Top healthy Indian foods

 If you’ve decided to eat healthy but don’t really like eating bland or sweet oats, cornflakes and other such ‘food for weight watchers’ recommended by dieticians, fret not we from  health.india.com have come up with a list of Indian food items that are not only a treat to your gustatory senses but healthy as well! 

Idli

First up is the unpretentious Idli from the south. Idlis are a great source of carbohydrates and proteins. The fermentation process increases the bioavailability of proteins and enhances the vitamin B content of the food.  As it is steamed, fat content is low and it is easily digestible. Use of dal and rice in idli is a good combination as the amino acids in them complement each other.

Click here to read health benefits and recipes for Idli. 

Sattu 

A staple of the north sattu was  originally made of roasted gram flour but has now evolved to include other nutritious flours like barley, wheat etc. It is prepared in several ways including parathas, laddoos, litti chokhas and more variations. 

Click here to read health benefits and recipes for Sattu 

Dhokla

The staple Gujarati snack, dhoklas, is made with gram flour and subsequently steamed. The fermentation of the flour enhances its nutritive value. Dhokla has a low glycemic index (it releases glucose at a more sustained rate) which makes it good for diabetics. 

Click here to find out how to make healthy dhoklas. 

Bajra

Bajra also knowns as pearl millet is very popular in Rajasthan, this humble food has been eaten in India since the pre-historic times. It  is mostly consumed in the form of rotis or khichdis, especially in the winters. 

Click here to find out how to make delicious bajra parathas

Daliya 

Dalia is a popular breakfast cereal in North India and is made with whole wheat grits or broken wheat. It can be made either as a sweet dalia kheer or as savoury dalia. Being a complex carbohydrate, the rate at which it gets digested it slow thus releasing glucose on a slow and sustained rate. This makes it an ideal food for diabetics, people wanting to lose weight or those who have high cholesterol levels.

Click here to find out how to make daliya upma

 Sprouts

Though not a traditional Indian favourite the health benefits of sprouts are immense. Sprouts have gone through a germination process during which all its nutrients are broken down into their simplest forms making them ‘predigested’ and easily absorbable by the body.  Sprouts are a rich source of vitamins, proteins, minerals and fibre.

 Click here to find out how make delectable sprout chaat