Fries, Momos, Pizza: HOW Bad Are Your Fave Foods For Your Skin?

DO NOT SHOOT THE MESSENGER! Okay, we had to put that disclaimer in before we got down to it. Here’s the thing, we know our favourite foods are comforting and oh so delish, but they might not be the greatest when it comes to our skin. So with the award-winning Dr. Kiran Lohia of Lumiere Dermatology in arms, we decided to bring to you a definitive ranking of the foods that are bad for your skin. The following foods are ranked from bad to worse, read on to see just how bad (or not) your fave dish is for your skin.

8. Momos: Has maida but not too bad!

“While the casing is maida, there are a lot of veggies and healthy proteins in the filling. And the entire thing is steamed, so it isn’t that bad for your skin.” This is definitely great news!

7. Burgers: Bread, but could be made healthy!

Tasty and not harmful for your skin? It’s possible! “The filling with the veggies and chicken or vegetable patty could easily be turned around. Just use whole wheat bread/buns and try to stay away from deep fried patties.”

6. Frankies: Oil, butter and spice - not that amazing a combination.

“Most of the wraps are made of heavy maida roti, not to mention the spices and cheese and sheer amount of butter that goes into making it is the problem. If a similar thing can be made with whole wheat wraps and baking or grilling, it shouldn’t be too bad.”

5. Pav Bhaji: Honestly, too much bread and butter is the main issue here!

“Bread has and always will be your skin’s enemy and butter and oil never help. The bhaji in itself is full of veggies and if the butter could be reduced it could actually be a healthy option.”

4. Samosas: Maida, deep fried and potatoes, not just bad for skin but awful for your health!

“Fried and full of potatoes, samosas are not only high glycemic, they’re bad for your health!” Uh-oh!

3. Chaat: Deep fried, heavy maida-laden puris begins the trifecta for awful skin food.

“A fried maida base and potatoes do not healthy make! With nothing to redeem it, chaat really tops the list of not good for your skin.” We’re as depressed as you are!

2. Pizza: Full fat flour and dairy literally can mess with your system entirely.

“The high sugar content because of the maida dough and the dairy could mess up your system and if you have acne-prone skin it could make your skin go haywire!” If pizza really is bae, then this is the definition of a toxic relationship. *Sob*

1. Fries: Yup, This is the Worst. We said it!

“While extraordinarily yummy, remember, excess oil and high sugar (which potatoes are full of) makes your body and skin a mess.”

While we can’t cut these foods completely from our system, we could try healthier alternatives right?

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How To Make Yummy Moong Dal Halwa Just Like Your Mom!

You’re at home. Sitting on your bed wrapped in a cosy blanket curled up with your favourite book. Your room’s windows are wide open and it is raining outside. Isn’t this the perfect halwa moment? For many more such moments to come this monsoon, here’s a delicious moong dal halwa recipe that’s SO easy and tasty, that it would be the perfect sweet treat for your family!

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Ingredients You Need To Make Moong Dal Halwa:

½ cup moong dal, soaked for 4 hours

½ cup ghee

½ cup khoya

½ cup sugar

¼ tsp cardamom powder

¼ cup nuts, chopped

How To Make Moong Dal Halwa:

- Strain the soaked dal and coarsely ground it to a paste.

- Heat the ghee in a heavy bottomed nonstick pan on low heat. Add the dal paste and cook for 15-20 mins or until it becomes slightly golden brown, stir continuously.

- Add the khoya and cook further for 5-10 mins.

- Mix in the sugar and cook for another 5 mins. The halwa will gradually change colour.

- Lastly, add the cardamom powder and chopped nuts and mix well.

Garnish with more chopped nuts and serve hot. You’re now ready for the monsoons!

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7 Tips on How to Eat Healthy While Traveling

Traveling usually brings exciting experiences, but staying healthy on the go can be a bit challenging. It may seem that eating a couple of unhealthy meals will not do any harm but eventually you will find that you suffer. These tips will help you to find balance in your trips.

1. Go traditional
If you are traveling to a place you haven’t been before, try local food. Usually the availability of locally produced ingredients will provide you with a good quality products. It’s also a great chance to experience new flavors, tastes and textures. Even though fast food might be a more familiar food for your palate and stomach, the extra calories you will consume will make you feel sluggish and guilty.

2. Moderation is the key
While new dishes will look delicious and you will want to try all of them, try to avoid overeating. This simple rule will help you taste the food more mindfully and leave a good impression of it rather than have a memory of an upset stomach and being sick of the taste rather than truly savoring it. If you are not sure of the portion size, don’t hesitate to ask a waiter for advice whilst ordering. If a large portion is unavoidable, pack it to go; this will also help you save some money on your meal next day.

