A Sweeter and Wiser Alternative

In today’s age and time, people are more conscious than ever of their weight though ironically obesity has never been more prevalent in the youth worldwide than it is in the present. There is rampant body-shaming on one hand, which is one of the contributory factors to several eating disorders, and on the other, a majority of the world’s youth leads a sedentary lifestyle and consumes high amounts of junk food on a daily basis. What we can’t seem to find is ‘balance’. At least a lot of us.

Now that summers are here, this lack of balance becomes all the more evident. Suddenly crash diets are the in-thing. Living only on juice or soup etc. becomes a fad. After all, one needs to fit into one’s summer clothes! Sometimes I wonder whether we are supposed to change our bodies to fit clothes or clothes should be made in accordance with our fit! When we are in our 20s and early 30s, we may not realise what such crash diets do to our body since our body is young and has enough ammunition to keep firing without being loaded much, but the effects start becoming evident as we age- early ageing, loss of memory and concentration, aches in joints, lowered immunity resulting in catching diseases easily and not recovering fast enough etc. We start reaping what we had sown in the first place.

Anyways, though I am vehemently against dieting I do believe in making dietary adjustments so that one eats healthy food and avoids unnecessary unhealthy items. Sure I believe that one need not become a size zero to look beautiful or feel good but that is no endorsement for eating whatever comes in sight and making oneself vulnerable to a whole array of diseases. The word is ‘balanced diet’.

There are simple things one can do within one’s budget and without compromising on taste, say adding fiber and reducing sugar. Fruits and veggies eaten raw, as opposed to as juice, add a great deal of fiber to our diet. As for sugar, once can totally replace it with something sweeter yet healthier- honey.

Honey is one of those things that can totally make an ordinary dish taste delicious without making it unhealthy. In fact, one can go on a honey diet, if you will. Honey added to lemon juice and lukewarm water makes for a great start to the day- it flushes out toxins and even helps in weight loss when taken regularly for months. Milkshakes, smoothies and other summer drinks can be easily made healthier and tastier by substituting honey for sugar. Honey added to chilled milk and mint leaves makes for a simple yet delicious drink for the hot afternoons. Other than being a replacement for sugar, honey has several medicinal properties too- taken with cinnamon powder, it helps in lowering cholesterol and preventing heart attacks as well as in checking weight gain. All in all, maintaining a balanced diet makes way more sense in the long term than going on crash diets and honey can help you to immediately start making your diet more balnced. Go get your jar of the Sweeter and Wiser Alternative!