THE ART OF HEALTHY EATING

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Foods in their order of digestibility Essential principle underlying this classification: 

The body is always trying its best to restore its own ecological balance. However, when we keep eating foods that require more energy to digest, the body is unable to cope with the task of removing previously accumulated toxins. This results in foreign (undigested) matter embedding itself in our body. That, in turn, results in ecological imbalance and hence 'absence of ease', i.e., disease. Therefore, to stay healthy, it is best to select food items that are easier to digest. It is possible to choose foods which are easy to digest, hence healthy, yet cook them in such a way that they are also tasty.

TIPS TO MAKE SALADS

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• Salads can be made using gourd vegetables such as ash gourd, bottle gourd, ridge gourd, chow chow or any of the leafy vegetables. Alternatively, vegetables grown below the ground like carrot, beetroot and etc can also be used.
•  Remember these vegetables have already been cooked by the sun using the chlorophyll principle.So it is better to think of raw salads as 'fireless cooking' or 'sun cooked food' rather than 'uncooked' food.
• Select only fresh vegetables if possible grown in your own backyard.
• Choose organic vegetables if you have that option.
• If not at least try to ensure that they have not been over-sprayed with pesticides or washed in acidic water. 
• Cut the vegetables as thin as possible. Clean and wash the vegetables before cutting but do not repeat the washing process after cutting. 
• Do not keep the sliced vegetables for long after cutting .Convert into salad as quickly as possible. In particular do not put it back into the refrigerator for storage.
•  For converting fresh vegetables so sliced into salads, use onion, curry leaf, coriander leaf, carrot or tomato — choose one or more of these according to your taste. Whatever is chosen should also be cut into thin slices and added to the vegetables. 
• In addition to the above ingredients, either of the following two combinations can be used to add taste:
• curd, and coconut scrapings 
• lime juice and chilies. Choose any one according to your taste. 
• If opting for the first one, minimize the amount of curd used. 
• If opting for the second one, make sure all seeds have been removed from the lime before the juice is extracted. 
• Finally, add a little salt and pepper to taste: but minimize the quantity of salt. The preparation resulting from this process is surprisingly very tasty - one normally does not imagine that bottle gourd, ash gourd or ridge gourd can ever be so tasty! 
• Always, eat salads before the main meals, making them easier to digest. 
• Eat the salad slowly, chewing well. Try to enjoy the taste of each ingredient. 

CLASSIFICATION OF COOKING METHODS

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1. Fireless cooking: So many wonderful items can be made without using the chula. For instance, salads can be made using snake gourd and curd, with tomato or carrot in raw form; ridge gourd or chow chow can be eaten this way too (for recipes to make such salads, see next page). Similarly, wonderful dishes can be made using sprouted wheat.
2. Baking: Even though baking is not commonly used in India, it is possible to make excellent dis way, and this is healthier than other forms of cooking especially if butter, soda, etc., are avoided or minimized.
3. Steaming: Among cooking methods already prevalent in South India, this is the healthiest of all. It is possible to make the items even more healthy by simple innovations, e.g., idlis made with urad dal whose chilka (peal) has not been removed along with rice that is unpolished results in a very healthy form of idly, which also tastes very nice.
4. Boiling: Vegetables tend to lose their nutritional value when over boiled. Cut the vegetables as big as possible, so that the least amount of water is lost, and then boil them for the least amount of time. 
5. Roasting on the fire pan: When this has to be done, using the least amount of oil, or ghee is advised which is healthier than oil. It is always better to add ghee separately with the dosai than make it with lots of oil: this is better tasting and healthy too. 
6. Frying: This is best enjoyed once in a while and especially when one is young.

Whatever said here is based on our belief. We do understand that there is no universal order, way, chart or method to classify or cook food. You are your best judge. Please try for yourself and if you feel there is value in what is written, make use of ft accordingly - Navadar-shanam. 

CLASSIFICATION OF FOOD ITEMS

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1. Tender coconut water (Ellaneer). This constitutes a full meal in itself, for it supplies all the essential nutrients required by our body. Therefore, taking Ellaneer is an easy way to fast, for those who are scared of fasting on water.

