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Unbox Nutrition, Mumbai (2025)

03/11/2022

Almost all people with diabetes who seek help make the same mistake with monitoring their blood sugars. It keeps them from seeing their actual status of diabetes.

P.S. November is World Diabetes Awareness Month. So, through this month you may see a lot of content around diabetes since I am a diabetes educator.

Most people who are told to check their blood sugars only check their fasting blood sugars. Here is why it is not adequate.

1. At fasting, you most likely haven't eaten anything that can raise blood sugars for 8-12 hours. So, that is most likely the lowest blood sugar for the whole day and may make one believe that they are in good control based on it.

2. Your blood glucose rises in response to any foods containing carbohydrates. Hence, blood sugar is maximum post breakfast, lunch or dinner. By measuring just fasting blood sugar, we don't get an idea of how high the blood sugar rises in the day.

3. Your fasting blood glucose covers only control at beginning of the day and some part of the night. The rest 75% of the day goes unmonitored.

4. Most of the medicines or insulin prescribed work on acting on the rise in blood glucose in response to a meal. Hence, to know whether the type of medicine or dosage of medicine is alright, fasting blood glucose only helps a little.

5. Every person with diabetes has certain foods that work or don't work well for their blood sugars. Fasting blood glucose cannot help determine which foods work and which ones don't.

Since, now we know why only fasting blood glucose is not sufficient, in one of the posts in the series, we will cover which blood sugars to monitor in addition.

31/10/2022

Magnesium is a less talked about but extremely important nutrient in our overall health.

Some of the important benefits of Magnesium include:

✨ Improved energy levels
✨ Calms the mind and improves sleep
✨ Relieves constipation
✨ Muscle relaxant for spasms
✨ Activates Vit D and strengthens bones
✨ Improves heart health

So, if you have issues like constipation, muscle spasms, PCOS, asthma, or migraine, a good intake of Magnesium through foods or a supplement is a must. Here are some food sources of Magnesium:
⬜ Nuts and seeds
⬜ Beans and pulses
⬜ Soy products
⬜ Whole grains

If you cannot meet the target through food, a supplement of Magnesium Glycinate can be helpful in consuming enough Magnesium. Please take a professional opinion before starting it.

29/10/2022

One may be tempted to do a detox post Diwali to feel light or remove the toxins from our body but it's unnecessary.

Most of the detox diets emphasize on drinking only water and juices. The only foods allowed are also fruits or vegetables. So, naturally it's very low on calories and makes you feel lighter. But there is no scientific evidence that it helps remove any toxins. It may even make you lose precious muscle mass and cause serious complications in people with health issues or on certain medications.

So, doing a detox is a bad idea. Similarly, working out extra hard doesn't "burn" everything you ate but makes you prone to more injuries by overworking the muscles. Hence, a wiser thing to do is eat mindfully, move regularly, sleep enough, and hydrate well.

Hope you get back on track soon. Tell me if you'd need help with it in the DMs.

21/10/2022

Diwali is just around the corner. It is the festival of diyas, lots of good food, and meeting the people we love. We do not deserve to be stressed about our health during this phase.

So, in the carousel below are some ways to keep yourself healthy through the Diwali season with simple tips and tricks. However, if you are someone who gets way too stressed about diet and health in this phase, here is what you need to remember:

1. You don't need to be a particular size or shape to enjoy a festival. Do not let anyone tell you otherwise. Your definition of celebration is unique to you.

2. Your friends and family care about how you feel, not about how you look. So, you don't need to look a certain way to please them.

3. Your emotional and physical wellbeing is more important than the festival. So, do not be forced into eating/ not eating things. Balance it out your way.

4. The guilt that comes after eating an indulgent thing probably does more damage than the indulgence itself. So, don't go overboard with indulging but do not beat yourself up over one odd meal off your routine.

Hope you have a healthy and happy Diwali!

18/10/2022

Sometimes when we are trying to get charge of our health, but nothing seems to be moving, one of the things we forget improving is our sleep.

Lack of enough sleep causes changes in our hunger and satiety, blood sugars, blood pressure, stress hormones and many more. So, it is important to get 6-8 hours of good sleep every night. Research shows that if you don't get good sleep every night but try to make up for it over the weekend, it doesn't help in alleviating the risks at all.

So, if you are struggling to fix a sleep routine, this video lists some tips to start working on it.

Have you tried any of these to sleep better? Tell me in the comments.

11/10/2022

If you're a woman in your 20s or 30s, NOW is the time to start looking after your bones. Here is why.

In recent research (link in comments) on over 30 thousand healthy Indians, 1 in every 2 Indians had osteopenia. It was even worse in the elderly population.

The most common way to assess bone health status is a Bone Mineral Density (BMD) scan. Most healthcare setups and doctors do not recommend BMD to women under 50 years of age. So, a seemingly healthy woman in her 30s may already have osteopenia that will go unnoticed till it gets worse. And the rapid decline of bone health starts only after perimenopause.

