What is actually in a bowl, what the research does and does not say, and how to read a nutrition label without being sold something. Reviewed by our consulting dietitian.
Nutrition & health
Is til as good for bones and health as people say, and how much should I eat?
Whole sesame carries 975 mg of calcium and 14.6 mg of iron per 100 g, with 17.7 g of protein and mostly unsaturated fat. Hulled sesame has far less calcium. What trials say about blood pressure, and what jaggery does to a chikki.
Nutrition & health
What is the red warning label on packaged food, and is it mandatory yet?
India’s food regulator has proposed a red hexagon on the front of packaged food that is high in fat, sugar or salt, and the Supreme Court has reserved its order. What is proposed, what is still undecided, and how to read the back of a pack in the meantime.
Nutrition & health
Is makhana really a superfood, and how much should I eat in a day?
Makhana is almost fat-free, mostly starch, and carries 9–15 g of protein per 100 g. One small study found roasted makhana low-glycaemic. It is a light, useful snack; it is not the protein food the packets suggest. The numbers, and how much to eat.
Nutrition & health
Is groundnut oil a healthy oil to fry in, and is cold-pressed better than refined?
Groundnut oil is about 46% monounsaturated fat and 17% saturated, and in a frying study it lasted 18–20 hours before reaching the discard limit. It is a sound frying oil. It is still oil, and the fresh-versus-reused question matters more than the brand.
Nutrition & health
I have been prescribed a GLP-1 medicine and I am vegetarian. What should I actually eat?
GLP-1 medicines shrink appetite, so every small meal has to carry more. What a published expert advisory says about protein, fibre, fluids and the nutrients to watch — translated to dal, paneer, curd and sprouts, with the limits of that translation stated.
Nutrition & health
Are sugar-free sweets actually healthy, and are they safe for a diabetic relative?
A sugar-free sweet swaps the sugar for a polyol or a sweetener and keeps the ghee, khoya and flour. Maltitol still raises blood glucose, polyols carry a laxative warning by law, and WHO advises against sweeteners for weight control. How to read the box before Diwali.
Nutrition & health
Is rajgira actually healthier than wheat, or is it just allowed during fasts?
Rajgira is the fasting grain that outscores wheat on protein, iron and magnesium, carries the amino acid most grains lack, and has no gluten. Nine benefits with the numbers per 100 g, what the evidence supports, and how to cook it so it is not a paste.
Nutrition & health
Paneer, tofu or soya chunks — which is the best protein for the money, and are soya chunks actually healthy?
Three vegetarian proteins, three very different foods. Paneer is the richest and fattiest, tofu the lightest, soya chunks the cheapest by a mile per gram of protein — with a taste and a texture that need a cook. The numbers per 100 g, the cost per 20 g of protein in Surat, what the soya research says, and where each belongs.
Nutrition & health
Everyone says sabudana is healthy for fasting — is it actually?
Sabudana has a reputation as a light, healthy fasting food. Per 100 g it is 358 kcal, 88 g of starch and 0.2 g of protein — pure energy. That is not a reason to stop eating it; it is a reason to know what the peanuts and curd next to it are doing.
Nutrition & health
What should I eat for gut health — do I need probiotics, or is there something in normal Indian food?
Sixty-one percent of Indian consumers now say gut health matters to them, and most of what they are sold for it is a bottle. The foods that actually feed a healthy gut are already in the kitchen: chaas, curd, dal, sprouts, onion, oats, bananas. What each does, what the science supports, and what it does not.
Nutrition & health
I keep hearing about fibermaxxing — how much fibre should I eat and what Indian foods have it?
“Fibermaxxing” is the year’s nutrition trend — deliberately eating a lot of fibre for gut, blood sugar and fullness. The Indian plate was doing this before it had a name. Here is what 30 g a day looks like in dal, sabzi, fruit and roti, and how to get there without a week of bloating.
Nutrition & health
I am vegetarian and everyone says I am not getting enough protein — how much do I need and how do I get it from Gujarati food?
A Gujarati thali is famous for being short on protein. It does not have to be. Here is what a working adult actually needs, what each thing on the plate contributes, and a day that reaches 60 g with dal, curd, paneer, chana and peanuts — nothing from a tub.
