Eating healthy at all stages of life is always beneficial be it a kid, teen or an adult. An Indian meal is incomplete without signature-lip smacking dishes, mouth-watering snacks and a wide variety of sweets. People tend to find various reasons to indulge in sweets – be it a get-together, festivals, parties, dine-outs or social gatherings. This leads to overeating, adding on empty calories and consumption of unhealthy foods. It often seems difficult to maintain a healthy eating regime in the family. According to Navneet Singh, VP and head of Southeast Asia region PureCircle, you can follow the following simple tips to ensure your family stays healthy year round.

Switch to natural sweetener: We Indians love our sweet treats, but sometimes we don’t like the calories or we don’t contemplate what excess sugar may be doing to our health. Consumers are increasingly looking for natural sweetening alternatives to sugar. What if there is a sweetener which is natural, has zero calories and has no side effects? Stevia is a sweetener option/alternative that has a delicious sweet taste with zero-calories and comes from the leaves of the stevia plant. When it comes to preparing your favorite recipes, you can use stevia in practically anything that requires sugar, honey or maple syrup as an ingredient.

Go for smaller portions and high fibre: Avoid sampling all dishes during social gatherings and parties. Be smart and selective with food and motivate your family members especially kids to avoid overeating. Go for smaller portions as a large variety of festive dishes are loaded with calories and sugar. Vegetables like beans and legumes, nuts, whole grain breads, cereals are good for health and help in adding bulk to the diet. This provides a feeling of fullness for a longer period and helps overeating.

Stay hydrated: Water makes up more than half of our body and is essential for it to work properly. As festive season tempts us to consume a lot of fried and sugary foods, alcohol, etc our body gets dehydrated very easily. Make your family drink water or eat plenty of water-rich foods to stay hydrated throughout the day.

Eat a healthy breakfast on a daily basis: On busy mornings, it’s easy to slip breakfast from your priority list, but a healthy breakfast can really make a difference to your day. Breakfast provides the body with energy to get going for the day, and also fills the stomach so we are less likely to get into the trap of unhealthy snacking.

Make exercise a part of your daily life: A regular exercise regimen helps maintain a healthy weight range, improves body strength, lowers stress and promotes a happy lifestyle. It is not impossible to carve out some time for a workout session at home to keep your family fit and healthy.

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