A diet which is restrictive in nature cannot be sustained in the long run

Diet tips: Diversity is an important part of a healthy diet. How do you exactly define a healthy diet? If you are trying to lose weight, then you are probably going to define it as the one which includes protein and fibre, but not carbs and fats. However, as you all might know, being healthy is not just about losing weight. It is also about being fit, feeling physically active and mentally stable. All these goals cannot be achieved by following a restrictive diet. Diversity is the only component in a healthy diet that can help you sustain it, be fit, healthy and not fat.

Talking about how to choose a healthy diet is nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar on social media. In a video post, Diwekar says that a healthy diet should not seem healthy only on paper.

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According to Diwekar, whenever you are opting to take up a diet, you must analyse if that diet is feasible when applied in real life, where you have a busy schedule, a limited budget, recurrent travel plans, and of course, a food choice where you don’t find all so-called healthy foods tasty.

1. You can measure pros and cons of a diet on paper. But in real life, you cannot go by divisions, says Diwekar in the video. For instance, if you want to the follow the very popular keto diet for weight loss, then you need to give up on carbs. Carbs, as per Indian diet, are in high amounts in foods rice, millets, whole grains and even fruits. Giving them up from your diet means giving up on daily staples like rice, chapatti, some vegetables and even fruits. How convenient is that in real life?

You should have diversity in your diet and eat according to your locality, culture and community
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2. The idea is to understand that it is not healthy to categorise food as carbs, fat, fibre and protein. Instead, food should be looked at as per culture, season, community and locality.

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3. Popular weight loss diets like keto diet deprive you of the much-needed diversity in your diet. In India, we are taught to eat according to the region, community and season. “This reflects the culture that we are born into. It is something that we have got for free” says Diwekar while adding that the weight loss industry has made us give up the way we have been traditionally eating.

4. Food, according to the celeb nutritionist, is a combination of culture, cuisine, crop cycle (eating foods at the time when they are harvested), and climate.

5. For choosing a healthy diet, you have to essentially go back to the way you were traditionally eating. This means that you eat the winter foods when its winter, summer foods when its summer and so on. Similarly, when you are travelling, you should eat the local foods of that particular region, and not just stick to that one salad because of a particular diet that you have been following.

Your diet should be healthy and sustainable in nature
Photo Credit: iStock

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6. Ideally, you should have a diet so diverse, that if you have to eat something different from your usual foods for a day (or more), then you are able to digest it and sustain good health.

So, be it weight loss, belly fat loss, muscle gain, or whichever fitness goal you are aiming to achieve, make sure that the diet you are following is diverse and sustainable in real life.

(Rujuta Diwekar is a nutritionist based in Mumbai)

Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information.

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