Is Roti Chapati healthy?

Call it roti or call it chapati, it has been made the same way for hundreds of years and continues to be a staple part of many Indian diets.

But is the roti or chapati healthy? It depends- on what its made with and how its made. The traditional roti is made from ground whole wheat, and is roasted on a pan, or in an oven. This roti is healthy. Its got soluble fiber to help clean the plaque from your blood vessels, plenty complex carbs to give you sustained energy, proteins to help build and maintain muscle and almost no fat (till you add ghee to it). It has a low glycemic index, so it doesn’t make your blood sugar shoot up and then crash (read here, why that’s bad for you).

Some people are allergic to gluten, so for them roti can be made from bajra. Again, very healthy- contains fiber, complex carbohydrates, protein and low fat. What you should watch for is that your rotis should not made from maida. Maida is refined flour and has the same effect on your body as sugar- makes you fat. Rotis can also be made from black chickpea flour. To add flavour, you can chop up cooked vegetables and mix them with the atta- like spinach, carrot, etc. Roti can be fattening, if you load it with ghee and oil.

Roti Trivia: Roti is a common term used for bread in many countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand. But they’re not the same roti. In Thailand, the roti is actually a pancake, made from maida, an fried and loaded with goodies, like fruits, honey, condensed milk, etc.

Sleep health benefits- Weight Loss

When we’re dealing with overweight people, one thing common amongst all of them is that they rarely get enough sleep. Most common physical symptoms of sleep deprivation can be lethargy or dark circles.  But do you know that lack of sleep can even make you fat! Lack of sleep has much deeper effects on your health than you can imagine- It can adversely affect your mood, weight and general health.

Sleep is a function of body that is still not completely understood, but it is known to be used by your body for regeneration, building immunity and restoring all the damage done to your body through your daily activities, exposure to pollution, etc.

Not getting enough sleep means not giving the body enough time to perform these important functions. The lack of sleep makes your brain go into a stress mode. Your body’s physiological reaction to stress is to store energy, since it thinks that it will need this energy sometime in the future. So, your body releases the hormone cortisol, which leads to higher storage of belly fat. As Indians, we are already genetically prone to storing more fat in our belly. Cortisol increases that tendency even more. The ‘stressed out’ brain thinks that we need to store energy, so it make you want to eat more, especially food categories that are high on calories.

Think about the last time you jumped into the fridge for that midnight snack- was it celery and carrots, or was it calorie laden mind-blowing deliciousness. Yes, your brain is manipulating you into eating that food because you’re not giving it enough sleep. Bad enough that you’re storing more belly fat. To make it worse, you’re eating high calorie food.
So not getting enough sleep could be making you gain weight!

Sleep helps you regenerate. It gives your body a chance to strengthen your immune system. While daily activities create wear and tear on your muscles, sleep gives your body a chance to repair and build those muscles.

Sleep is a good thing, so get 7-8 hours of it. But too much of a good thing is probably not that good. Beyond 9 hours of sleep, the benefits reduce.

So snooze to get fitter!

Fitho Dessert Recipe- Makes the list of best recipes on the web

Our recipe for the decadent and healthy dessert was recently featured on the Best Recipes around the Web.
Thanks a lot for your support and readership.

We love our food at Fitho. But nutrition is equally important to us. As is keeping them simple. And last but not the least, we avoid using processed ingredients. We believe that food is healthier when its fresh and as natural as possible. And we only post recipes that we have personally tried
So, we aim to provide delicious, healthy and simple recipes.

If you have any suggestions for recipes that you would like us to feature, feel free to comment and we’ll do our best to make them happen!

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