The festive season will soon be upon us—Navratri and Diwali are just round the corner—and so will the need to go on a ‘diet’. But all you foodies looking for ‘accelerated fat metabolism’, don’t miss out on the sitaphal this season.
Goddess Sita has always been worshipped for beauty, calm, commitment and courage, and it is with good reason that the sitaphal has been honoured with her name: literally translated, it means ‘Sita’s fruit’.
A seasonal fruit, sitaphal is best savoured when the time is right, ie, when it’s in season. But just like mangoes, chickoos and bananas, sitaphal has been deemed a complete no-no if one is on a weight-loss programme.
Well, here’s some news for all sitaphal critics—this fruit has the goodness of iron, potassium and Vitamin B6. All of these are essential nutrients to counter bloating, hair loss and insomnia. Its fibre provides the necessary roughage and B-vitamins for your intestines, which otherwise feel dull, overworked and exhausted when on a diet.
Sitaphal, just like apple, papaya or pear, does not contain fat. It just provides our body with natural sugar or fructose, which has a low glycemic index and results in slow insulin release and accelerated fat-burning. So, sitaphal can actually speed up weight loss. Eat it at the right time: as your first meal, post any physical exercise, or as a whole meal before sunset.
In fact, just the sight of a much-loved sitaphal stimulates the secretion of digestive juices, further speeding up digestion and metabolism. Only if you are eating it without any guilt, that is!
(Nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar’s latest book is called Women and the Weight Loss Tamasha)