2. Juicy fruits.

3. Pulpy fruits.

4. Leafy vegetables.

5. Creeper vegetables (like bottle gourd, ash gourd).

6. Vegetables grown above ground.

7. Vegetables grown below ground.

8. Cereals and pulses without removing their bran or outer covering (e.g., unpolished rice).

9. Jaggery, preferably from date palms or made from organically grown sugarcane. Even diabetics can take this in limited quantities without adversely affecting their condition.

10. Milk. This is very good for growing children, but adults need it only when they do lots of physical exercise and their protein cells need replenishment. It is better for adults doing sedentary work to take curds, which is milk that has already gone through a portion of the digestive process that takes place within the body. Better still is buttermilk, which is very easily digested.

11. Oil seeds such as cashew nuts, peanuts. While not that easy to digest, it is nevertheless far healthier to eat the nuts than consume their oil extract.

12. Cereals and pulses in polished form.

13. Oils. Better had in the form of nuts instead of their oil. Or, if oil has to be taken, it is advisable to add the oil or ghee on the food after it has been cooked, rather than cook the food in them. If oil does have to be used, it is always better to opt for the unrefined variety when the ill-effects of processing are avoided.

14. Refined oil.

15. White sugar.

16. Meat. fish, and eggs. These are really the most difficult to digest.

17. In all the above mentioned items, it is better if one could stick to Organic products. 

20 TIPS ON HEALTHY COOKING

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20 TIPS ON HEALTHY COOKING

1. Cook with love. Remember, food is not just molecules going into our body, it is the input of life-force to s foundation of all life.
2. Life-force is more potent in food that is grown organically and made naturally. Therefore, choose organic, natural foods over those processed with chemicals and pesticides.
3. Choose natural and local produce over laboratory-engineered food.
4. Choose food ingredients that are easier to digest.
5. Fruits, as a rule, are easier to digest than other foods, so include some fruits in your daily menu. But avoid fruits, especially grapes, which have been treated with too much chemicals and pesticides.
6. Next come leafy vegetables. Get fresh palak or any other soppu, preferably from the local vegetable vendor — or, better still, grow it in your backyard.
7. Next come the creeper (gourd) vegetables. They are not tasteless, as is generally believed, if cooked in the right way. You can even make tasty salads and chutneys using raw gourds like bottle gourd and ash gourd.
8. Then come vegetables grown above the ground, such as peas, cauliflower, etc. But avoid such items if they have been sprayed with pesticides.
9. As far as possible, use fresh vegetables. The roadside vendor is likely to have more of these kind of vegetables.
10. Given the colder climate like Bangalore, it is possible to keep things from spoiling.
11. Milk, for instance, need never be refrigerated. Just bring it to a boil e long periods removes many of its healthier ingredients.
12. In particular, never re-freeze anything after taking out once from the freezer.
13. Where you have the option, slow cooking is preferable to microwave cooking. 
14. Choose whole sim ingredients make . Refrigerating it for which don't go through many stages of cooking and too many ingredients. Lesser processing and lesser easier. Stay away from factory processed foods with preservatives/ortitial flavors.
15. In the case of rice, go for the unpolished variety. Remember — rice mills process the paddy free for the farmer so that they can keep the polish which they sell to the pharmaceutical companies who convert them into food supplements and medicines. So, we end up eating white rice, developing vitamin deficiencies and then buy back the polish at exorbitant rates!
16. In the case of wheat, go for the ones that retain the bran and are ground at slow temperatures, as heat destroys the vitamins and nutrients during milling.
17. In the case of bread, don't be deceived by the 'brown' label. Look for bread really made of whole wheat.
18. Prefer jaggery over sugar — it is far healthier. The word 'sugar' is actually misleading, for it is jaggery that is much closer to sugarcane.
19. Prefer pickles made without oil. Don't believe those who say oil is essential to making pickles.
20. If you are feeling upset or irritable, postpone cooking, or ask someone else to do it. If this is not an option, order from a restaurant, enjoy the break from cooking, but also use it as an opportunity to bring back the lost love so that the next meal can be healthy as well as tasty.