healthy diet for this summer

As the countdown for scorching heat and the painful summer sun begins, you may be regretting the extravagance of the winter season splurge.

That extra helping of pizza on New Year's Eve, those extra glasses of wine for Christmas dinner and those tempting slices of cheesecake from the friend's birthday party are all making their presence felt. With approaching summer months, you have no choice but to get in shape. And, today, we've got some diets for you. Dr. Simran Saini, Weight Loss Management Consultant at Fortis Hospital and Bangalore-based, registered dietitian and Wellness Consultant, Sheela Krishnaswamy give us 5 diets this summer. Caution: Do not start any of these diets without consulting a fitness expert.

Mediterranean diet
Sheela Krishnaswamy: This diet is not a low calorie diet, but a healthy traditional diet of the people in the Mediterranean region. Their diet primarily includes whole grains, lots of fruits and vegetables, fish, legumes, olive oil for cooking and wine as a beverage. Their consumption of dairy is moderate (mostly as cheese) and meat consumption is low. Studies have shown that this type of diet helps to reduce the risk of several lifestyle diseases.

The Mediterranean Diet Guideline for Novices:
- Eat your vegetables and fruits -7 to 10 servings of fruits and vegetables daily.
- Switch to whole grains - The lesser it's processed the better it is.
- Nut it out - Almonds, pistachios, cashews, walnuts, they're all good.
- Switch from animals and dairy fats to olive oil or canola oil.
- Spice instead of salt - Use herbs and spices instead of extra salt.
- Eat fish - Once or twice a week.
- Red meat becomes a treat - Only recommended about once or twice a month. If you're a regular red meat eater. you'll have to replace it with fish and poultry.
- Drink a lot of wine - Not a lot, but a couple of measures a day are good for you.
- Drink 6-8 glasses of water a day.


Raw food diet
Sheela Krishnaswamy: This is a practice of eating foods that are uncooked and unprocessed. The food range includes sprouted whole grains, sprouted pulses, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, raw fish, raw milk (unpasteruised) and curd. Followers of this diet believe that the enzymes in the food get destroyed when cooked and therefore they are best eaten in their raw natural form.


Fruit Flush Diet
Dr. Simran Saini: The diet consists of lean proteins essentially in the form of whey protein shakes, which makes the body enter into a fat burning mode. Secondly, the high intake of water and fiber in the form of fruits and raw vegetables makes the system burn calories at the benefit of optimum nutrition from these fruits. This results in a sudden weight loss as the body goes through a complete jerk from its regular routine.


Be warned: This will always be a temporary weight loss, and once you resume eating regular meals you will put the weight back on - especially in the absence of a good exercise routine.

 



The belly melt diet
Dr. Simran Saini: This diet is considered to be a 1,600-calorie-a day diet that focuses on eating small portions of monounsaturated fatty acids with every meal. Monounsaturated fatty acids, or MUFAs, are plant-based fats found in olives, nuts, seeds and dark chocolate. The diet advocates that meals rich in MUFAs can actually help in reduction of belly fat.
Gluten-free diet. Sheela Krishnaswamy: This is primarily prescribed to people who cannot tolerate gluten containing foods. Gluten free diet eliminates all foods that contain gluten - wheat, rye and barley. If the patient cannot tolerate oats, that is also removed from the diet. However, a gluten-intolerant person can continue to eat rice, corn, and other cereals, and all other food groups.