Most of our grandmoms have never approved of the devilish rave around Nutella. But here we are - drooling over this loaded hazelnut butter and vigilantly including in our breakfast, our shakes and practically every dessert possible. 

Treats are the cherry on top in our daily grind, and nothing compares to trying out your favorite recipes and desserts with your loved ones. However, if a healthy spread is what you are in search of, Nutella may not be the best fit.

Nutella, as we all know, is hazelnut butter but you might just prefer we Nut-Tella you what its made of! Spoiler #1 - Palm Oil - not the friendliest substance. Apart from being difficult to digest, it can cause toxicity in the heart, kidney, liver, lungs, and reproductive organs. So instead, food manufacturers tend to use modified Palm Oil, which is high in saturated fat and not any more nutritious.

Spoiler #2 - Two tablespoons of Nutella can contain a whopping 200 calories, 11 grams of fat, and 21 grams of sugar- about half as much as a can of Coke. You are better off running some hazelnut through your food processor and adding a little honey and pinch of salt. 

But when your go-to spread is not much cop, there is always a swap! All you need to do is pop in some peanuts, olive oil, and jaggery to blend it into healthy protein-rich peanut butter. Pair up your protein spread with some freshly cut apples to dip and Voila! Breakfast Ready!

We know what our breakfast is looking like tomorrow and we are pretty sure there's Nut a chance, its looking any different for you either! 

When mid-day hunger pangs are creeping up, you just have to grab a bag of chips to satiate it, because it's crunchy seasoned taste just makes it all the more addictive (minus the nutrition of course). 

Just about a bag of chips adds up to 151kcals, which could take 60 mins brisk walking to burn, with almost 10 grams of fat deposition.

These bags of 80% air and 20% chips are actually undercover agents of poor health! Processed with added preservatives, they are cooked in carcinogenic oil repeatedly for the batch to be fried. The high sodium content present in chips increases our daily threshold for salt and negatively reflects on our health as well.

A crunchy healthy swap for chips, that is much more nutritious and can bring a glow to your skin- guess what it could be? Makhana! Just a handful of Makhana in your daily diet can bring great changes.

Makhanas are an undiscovered ancient treasure- they're packed with antioxidants and also have a low glycemic index - which means, diabetics can snack on this wonderful snack, stress-free. They repair the damaged proteins and help in boosting good cholesterol. Little did you know, it provides 180kcals and is naturally devoid of fat and are a plant-based source of protein.

Switching to the healthier side needn't be un-fun when your makhanas are seasoned! Just add some dried tomato powder and peanuts and you are good to go. Say goodbye to your 2 chips in an air-bag and hello to these foxy nuts!

We all have that one moment in our oh-so-healthy life where we crave french fries and nothing seems to win over the tug of these addictive french fries! But life offers a savior to anything and everything. Enter- Carrot Sticks! Your french fries are now safe! And if you are wondering where the ketchup is, you gotta read the previous blog, because it’s in safe hands too.

One portion of french fries you’ve been munching on provides 312kcals. The fat content would shake you like a bag of Piri-Piri fires! The web would say 15grams but it could easily go  25-30grams. These french fries aren't always fresh and most food outlets choose to prepare them much ahead the time and store them frozen instead. They are at times prepared 90 days prior, in the factory hub, and then delivered to each outlet where they are cooked in the oil which is recycled several times. As it turns out, this oil becomes carcinogenic for the next batch over a period of time.

When it comes to our healthy swap, the only c-word you gonna hear is Carrot! These Carrot sticks will not only add nutrition but are also taste great together. A few carrot sticks can provide as low as 12kcal and are light and crunchy to munch on along with hummus dip. Carrots have banks of Vitamin and Minerals and you would always want to grab your beta-carotene points from them. The carrots could be baked or seasoned with pepper and some masala to add the spice on.

The heavy salt threshold in french fries has a way of damaging your health, gradually leading to a pile of health problems. Who wouldn’t grab fat-free carrots in exchange for french fries?

This healthy swap is going to swap your salty moments with vitamins and you won't regret it.

Romantic and rainy, this monsoon weather calls for a cup of hot adrak chai and snacks with a generous serving of ketchup. It’s time we all catch up with Ketchup – the undercover sugar daddy, if you flip the bottle and go on to read what really goes in, it may rain on your parade.

Ketchup is made of tomato concentrate from red ripe tomatoes, distilled vinegar, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, salt, spice, onion powder, flavoring, and preservatives.

It constitutes 20kcals in one teaspoon, 0.2grams protein, 5GRAMS SUGAR (yes you heard it right ), NO VITAMINS, NO MINERALS and no protein!

Instead, we came across this healthier swap to go with perfectly with a bowl of hot toasted Makhana and whole wheat lavash sesame sticks – you guessed it right, it’s none other than our middle eastern favorite – hummus!

All you’ve gotta do is pre-cook the chickpeas by boiling them, puree the chickpeas, garlic with the olive oil and tahini together until they are creamy, some lemon juice for a sour punch and salt to taste and voila! Serve by drizzling some more olive oil and paprika.

And the best part is hummus is made of chickpeas which is a great source of protein, tahini, garlic and olive oil. A homemade Hummus has 30kcals, ZERO FAT, 2 GRAMS of PROTEIN (shocked yet?) and NO SUGAR.

This season calls for wonderful experiences and guilt-free snacking moments! Next time you don’t have to worry about dips and dressings and ketchup loaded with added sugar. Hummus got your back.

Do you still eat candies? I do.

Last week I was on an All Natural foods diet where I was trying to avoid all sorts of Processed Foods, Refined Sugar etc & I couldn’t find a fix for my sweet candy cravings! Was it hard? Oh, yeah!

I held onto my nerves & kept looking for an All-Natural Alternative (still looking at my candy, stash tho) & stumbled upon Dried Berries which I then dunked into my greek yogurt & voila!

Here are a few key benefits of Dried Berries:

1. Great source of Natural Fructose (your boost of energy in the middle of the day)
2. Loaded with  Anti-Oxidants (cleanses free radicals from the blood)
3. Boosts your Immunity
4. Keeps your Heart Healthy (regulates bad cholesterol levels)
5. Regulates Sugar Levels (Low Glycemic Index Food)
6. Plenty of Vitamins & Minerals (Especially, Vitamin C)

A handy stash of kishmish and anjeer definitely  beat the sugar rush, but you gotta try it yourself & see if this works for you! We’d love to hear your questions/experiences in the comments below 

P.S. Go ahead and hand over a palm-full of dried berries to that one CANDY ADDICT of a friend! :)

Gone are the days where Ghee was something we all ran away from. Its making a glorious come back lately. This Indian blessing in disguise would often be the last thing one would consume when trying to stick to a healthy lifestyle.  Of course, it’s fat! That’s our go-to punchline for all the things we usually call unhealthy.

But let’s dig a bit deeper into what actually we should stay away from - Saturated Butter!

Some personality traits of our beloved Makkhan are- 

- Usually, has high trans-fat

- Reduces good cholesterol level present in the body

- Can cause eventual heart diseases, if consumed excessively 

- Can lead to fat disposition in your arteries

Our cousin Desi Ghee on the hand..

- The energy from ghee (medium-chain fatty acids) can be used to burn other fats in the system and promote a healthy weight

- Eliminates inflammatory bowel diseases

- Easy to digest

- Contains conjugated linoleic acid, which may provide a certain degree of protection against colorectal and breast cancer

So unlike what modern-day fads have been prescribing, a scoop of Ghee on your daal-rice could be really good for you and help you burn out the 'Ghee is fattening' phrase out of your life.