So, when you discover osteopenia or osteoporosis, it is already too late. As you age, it becomes difficult to build bone mass, and the only option left is to stop the bones from getting even weaker. We want to be stronger, healthier, and more independent as we age. Hence, here are some tips to improve your bone health now:

1. Ensure adequate intake of Calcium and Vit D. Most sedentary adults do not get enough of these through food. Include good food sources and supplements when required.

2. Start doing some weight-bearing exercises. The bones get stronger when they undergo minor wear and tear during such activities. So, doing strength training is extremely important to build healthier bones.

3. Avoid smoking. Smoking reduces the absorption of Calcium and hampers the supply of blood to bones and tissues. So, a good time to give up smoking is yesterday.

4. Eat an adequate amount of protein. Protein is also one of the building blocks of bones and the supporting muscles and tissues.

5. Maintain a healthy weight. Contrary to our intuition, being underweight increases your risk of fractures and worsened bone health. Hence, maintain a healthy diet and include weight baring exercises regularly to reduce the risk.

6. Discuss your risk factors and status with your healthcare provider periodically to know if you need any assessment or action for your bone health.

When was the last time you got your bone health checked? Tell me in the comments.

23/09/2022

Moringa is a superfood that is easily available and very easy to consume.

Benefits of Moringa include:

- High iron relieves anem
- Good fiber content aids digestion
- Helps in managing blood sugars
- Great source of Vit B, Vit C, Calcium and more

It is very easy to use. The easiest way to use it is in the dried and powedered form. Here are some ways in which you can use it in food:

- Add it to sabzis or curries
- Mix it in soups and smoothies
- Stir it into dosa, idli or chilla batters
- Add it to salad dressings
- Knead it into roti or bread dough

Consider consuming at least a teaspoon of moringa powder every day with these tips. What is a super food that you consume regularly? Tell me in the comments.

22/09/2022

Pav Bhaji is a very popular dinner option but unfortunately not a balanced meal for our regular routine.

A good balanced meal should be a combination of lots of vegetables, good amount of protein and some carbs. The pav is made of refined flour hence simple carbs. Potato in bhaji is also carbs. So, there is more carbs and not enough protein in the bhaji.

So, to make it a balanced meal, we need to find ways in which we can sneak in protein without changing the taste of the dish much. Personally, I like the third swap the best. It makes it most balanced and yummy.

Do you have a pav bhaji hack that works for you? Tell me in the comments.

19/09/2022

Fever is really common this monsoon season.

Viral fever, COVID, Dengue and more have been rampant in most places. One loses appetite during fever but the caloric requirement of the body goes higher since it is fighting an infection.

So, it becomes very important to eat enough and hydrate well to be able to help the body fight the infection and bring the temperature down. Here is a short video explaining a few tips to manage your fever better.

What are some tips that you always use to fight a fever better? Tell me in the comments.

16/09/2022

One of the common steps that people take on their journey of eating better is to replace sugar with another sweetener like Jaggery. Here is why it isn't helpful.

Our body processes most sugars like table sugar or jaggery in the same way. The metabolism of both isn't too different. Hence, when we replace a teaspoon of sugar with a teaspoon of jaggery, for our body, we have just replaced 5 gm of one sugar with 5 gm of another sugar. Both have the same amount of simple carbohydrate that increase our blood sugars rapidly.

To add to the surprise, jaggery has a higher glycemic index than our regular white sugar. Which means that it may even spike blood sugars faster than sugar does. Also, the amount of iron or other nutrients one *may* get from jaggery is barely anything as compared to a serving of palak or a teaspoon of sesame seeds.

Therefore, if you are thinking of improving your eating habits, keep the intake of any sugar (white sugar or jaggery) minimal. Do not mistaken a simple swap for a healthy change.

What is a healthy swap that you have made first when you started your health journey? Tell me in the comments.

14/09/2022

Diabetes is a chronic condition that one pretty much needs to take care of lifelong. However, it is still not that hard to manage it if it becomes a part of your lifestyle.

Often people only focus on giving up sugar and most of the favorite foods to manage diabetes. But there is much more to it than just giving up all this. The way your body deal with glucose, insulin, stress, exercise, sleep deprivation, infections and more contribute towards how well managed your blood sugars are.

So, here are 5 very simple things to adopt in your daily routine to manage your diabetes well. They are easy to execute on day 1 but the key lies in making sure that you keep working on it every ngle day and make it a lifestyle.

If you have questions on diabetes, please drop them in the comments below or DM me. I will be glad to answer since I am a diabetes educator and nutritionist.

07/09/2022

Vitamin B6 plays a very important role in women's health.

✨ It helps relieve PMS symptoms.
✨ It is also proven to reduce elevated prolactin levels.
✨ It may help in preventing anemia in case of a B6 deficiency.
✨ It reduces nausea during pregnancy.

The good sources of Vitamin B6 include turkey, chickpeas, tuna, salmon, potatoes, and bananas. You also get supplements available for Vitamin B6.

Unbox Nutrition

03/11/2022

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11/10/2022

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