Choose your 250
Eating right is about finding the right balance between calories, the amount of food eaten, and taste
NEW DELHI :
Calories don’t determine how filling you find a particular food item. For the fact is that calories and food quantity, and thus satiety, are not directly proportional. What makes a food satisfying is its sheer bulk. You can eat a lot of watermelon without taking in a lot of calories. For the same reason, oranges are higher on the satiety index than orange juice. The satiety index is the measure of how long a particular food item can keep you feeling full. This is determined by the amount of fibre, protein and water in a food item; the higher a food item on the index, the higher the satiety level.
The cornerstone, then, of a healthy diet should be satiety, not calories. So eating right is about finding the right balance between calories, the amount of food eaten, and taste. All three parameters combine to make a meal worthwhile. We offer some comparisons to help you make wise food choices; each item offers 250 calories.
—Source: Ishi Khosla, clinical nutritionist, Saket City Hospital, New Delhi, and Hetal Pandya, head nutritionist, Fortis Hospital, Mulund, Mumbai.
* All serving sizes are indicative.
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