Do's

Water :

• Drink a minimum of 2-2.5 litres per day.

Fruits : 

• Consume 2-3 fresh local seasonal fruits every day.

Vegetables : 

• Consume a variety of green vegetables daily in ample quantity – cooked in the form of subzi and raw in the form of salads and vegetable juices.
  
  Include vegetables like dudhi (bottle gourd) and a lot of CURRY LEAVES to your diet.

Nuts & Dry fruits : 

• Almonds to be soaked overnight and peeled.
  
  Walnuts, cashews and pistachios are to be consumed in moderation/ as advised.
  
  Soaked black raisins along with its water is a great way to start the day (especially for PCOS).
  
  Figs, dates and prunes to be included for better iron/haemoglobin.

Seeds : 

• Dry roasted, unsalted and unsweetened flax, pumpkin, watermelon and sunflower seeds should be included.
  
  Chia seeds – can be added to your bottle of drinking water or to oats or salads.
  
  Sesame seeds can be added to food in the form of temperings (tadka) or to salads or in the form of chikki.

Millets and Flours : 

• Include millets and other flours like jowar (sorghum), nachni (finger millet), bajra (pearl millet), kuttu (buckwheat) and kangi (foxtail millet) at least 3 times a week in your diet.
  
  Quinoa is a good source of protein.

Dals : 

• Soak dals for a minimum of 30 minutes before cooking to increase its nutritional value.
  
  Sprouts are a great source of protein and VitB and should be cooked before consuming.

Oil and Ghee : 

• Use desi cow ghee in moderation.
  Use local traditional cold pressed oils for Indian cooking.
  Olive oil – should be used for stir fry/ salads/ western style of cooking.
  

Non Veg : 

• Use grilling/ roasting/ baking/ steaming methods of cooking chicken and fish instead of deep frying.
  
  Egg whites can be consumed. Yolks can be consumed in moderation.

Milk : 

• Normal cow’s milk can be used if you are not lactose intolerant or if allowed in your diet pan.
  Plant based milk options are- soy milk, almond milk, coconut milk.

General Do’s : 

• Regular exercise, mindful eating and good sleep.

 

Dont's

• Reduce or avoid tea/ coffee.
• Reduce or avoid wheat/ gluten. Opt for gluten free flours/millets.
• Do not mix 2 grains in any meal. Eg – have only rice or only roti, not both in the same meal.
• No sweets (cakes, pastries, mithais, donuts, muffins, jams, jellies etc).
• No deep fried foods.
• No packaged/ processed/ refined foods.
• No maida (all purpose flour) to be used.
• Avoid red meat.
• No fruit juices. Eat your fruit whole to get its real benefits.
• Do not eat fruits as a part of or immediately after your main meals like lunch or dinner.
• Avoid dairy/ milk/ curds. Paneer can be had.
• Fermented foods, sour and spicy foods to be avoided.