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Should we be eating sweets on an empty stomach, before the meal or after the meal? It’s a common habit in Indian households to have a sweet dish after lunch or dinner. Kuch meetha ho jaaye?
Be it Gulab Jamuns, Rabri, Roshgullahs or Halwa … we all love to savour it after our meal. Research and also our ancient Indian culture goes to prove that we should actually eat sweets before our heavy meals. Now this behavioural pattern needs to change as having sweets post dinner adds to empty calories and leads to obesity and indigestion.
Ayurveda and eating order
Ayurvedic eating order is according to taste, i.e., sweet, sour, salt, pungent, bitter, and astringent. Start the meal by eating something sweet followed by something salty in the middle and astringent or spicy at the end. Eating food that satisfies all six tastes helps us in staying stay healthy. Foods with a single taste or few tastes can lead to a range of health problems.
Eating sweet things initially helps in the progression of stomach related emissions or juices. it speeds up the digestion process and helps your taste buds. If you end your meal with sweets it will react with the acid and you will start facing digestive obstructions such as bloating, acidity and gastric obstruction.
Probiotics are good bacteria
Why should we consume sweets first?
Says Neeta Karla, an Ayurveda Expert, “sweets are made up of earth and water elements which are heavy by nature and are therefore difficult to digest. At the beginning of a meal the digestive power is at its highest level, which allows people to digest sweet foods easily.
Eating sweet after your meal tends to make your metabolism slow. A body having slow metabolism will lead to many problems such as diabetes, obesity and other lifestyle diseases.
One can also replace sweets with natural fruits, dry fruits and sweets made up of dates, jaggery and stevia.
When is the best time to have sweets?
Eating sweets before meals helps the body to release digestive hormones in your body and improve digestion. Taking sweets after a meal can slow down digestion and cause digestive problems. If you have a balanced diet containing sugar, fats, proteins, carbohydrates and plenty of fresh fruits it will reduce your sugar cravings. Also, fennel seeds or buttermilk at the end of the meal help in feeling better satisfaction. Betel leaf with nuts and paan can also be had at end of a meal.
If you have been eating sweets for a long time after food then slowly cut it down. You might experience sweet cravings they try to have some sweets in the afternoon before lunch. Also, there are sweets available in the market without white sugar, try those to reduce calories.
Also, take care of your portion size.
When kids want desserts
It is better to inculcate good eating habits in children. As a mother, I would suggest to use fruits as a base. Fruits are naturally sweet super nutritious and everyone loves it. Be it mangoes, bananas, custard apple, chickoos, pomegranate. Serve it with pudding, ice cream, cakes and fruit salads. Fruits let you increase the portion size and add to the goodness of desserts.
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