The rain gods seem to shower their blessings on us and we couldn’t have been more grateful. After all, we can only have food on our plates if the weather gods are on time. Talking about food, nothing beats chai and pakora or bhajiya in this season.
But in case you feel guilty about enjoying them, remind yourself of the following:
- You, urban Indian, are low in Vit D. Your blood tests are already saying that, some of us as low as single digit numbers and most of us are already on injections or supplements for it.
- The epidemic of Vit D deficiency is not just linked to obesity but to every lifestyle disease including arthritis, diabetes, heart disease and even cancer.
- Sufficient Vit D levels can help you not just feel young and energetic but also keep your hormones in a state of balance (bye bye hypothyroidism and PCOD) and above all, lose weight.
- We get enough Vit D from sunshine but it must get converted to Vit D3, the usable form for the human body.
- Vit D cannot be absorbed in the body in the absence of essential fat. In comes desi ghee, and groundnut, mustard or coconut oils.
- Once a week this season, fry your aloo/ajwain/onion, what have you, in besan batter. And provide your body with the much-needed essential fat for Vit D assimilation.
- Good Vit D assimilation also improves brain health. No wonder you feel so good after eating pakora.
- Lastly, don’t worry, eating essential fat doesn’t lead to high cholesterol. And besan has a good amount of phytosterol and fibre, the same stuff that oats have and sell themselves as cholesterol-lowering.
Bite the pakora, it really is good for the heart!
