Three reasons why Maggi row is healthy for us

The whole Maggi issue was blown way out of perspective. And was lapped up for all the wrong reasons. But not all is lost as I believe it has brought to light "very clearly" the immaturity with which we all fall for propaganda, and instead of really thinking through, how we just hang on to the selective bits (of information) being broadcast and consider them sacrosanct. Now when the dust settles a bit, maybe we will be able to glimpse how gullible we can be - and not repeat this mistake the next time round. Hopefully, we will ask the right questions - and if that happens, it will be a "huge" learning for us collectively as a society. 'Coz when it comes to our health, we can’t let others decide for us. It’s way too important.

Takeaway: To know the truth one needs to read the fine print in more places than just at the back of packaged foods.

Another good thing the Maggi controversy has done is that it has got people thinking (even if a little) about the food they are plating and eating. People now are hopefully asking themselves: "Agreed convenience is really convenient. But are we depending on it too much?" or "How many times last week did I have Maggi (or xxxx, yyyy...) or just ordered some food from a takeaway?" Hopefully now, more of us are at least looking at (and not just gulping) the food on our plates. Being aware is a big step towards right eating, and paves the way towards healthy, disease-free, full of energy bodies. According to some research we make (on autopilot) more than 200 food related decisions every day. Yes, that many! Let some of these be intelligent please.

Takeaway: Taking time out of our busy schedule to consider our food choices is not really a choice for those looking for a long healthy innings. It has to be a way of life.

After playing second fiddle to "which fat is good for us", Maggi has brought the whole debate about refined carbs being bad for us in the forefront yet again... This is a good development as I think our children (and we too) are eating way too much of refined food (thus stripped of a lot of goodness) these days - which is definitely not good for us. But that said, here I differ from popular opinion on how to go about taming it. I am a believer of balance, and I think it is foolhardy to expect everyone to just suddenly ditch all refined food (bread, pasta, pizza base, maida, instant noodles...) and switch to a diet comprising only of whole cereals. It is as unrealistic as expecting people to go on an only-cabbage diet (yes, there is a crazy fad diet like this) to lose weight and then sticking to it happily too. Not happening, trust me! So my suggestion is: go half-whole for a while (a couple of months): replace half of the refined food you eat every day with whole foods. Try oats for breakfast, experiment with newer grains like quinoa, and get back in the menu the traditional but forgotten ones like amaranth, millet... If it is pasta you are craving for, give whole wheat a chance and try brown rice (you’ll love the flavour) and red rice maybe. See how your body reacts... observe which ones you can digest easily, enjoy eating and can merge with your diet practically, and then make selective choices. Enjoy the ride instead of considering it thrust upon you.

Takeaway: Refined food is bad for us, but it needs to be weaned from our diet, not thrown out.