3. Street food
Street food might be a good alternative to fast food. Go for the option that has plenty of vegetables and is not heavy in fats. The rule of thumb is to avoid fried things and go for a steamed or boiled option. If you are not sure about the freshness of the ingredients, choose a different place or dish which has the ingredients fully cooked.

4. Don’t forget breakfast
While moving around, you might forget about the most important meal of the day. It might be tempting to skip breakfast so you have a bigger appetite for your lunch, but that’s just a deception. Make your breakfast light, full in fibre and micro elements to get you started for the day. Granola or oatmeal with fruit and nuts is a good option. Swapping milk for yogurt is another great choice. Treat yourself with waffles once in a while, but don’t forget fruit!

5. Maintain balance
When you are traveling, it is very easy to fall for snack bars which are secretly full of sugar and fat. Eating plenty of vegetables and a healthy amount of protein will boost your energy and keep you healthy. Try not to skip any meals and be smart and moderate about alcohol. If you want to keep your metabolism going, remember to eat regularly and in small portions. Getting sleepy precisely when you need energy is the last thing you want!

6. Smart snacking
The best way to eat healthy when you are traveling is to take some snacks with you. A pack of nuts, fresh and dried fruit, mini carrots or celery sticks with some hummus are amongst options you could choose from. While a chocolate bar might seem like a good energy boost, it will just add some extra calories.


7. Stay hydrated
Water is the key to your body functioning correctly. Your body needs water for every single thing. Hydrating plenty will help you to get rid of your hangover, replenish your energy and help you eat less. Pure water and drinks low in sugar and caffeine will help you combat fatigue, overexposure to the sun or cold weather. As an extra bonus, it will help you get rid of unhealthy cravings!

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10 Desserts That Prove Indian Sweets Are The Most Delicious In The World

If you’ve got a sweet tooth you’re always on a lookout for some yummy desserts. Well India is known for it’s delicious sweet treats, so why not try a couple of Indian desserts next time you’re craving something sugary. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the world of Indian desserts we prepared a list of 10 desserts that prove Indian sweets are the most delicious in the world.

1. Jalebi
A classic Indian dessert that you’ll find in most Indian sweet shops. This golden spiral might not look like much but it’s the most delicious thing ever, especially when served warm and consumed with a glass of milk.

2. Sandesh
Sandesh is a milk based sweet that has a fudge like consistency. Originally it’s made with homemade paneer and sweetened by sugar, but other flavors can be achieved by adding mango or rose jam or other sweet things.

3. Lassi
Lassi is a Indian dessert drink made of yogurt, water, spices and fruit. You might think it looks a bit like a smoothie or a milkshake, but it’s actually way better than those.

4. Gulab Jamun
Gulab Jamun is a very popular sweet in India. No party big or small is complete without these little balls of sweetness. They’re made by heating milk over low heat for a very long time, until most of the water is evaporated and then what’s left is kneaded into dough with a pinch of flour and soaked in syrup.

5. Kulfi
Kulfi is a traditional Indian frozen dessert. It’s basically like ice-cream but way creamier and denser, which makes the taste more rich and decadent. The most common traditional flavors are mango, rose, saffron, cardamon and pistachio.

6. Shahi Tukda
Shahi Tukda is an Indian dessert that’s a mix between bread pudding and French toast. It consists of fried bread, soaked in sweetened milk and spices. It’s rumored that this dessert might have originated as a way to use up leftover break back in the 19th century. If that’s true, that whoever thought of this was a genius because the result is finger-licking good.

7. Modak
Modak is a sweet dumpling made of rice flour, khalva, and filled with fresh grated coconut and jaggery. Modak can be cooked two ways. It can either be fried or steamed. When steamed these sweet dumplings are usually consumed while they’re still warm and topped with ghee.

8. Shrikhand
Shrikhand is a dessert usually served cold. It’s made by straining yogurt under pressure and then mixing it with sugar, and spices and left in the fridge for the sugar to dissolve. It’s often flavored by sweet fruit like mango, which gives it a nice vibrant color.

9. Kaju Katli
Kaju Katli is a delicious Indian dessert made of cashew nuts. It’s usually made by thickening milk with sugar, spices and blended cashews. Kaju Katli are basically little pieces of cashew fudge, and if you haven’t tried it yet – you definitely should.