Nutrition & health
Are sprouts really healthier than plain moong, or is that a myth?
What sprouting actually changes in a mung bean — more vitamin C, less phytate, easier digestion — with the numbers, what it does not change, and how to sprout and eat them safely.
Nutrition & health
Are peanuts as healthy as almonds, or a cheap substitute?
Peanuts carry 26 g of protein per 100 g — more than any tree nut — with the healthy-fat profile the heart studies like, at a tenth of the price of almonds. The numbers, the trials, the aflatoxin rule, and why the kitchen fries in peanut oil.
Nutrition & health
Is rajma actually healthy, or just filling?
Nine things rajma does well — protein, fibre, iron, folate — with the numbers per 100 g, what the trials actually found on cholesterol and blood sugar, and the one cooking rule that is not optional.
Nutrition & health
Is paneer healthy or is it too fatty?
Paneer is the densest everyday vegetarian protein — about 18 g per 100 g — with calcium for bones and a complete amino acid profile. It also carries 20 g of fat per 100 g. What that means for a salad, a diet and a heart.
Nutrition & health
Why do doctors always say “eat moong dal”?
Why mung dal is the pulse recommended for sick days and weekday lunches alike: 7 g protein and 7.6 g fibre per 100 g, easy digestion, folate, and what the pulse trials actually show.
Nutrition & health
Which dal has the most iron and protein?
Lentils are the highest-iron everyday pulse — 3.3 mg per 100 g cooked — with 9 g protein, 7.9 g fibre and 181 µg folate, and they cook in fifteen minutes with no soak. The numbers, the trials, and what the kitchen does with them.
Nutrition & health
Is pomegranate really a superfood?
What a katori of pomegranate arils actually carries — 4 g fibre, vitamin C, potassium and the polyphenols the “superfood” claims rest on — with the numbers, what the research shows so far, and where the claims outrun it.
Nutrition & health
Are chickpeas good for protein if I don’t eat meat?
Chickpeas are the most protein-dense everyday pulse per katori: 8.9 g protein and 7.6 g fibre per 100 g cooked. What that does for fullness, cholesterol and blood sugar in trials, plus iron, folate and the boiling rule.
Nutrition & health
Is broccoli actually that much better than cabbage or cauliflower?
Broccoli carries 89 mg of vitamin C and a day’s vitamin K in 100 g for 34 kcal, plus folate, fibre and the sulforaphane the research is excited about. The numbers, the evidence, and how to cook it so the vitamins survive.
Nutrition & health
Are almonds worth the price, or just expensive calories?
What a 28 g handful of almonds carries — 6 g protein, 3.5 g fibre, a day’s worth of vitamin E — what the trials found on LDL cholesterol and heart risk, and why “a handful” is the honest portion.
Nutrition & health
People say besan snacks are “healthier” and I want to know whether that is true.
Besan carries real protein and fibre, which is more than most snack flours can say. Here are the numbers, and an honest account of what frying does to the picture.
Nutrition & health
I eat a full lunch and I’m hungry again by half past three.
A big lunch that leaves you raiding a drawer at 3.30 is usually missing one of four things. Here is how to work out which one, from the meal you already ate.
Nutrition & health
The numbers on a nutrition panel don’t tell me how the meal will actually feel.
Three numbers explain most of how a meal will make you feel. Here is what each one actually measures, what a normal day looks like, and why the calorie is the least useful of the three.
Nutrition & health
My salad looks healthy but I have no idea whether it is actually a meal.
A bowl of leaves is not a meal. Five components turn a salad into lunch that holds you until evening — and one of them is the part everyone gets wrong.
Nutrition & health
I’m vegetarian and my salads never keep me full.
The single most common reason a vegetarian salad fails as a meal is that nobody put protein in it. Twelve ingredients, with the numbers, from an all-veg kitchen.
Nutrition & health
I know vegetables are good for me, but I don’t know what a daily bowl actually does.
A bowl of vegetables a day is one of the few eating habits almost every dietary guideline agrees on. Here is what it actually does for you — and what it does not.