Nutrition check: Are light foods like poha, upma, murmura really healthy?

A lot of people prefer having a light meal to prevent weight gain and keep their health in check. Thus, many end up consuming ‘lighter’ snacks such as poha, murmura, porridge, upma, etc over roti, dal and sabzi. But, are such foods really healthy for you? Nutrition Bhuvan Rastogi offers an answer.
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Taking to Instagram, he explained that ‘lite’ is a term used on many packaged items like snacks and namkeen. “It comes from us Indians, as we use the term ‘light’ for foods like poha, upma, and idli, which don’t make you feel too heavy. Most people believe light foods to be healthy.”

According to the nutrition, however, a wholesome plate of daal roti is actually better than these ‘light’ foods. “Light foods are easy to digest, like sugar and refined flour. Usually, they are very high in carbohydrates and devoid of fibre and protein,” he explained.
He added that such foods are good options for when we are sick and need fast energy, but not otherwise. “When we are well, the same foods lead to excessive carbohydrate intake in high glycemic index forms, which is the root cause of all lifestyle-related disorders.”

What should you do?
To ensure good health, the expert suggested consuming such foods in conjunction with low GI foods like curd, dal, sambhar, etc. “So moving forward, put light foods in the same category group as sugar/ maida and make food choices accordingly,” he said.
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