A friend reading my blog, How to prepare for a wedding, gave me substantial food (the equivalent of a jackfruit steak) for thought.
She said, there is a ton of stuff on wedding preparation for the bride-to-be but not a single column inch on everyone else.
Out of a wedding party of (now) 100, concentrating on the 1 per cent sounded elitist.
I am by nature and attitude a non-conformist hippie and for there to be even a whiff of elitism in the air, is a fatal blow to my fragile, Zeus like ego.
Therefore, to address the wrongs inflicted on me, I am writing a series of blogs on, “Self-care in the time of corona.”
I will agree to be strung by a shoelace (hence assuring no death) if at the end of this series, any reader of mine, who follows my advice to the letter, is not the best-groomed person in the room, building or city.
Today’s blog are five (principally dietary) things that you can immediately start doing.
1) There is poison and then there is sugar
I do not need to tell you that blood glucose regulation is a delicate balance that your body continually seeks to achieve. Spikes in glucose consumption immediately trigger insulin production, which leads to the storage of excess glucose as fat.
Sugar and fat are the anti-thesis of glowing, healthy skin as they age you, damage collagen and increases transepidermal water loss (TEWL).
The good news is that you can immediately address glucose shocks to your system by cutting down on the following types of food:
Sugar, which include:
- Coconut sugar
- Condensed milk
- Corn syrup
- Golden syrup
- Honey
- Jaggery
- Light/dark brown sugar
- Maple syrup
- Molasses
- Muscovado sugar
- Raw cane sugar (demerara, turbinado)
- Refined sugar (white)
- Treacle
- Evaporated milk
Sweeteners, which include:
- Equal (ingredients are Dextrose with Maltodextrin, Aspartame, Acesulfame Potassium)
- Great Value (ingredients are Maltodextrin, Sucralose)
- Splenda (ingredients are Maltodextrin, Sucralose)
- Sweet’N Low (ingredients are Dextrose, Saccharin)
- Stevia in the raw (ingredients are Dextrose, Stevia Leaf Extract)
Fruits that are cripplingly sweet including:
- Bananas – a banana a day is really ok, but don’t think that a huge banana fit for Godzilla’s consumption counts as one banana for you.
- Grapes
- Mangoes
- Mangosteen
- Pineapples
2) Sugar that does not look or smell like glucose is still treated by your body as glucose
- Alcohol – causes major dehydration and really, no amount of Estee Lauder is going to fix the long-term structural damage to your skin
- Bread, including bread crumbs. Use dry ground nuts as a substitute
- Breakfast cereals, including muesli, all Bran, which has multiple spoons of sugar
- Canned fruits
- Granola or any other type of cereal bar
- Dairy, including milk in your favourite chai, cause insulin spikes
- Fried food – just walk away
- Fruit juices and smoothies – most of them
- Fizzy drinks, including zero calorie drinks
- Pancakes, waffles
- Pasta (all forms of processed pasta), unless it’s buckwheat noodles or multi-grain pasta etc
- Preserved fruits including dates (usually sweetened), dried fruit (especially raisins)
- Some vegetables such as (excessive) potatoes, beetroots and corn (in any shape or form)
The curse of the processed food
Cut out back on the following:
- Any Indian or Western dessert. The Indian list would require me to set-up a new blog, so please try not to find loopholes. Gelato has sugar and zero-calorie yogurts are a myth.
- Bacon including highly processed turkey bacon
- Baked beans (it is not a vegetable)
- Biscuits, cookies, muffins, cereal bars
- Canned or packet soup including miso soup
- Chocolate, unless is dark chocolate (i.e., 70%+)
- Condiments (jam, Nutella, ketchup, mayonnaise)
- Crisps, nachos and related dips
- Fish fingers, chicken nuggets and other processed meat
- Low-calorie or zero calorie versions of cakes, biscuits etc which are just laden with sweeteners
- Most salad dressings
- Pizza
- Sausages
- Sushi rice or any other high starch rice
- Tortilla
Salt is not your friend
Cut back on the following:
- Baked treats such as potato crisps or any baked Indian savoury snack
- Ready-made popcorn
- Ready-made pickles
- Salted nuts, including peanuts
- Savoury snacks including spring rolls, fried dumplings, samosas etc
3) Alternatives to sweeteners
The following are actual herbs, that happen to be sweet and are good alternatives to sugar because they do not cause insulin spikes in your body:
- Agave Syrup
- Stevia
You shouldn’t be surprised that there are so few alternatives: sugar is an occasional treat and not an every day necessity.
4) It is 2020. Your guilty pleasure should not be supporting Camel’s profits
I found it ridiculous that even Rock Hudson promoted cigarettes. I’d like to think we’ve made more progress, so really ditch the kiss of death cigarettes.
5) Sweat it out
Sweat carries out of your skin a whole slew of toxins, and this is fantastic for your skin. I’d ordinarily recommend stepping into a steam room or sauna. However, that is out of the question now. Sorry, you’ll have to do it the old-fashioned way and sweat it out. If you are just getting started, then brisk morning walks (you should be left slightly breathless) and 5-10 minute HIIT routines are great.