This is the World’s Diabetes Month, and we continue to track our super cool couple, The Gitais! Last time, we took the Gitais to our awesome dietician and this campaign’s host Aditi Mehrotra, who is regularly quoted for her nutritional views in Readers Digest, Femina, The Hindu etc. 

This time, we went shopping with the Gitais, so that our dietician could provide her expert guidance on their shopping habits. In-case their carts were filled with unhealthy and fatty foods, all hell shall break loose!

Our shopping session commenced at The Country Store, one fateful evening. With a huge shopping cart in front and reading glasses perched high, the couple made their way through the food aisle.

The first thing Mrs. Gitai picked up was Fun Foods Mayonnaise. I started sniggering, since I immediately knew what the dietician would say!

We kept moving on.

Together, we kept picking off things from the rack, and filling the cart.

“No Indian household can be complete without Haldiram’s Bhujia!” Mrs. Gitai chuckled while pulling out the biggest bhujia packet off the rack.

She added, “McVities’ Exotic fruit flavour biscuits are my absolute favorite! I keep eating them ALL day! Oh, and Top Ramen noodles too!”. I could already picture Aditi’s widened eyes and raised eyebrows!

Mr. Gitai quietly kept sneaking in things like Hingoli, crackers and popcorn.

Finally, the task was done! Take a look at their shopping cart:

Miscellaneous

Fun Foods Mayonnaise

Nescafe Classic Coffee

Tata Salt

Bikaji Papad

Haldiram’s Bhujia

Yellow Banana Wafers

Kellog’s chocos

Top Ramen Noodles

Cadbury’s Cocoa Powder

Kissan Tomato Ketchup

Nutella

Naman’s Nutri Flakes: Poha

Hingoli

Act-II Popcorn: Golden Sizzle

Frozen Non-Veg snacks

Bournvita

Pulses

Chana

Moong Dal

Lal Masoor

Sabut Moong

Spices & Dry Fruits

Cardamom

Almonds

Dried dates

Borges California Walnuts

Milk Products

Amul butter

Amul Cheese Slices

Biscuits

Britannia 50-50

Britannia Marie Gold

Monaco

Munchy’s Vege-Crackers

Breads

Britannia’s Brown Bread

Brown Sugar’s Multi Grain Bread

Vegetables

Carrots

Capsicums

Green Onions

Potatoes

Ridge Gourd (Turai/Tori)

Onions

Tomatoes

Radishes

Fali (Beans)

Mogri

Lemons

Cabbages

Cauliflowers

Indian Cucumbers

Beetroots

Fruits

Apples

Guavas

Sitafal

We sent the entire list to our diet consultant, Aditi Mehrotra for an analysis of the Gitais’ shopping habits. I had a feeling, they were in trouble!

Dietician’s Analysis:

Gitai’s grocery list looks well organized and well listed out. However, the cart seems full of packaged foods. Bread spreads, ketchup, cheese slices, etc. show that the family depends more on the run and go snacks and sandwiches. Moreover, the frozen non-vegetarian snacks are very popular amongst the working mothers.

Vegetables show a variety but do not include fresh greens, despite of having a cook. The pulses are of three types only. There is no fixed weekly menu plan as such for the family, hence, with a little though and planning, the family can plan a healthier spread.

Aditi then gave us a fair idea on how to select your grocery items:

List all food groups such as Cereals and Breakfast Cereals under which you put atta, oats, maida, sooji, muesli, quakers oats, quinoa etc.

Pulses and Legumes: List out all daals and pulses elaborately so that you do not end up eating the same 3 to 4 types. I recommend sabut moong, sabut moth, kala chana for sprouting every alternate day, make mixed daal cheela’s every third day to push in a variety of daals, make mixed daals, keep a separate Rajmah day, a chole kulche day, do a dry matraa kulcha meal.

Veggies: Further divide them into Greens – methi, palak, bathua, mint, coriander and circulate the first 3 in 3 days, while the coriander and mint chutney you should eat daily. Roots and Tubers: Do all veggies under this group within a week’s time. Onions are both for gravy and can be eaten as a salad as well. Carrot, radish, beets etc. can be part of salad everyday while the rest such as turnips, potatoes, yam, sweet potatoes can be spread out throughout the week.

Others: The rest of the veggies fall in this category. Try to push in minimum 3 types of this category in every meal.

Fruit: Create a rainbow on your plate with all colours of fruit to be consumed in a week. Take a pick on the seasonal fruit. The perennial ones such as banana, papaya, pomegranate, pineapple can make for a great source of nourishment for the family. Feed the family fruits in a fruit bowl with minimum 4 varieties of fruit. 

Dairy: Go for low fat milk on a daily basis but in a good enough quantity so that you can curdle it for paneer or set curd at home apart from the regular milk intake. Make chaach and lassies out of the same. Homemade paneer made with low fat milk will be light and full of protein and calcium. There will be very little or no fat to add on to your family’s calorie consumption.

Cooking Oils: A mix of 3 different types of cooking medium must be used for a safe and a healthy heart. Rice bran oil, any oryzanol or omega3 rich oil and Mustard oil should be used. Be careful with the type of olive oil. Read instructions carefully whether the oil is good for cooking or is only meant for dressing salads.

Sugar: Include demerara as well or the sulphur free brown sugar, add jaggery into this list, use honey as a sugar source. 

Cheese, Butter: Can use fresh homemade white butter, coat it with garlic and this becomes a healthier source of a bread spread. Use cheese spread for lighter cheesy feel. 

Purees, pickles, papads, jams and jellies and all other packaged foods are processed and careful selection needs to be done for the same. Limit them on the list. 

For the Non–vegetarians: Try to buy less frozen meats, the packaged and processed meats contain preservatives high in nitrites that are harmful. You may even do a batch of kebabs for the entire week and freeze them. Home-made kebabs are far safer.

Plan your menu for BREAKFAST OR PACKED TIFFINS, LUNCH, TEA TIME SNACK AND DINNER.

 It is as simple as that!”

Vote for the “Gitais” and to make them win ChEAT With Aditi!

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