Breakfast today

So this is what I had for breakfast today morning

1 small helping of Upma- I have actually measured it with a small bowl as you can see.

4 pieces of watermelon

4 pieces of soaked and peeled almonds

Calories: Upma- 166

4 almonds- 28

watermelon- 16

Total: 210

The calories in 1 cup almonds are 1000 and calories in 10 almonds are 70. So, considering how many calories almonds contain, how can a food like this be good for you?

Almonds Nutrition Facts 

Even though nuts are known to provide a variety of protective benefits from a cardio health perspective, a lot of people avoid them when dieting, fearing almonds will keep them from losing weight. However, the health benefits of eating almonds (and the benefits of nuts in general) reveal they actually aid weight loss!

Almonds nutrition facts: Almonds contain high amounts of heart healthy monounsaturated fat and vitamin E and reduce LDL cholesterol levels, as well as the risk for heart disease. LDL cholesterol has commonly been linked to heart disease and atherosclerosis.

Additionally, a quarter cup of almonds also contains 99 mg of magnesium and 257 mg of potassium. Magnesium improves blood flow, as well as the circulation of nutrients and oxygen throughout the body. Potassium is essential in promoting normal blood pressure and heart function. Almonds also can protect against Diabetes and Cardiovascular disease by reducing dangerous spikes in blood sugar levels after meal consumption. To lower the risk of heart disease, a handful of almonds at least four times a week is recommended.

With all these health benefits, the calories in almonds - raw or roasted do not outweigh the health benefits of almonds.

Upma recipe

UPMA RECIPE

Ingredients:

1 cup Rava / Sooji (Semolina)
1 chopped Onion
3 Green Chillies slit sideways
1 Potato chopped
1 Capsicum chopped
1 Carrot chopped
1/4 cup Green Peas frozen or fresh 

1/4 cup beans
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
1 tsp Urad Daal
1 tsp Channa Daal
Salt to taste
Chili powder to taste (optional)
2 tblsp Oil
Few curry leaves
Finely chopped corianderleaves
1 tblsp Ghee
Lemon juice to taste

How to make rava uppma:

• Sift rava through a muslin / cheese cloth or very fine sieve.
• Heat 1tbsp. pure ghee / unsalted butter and fry rava ,on a moderate heat, stiring constantly to light brown color and set aside.
• Now heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan and add mustard seeds and allow them to splatter.
• Add the daals : channa & urad & curry leaves to it and fry till they turn red.
• Add onion, and green chilies. Sauté for 2-3 minutes.
• Add all the vegetables, & chili powder, and salt to taste.
• Now add 3 cups of water and cover the pan and allow it simmer on low heat until the vegetables are done.
• Add the fried rava to it stirring constantly till it becomes little thick.
• Take off from the heat and lemon juice if desired.
• Serve hot garnished with and coriander.

Watermelon has a high glycaemic index (GI)

If you're making a conscious effort to eat low GI foods, does this mean you shouldn't eat watermelon?

Watermelon has a high GI, but compared to other foods you might eat, it doesn’t have as much carbohydrate because it is mainly water.

The small amount of carbohydrate in watermelon is absorbed very quickly making it a high-GI food, but because there is so little it won’t have much effect on your blood glucose levels, so in terms of impact, it is very low. This is termed ‘glycaemic Load’.

Glycaemic load

Although a food may have a low GI it’s also important to consider how much carbohydrate it has. Glycaemic load considers the amount of carbohydrate in a food as well as its GI. Both of these together determine the blood glucose response.

To work out glycaemic load (GL), multiply the GI x the grams of carbohydrate, then divide by 100.

For example:

• 1 cup of watermelon: (GI of 72 x 9 grams carb) / 100 = 6.5.  
• 1 cup of sweetcorn (GI of 37 x 32 grams carb) / 100 = 11.8.  

The differing amount of carbohydrate affects the glycaemic load and therefore the blood glucose response in your body.

Portion size also affects glycaemic load. For example, one cup of sweetcorn has a GL of 11.8 but half a cup only has a GL of 5.9.

What this demonstrates is that using GI in isolation does not give you the full story. You need to consider the amount of carbohydrate in the food you are eating.  For this reason, GI is most useful when choosing between foods with a high percentage of carbohydrate and is fairly irrelevant when foods contain a low percentage of carbohydrate. 

It also highlights that when a food has a low GI it does not mean you can eat huge volumes of it.

In short

When considering a low- or high-GI food we need to consider how much carbohydrate a food contains.

Bread, rice, pasta and cereals are mainly carbohydrate so choosing low-GI varieties makes a difference. But with foods that have little or no carbohydrate such as pumpkin, nuts, meat, fish, chicken, avocado and eggs, the glycaemic index doesn’t really matter.

In fact, some of these foods do not even have a GI value because there’s not enough carbohydrate to be bothered with.

All fruit and vegetables are fantastic for health because they are packed full of antioxidants and nutrients.