis can be made easier by planning menus in advance, weekly meal prep, and making cooking a fun family activity with each member chipping in a little bit. This decreases the dependence on ready-to-eat packaged foods and takeaways.

It is good to include children in shopping for fresh produce or groceries and in simple cooking prep so that they have a head start in learning about food and healthy eating. You can read a lot more about this in the ‘Getting Practical with Superfoods’ chapter on page 149.

IV. Reducing intake of processed foods

The best way to eat is to choose foods closest to their natural form, i.e., in an unprocessed or minimally processed form. Some of the examples are: having a banana instead of banana bread; using butter, ghee or cold-pressed oil instead of refined oil; eating homemade potato wedges instead of packaged potato chips; opting for whole grains instead of breakfast cereals, and making homemade roti instead of buying commercial breads.

The journey from corn to cornflakes

The process of manufacturing cornflakes involves peeling and removal of the endosperm of corn kernels. They are then cooked, dried, rolled, toasted, cooled, and finally packed.

Quite a few additives such as salt, sweeteners, flavouring agents, preservatives, colouring agents, and yeast are added to the grains while processing.

Vitamins, like Thiamine, are also added to the cornflakes to make up for what is lost due to processing on high heat.

Chemical preservatives are added to keep the finished product from going stale or rancid, which allows it to be in the distribution chains and our kitchen shelves for months.

It is okay to include processed ingredients obtained via pressing, milling or grinding which are used to get oils, poha, atta, etc., to cook dishes. This is different from processed or ultra-processed foods that have added salt, sugar, fats, artificial flavours, colours, preservatives, stabilizers, etc.

Some common highly processed foods include,

White sugar

Breakfast cereals

Commercially sold bread