Indian meals and new dietary guidelines

[susruta]

The new US dietary guidelines recommend 9 servings of fruit and vegetables a day. Although Indian food is predominantly vegetarian -- even non-vegs eat just a little meat by US standards -- my sense is that it is heavy on starches and dairy products. and that it may be hard even for vegetarians to comply with these new guidelines. I'm interested in hearing what others think about this.

[Milagai]

hey susruta: great topic and one i've been thinking about

for a while.

i generally agree with you.

i've been trying even to get the 5 a day recommendation before

they changed it to 9 a day! and it's hit or miss depending on

whether the sabzi made that day is aloo or what.:

even though the basic menu for the family is the same

every day, my husband eats a LOT of fruit so he can easily

meet the requirements.

my kids eat less, since they have smaller appetites overall;

i am hit or miss depending.....

a typical day:

breakfast:

toast, coffee (milk for kids).

husband eats fruit, neither kids nor i have appetite for it.

snack: kids typically get fruit or veg in school.

sometimes i take some fruit to office (i'd say 3/5 of the time).

lunch: usually about 2 servings of veg here (for me)

less for husband, maybe 1; and kids get ~ 2 but smaller quantity.

snack: kids get something in school, again ~ 1 serving.

i sometimes pack fruit or salad for a snack (again 3/5 days).

dinner: repeat of lunch.

but its kind of hard for me to reach even 5, let alone 9!

my parents do better in india since they are both fruitaholics....

milagai

ps: re your screen name: are you a physician?

[Shalmanese]

IIRC: An apple is a single serving of fruit so most vegetarian dishes would contain 2 - 3 servings.

[susruta]

Hi, Milagai. No, I'm not a physician. For some reason, that name came to mind when I signed on with e-gullet.

You are right -- you need to eat a LOT of fruit to get the nine servings. And tropical fruits like mangoes and papaya are really rich in vitamins and trace minerals.

Chinese and Southeast Asians probably find it easiest to meet the dietary requirements since their meals are typically a lot of vegetables with a little meat. I find it easier to include a lot of green, yellow and orange veggies in Western style meals than I do in Indian ones.

[Milagai]

hola susruta:

some thoughts:

1. i love veggies and fruits, so even thinking about

meeting the new guidelines was not painful for me.

in general, my family eats a fairly good amount and variety

of fruits and veggies. it's this 9 a day thing that's baffling,

especially now when i suddenly need to control calories as well :)

i am not even trying to meet the exercise guidelines.

i exercise a little bit, but nowhere near the recommendations.

2. another thing: if we actually adhere to all the guidelines for

diet, exercise, sleep, work, socializing, etc etc etc that are put out

they all add up to more than 24 hours a day (one of my colleauges

actually calculated it) :)

3. when tropical fruits are in season my fruit intake does go up.

4. here's a link to an interesting article in today's new york times.

you need to register (free) i think if you have not done so already

to read it, and i am not sure how to post the whole thing here

(too lengthy), so just take a look at it.

it's the moaning - groaning of a man who lived by the typical

USA diet trying to meet the dietary requirements. he is in basically

great health in terms of weight, BP, cholesterol etc. but

interestingly he said that the new dietary guidelines would require

a whole cultural shift for the average american, as most do not

eat so many veges normally. he said people of asian origin

would find it much easier....

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/23/weekinre...d=all&position=

milagai

[Geetha]

True, fruits and veggies (fresh) are too much contrast to todays lifestyles, I gather from this post too, that there is a change in our outlook which is must internally not by external influence from news media.

Like the normally predominant food forms of today are more tasty and no one would give them up for more sublime and hardly tantalizing fruits and veggies..

I agree there has to be a true change from inside us each one of us, each different in our states of evolution in our tastes and preference to food, and many a coinfuence from society we live in.

With hope for a better tomorrow for all of us how it will happen you know

I would call sublime from above because of the journey I have taken for life to discovery of true source of happiness within all of us.. may be you too will agree on it one day