Local Food benefits

Local food #6- Sugarcane and its products. Sugarcane- Sugarcane is the source of sweetness. It is available in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. It is transported to every corner of the world to get most of the benefits. A variety of sugar and jaggery is obtained from this plant by using a various different process. The appearance of these plants is like bamboo plants. These plants can be grown up to 20 feet and the diameter is of 0.75 to 2 inches range. Sugarcane plants take 12 months to mature. These plants can live for more than two years. The best climate for growth is sunny areas and tropical areas. It can be grown in any region but it is needed maintenance in temperature. Commonly, the juice of sugarcane is consumed during the summer season. The demand is high in summer to get instant energy and to get the sweet taste with all the benefits. Sugarcane juice is the only sweetest juice with ample benefits. In the market various sweet drinks are available...

                  (source - shutterstock) India is the highest sugar producing country. Uttar Pradesh is the highest sugar producing state. When we talk about Sugar we forget about the source. For Indians source of sugar is sugarcane. Countries like US, Europe they produce sugar from beet or corn. I am talking about sugar from sugarcane. This sugar can be called "regular sugar". It is completely okay if you drink sugarcane juice daily. But it is not okay if you consume sugar daily. Because eating sugar signal our brain to eat more sugar and we end up eating more sugar which is not good. Many Indians are replacing regular sugar with artificial sugar or they just stop eating sugar. Replacing regular sugar is not the solution for a healthy life. Even if you eat more artificial sweeteners that is not good. If you stop eating sugar but start eating fruits then that will somehow enhance your health condition. Because sugar is needed to ...

Properties of ghee-  It is a  good carrier of fat-soluble vitamins (A,  D, E  and K)  along with essential fatty acids (linolenic and arachidonic acid)  which are responsible for wellbeing.  The only concern of ghee is of its cholesterol level  (0.2–0.4%)  which makes appreciable contribution to cholesterol intake when consumed at high level.  In recent years,  the consumers become extra aware of the cholesterol-containing foods,  hence is affecting the uses and the market growth of such products (Kumar, et al.,  2010).  (To know more about properties of ghee read Ghee: Its properties, Importance and health benefit by Anil Kumar and Satya Narayan Naik) Use of ghee - In our ancient Indian culture ghee was used as medicine. In most of the cases, ghee was used in foods. Now also ghee is used in foods but it is also used for our external appearances. It is used for hair growth, healthy skin, weight gain, weigh...

Local food#5 - Ghee (The best desi product) When you first read "ghee" What's your first thought! Well, my thought was "who eats fat?" (Share your thoughts below in comment section 😊)  My experience for ghee is like this -  I was not eating ghee until I went to Haryana. There I saw people making ghee and consuming ghee. Before going Haryana, my thought was "eating ghee leads to weight gain". But at Haryana, I saw people had ghee but they were fit. It amazed me a lot. The first thought pop on my mind was "they are different lifestyle in a very different environment". There I started eating ghee(in a small amount). Then I came back to Odisha and here I started observing north Indian students in our campus. They were eating ghee here also! Yet they were fit! Then this put me in thinking 🤔. Well, whatever the food is I first think about my weight! and For my weight gain, the simple answer is "stop overeating" 😁 but ghee was something...

Local food #4 Cashew nuts and benefits – “ Chew the cashew ” Why discuss about cashew nuts? Cashew nut or Kaju is known especially for enhancing taste. In India, it is widely used in pulav, biriyani, sweets. Cashew nuts paste is used for thickening of curry gravy. It surely enhances the taste but it is being blamed by some. Blame is for – increasing cholesterol, bad for diabetic patients, increasing weight and much more blame. The same blame is not for almond, pistachio, and walnut. The truth is each and every nut has its property. All the nuts are good for our health. So, let’s chew the cashew. Let’s talk about production of nuts In India – Almond – The production is in hilly areas only like Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. Walnut- It is produced in Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh. Pistachio – The best and the natural location for this nut is Jammu & Kashmir.   Cashew nut – Cashew nut production is in Maharastra,...

Medium Chain Triglyceride (MCT) in coconut – You can find various properties of coconut fruit in the previous blog  Local food #3 coconut and its benefits . In that blog, two important properties of coconut have been written. One is about the presence of Medium Chain Triglyceride (MCT) and another is about the formation of the myelin sheath. All the information on the MCT will be discussed here. MCT is a type of fat. The structure consists of glycerol and three fatty acids having six to twelve carbons in length. This fat easily absorbed in our gastrointestinal tract. Other types of fat require a complex biological process. Other different types of triglycerides or fats are – Very Long Chain Triglyceride (VLCT), Long Chain Triglyceride (LCT), and Short Chain Triglyceride (SCT). VLCT has more than twenty-two carbons, LCT has thirteen to twenty-one carbons, and SCT has less than six carbons. SCT is produced by our gastrointestinal microorganisms. Plant-based components such a...

Local Food #3 - Coconut­ and its benefit Why it is important to discuss coconut as local food? Well everyone knows the importance of this superfood. There is nothing to explain! But it is very important to protect and pass the “value of importance” to our next generation and support farmers. Do you know! The use of coconut oil is being replaced by olive oil and coconut water is being replaced by many sports drink and soft drink in markets. We all know the value of coconut oil and coconut water. The problem lies in spreading knowledge to our young generation. The marketing campaigns are so strong that the young generation gets attracted to those marketing products and neglect the local foods. It is very disappointing to see people buying 23 rupees of sprite for two or three times at a time but not 35 rupees of coconut water­ once to tackle the heat of summer. It is true that soft drinks are chilled and it gives instant coldness to our thirsty throat but that pleasure is ...