10. Malpua
Malpua is essentially an Indian version of a pancake. It’s usually flavored with coconut and various spices like cardamom. It can be served on its own, drenched in syrup or with different fruit toppings. It’s also quite common to have it topped with cashew cream.

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Only a hardcore Non-veg food lover can relate these 10 points!

Do the mere thoughts of Tandoori Chicken, Mutton Korma, Kebabs, Biryani and Butter Chicken leave your mouth drooling? Would you find your life pretty aimless, had there been no non-veg food? If your answer to both the questions is a yes, chances are you are a hard core non-veg lover. But wait, don’t call yourself one until you find the following points completely relatable! 

Ordering Veg Food at Restaurants is a Big No No:

 The rule you abide by to is, “If you are eating outside, it OBVIOUSLY and UNDOUBTEDLY has to be something non veg”.

Skipping Veg Part of the Menu Comes Naturally To You:

Without even putting an intentional thought, you effortlessly and unknowingly skip the vegetarian part of the menus. Afterall, ordering veg food at restaurants is almost like betraying yourself.

 

You Mock Your Vegetarian Friends:

They deserve this! Afterall, how can someone live without non veg food? Howwww?

You know which place serves best XYZ non veg dish:

**Arrey, this place serves best Chicken Tikka**

**Wanna have Galouti Kebabs? I know a place**

This is how enthusiastically you respond when deciding over what and where to eat. And ofcourse, you are a true non-vegetarian food guide and are aware of nooks and corners, famous for particular dishes in your city.

Paneer can never be an alternate:

You simply wanna punch the person in their face, who ever try to make you eat Paneer in place of non veg. However, when nothing of choice is available, Paneer is the only considerable! :p

Your day is incomplete without having atleast one non veg dish

Atleast one meal has to be non-veg. It can be a simple roadside evening snack like Chicken momos, kathi roll or a proper scrumptious dinner with homemade Masala Gravy Chicken.  

You feel like a lone warrior at pure vegetarian restaurants

The only thought that hovers over your mind at such a situation is, “Why the hell am I here? What sins have I committed to be punished like this?”

For you, even Tuesday is a chicken day

F** the World! No day can ever stop you from eating non-veg!

Your ultimate mission is to make your vegetarian friends eat chicken

That indeed will be some serious mission accomplished for you! 

And, now are seriously craving for something Non-veg! (fooood) 

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Healthy eating for an active sex life

Good health and good sex are intrinsically linked. A healthy sex life is part of a healthy lifestyle. When you’re having a loving and exciting intimate relationship with your partner, you feel fulfilled and energised. However, there are times when you may feel too exhausted or stressed to maintain a good sexual relationship. There are many factors that contribute to low sex drive including obesity, poor diet and stress. For normal sexual function we need healthy organs as well as a balanced, working endocrine system producing the necessary hormones.

A healthy body will lead to a healthy sexual life. If you eat a nutritious diet and exercise, you will see positive changes in all aspects of your life, including your sex life. Our body cannot work well if we don’t take care of it.

It is important to eat a proper diet. A healthy diet leads to a healthy body. When you take good care of your body then you can obtain the benefits of having a good one. Sex is a good example of those benefits. You don’t want to get rejected because you can’t “keep up” with someone’s expectations.

Healthy food will of course improve your overall sexual performance. There are foods that help and even enhance your sexual health. Foods like soy and chili peppers for example. Avoid food that has saturated fat; aside from the risk of heart attacks it also affects your blood flow. Even if it does not directly affect your heart, it will affect your sex drive.

Eat a healthy diet full of nutritious food and avoid unhealthy junk foods. We are all going through different things including stress, illness, pregnancy, exposure to toxins, different levels of quality in our food choices, and others so the right diet is also going to depend on where you are in your life. A wholesome diet, low in fat and high in fiber and complex carbohydrates is a good place to begin for increasing your sexual energy. A diet and lifestyle that promote circulation and normal weight, and contain high-vitality fresh foods will lead to better sexual function.

The other major ingredients in a sexually souped-up diet are antioxidants. “They keep your plumbing clean and your cells healthy by mopping up free radicals, molecules that wreak havoc on the body in a process called oxidation,” says Edlen-Nezin a clinical health psychologist who co-wrote “Great Food, Great Sex: The Three Food Factors for Sexual Fitness”. Her advice is to load up on antioxidant-rich produce in all colours of the rainbow, including tomatoes, red peppers, garlic, spinach, broccoli, beets, berries and red grapes. Another good source is dark chocolate.

Add vitamins and supplements

You need to make sure your dinner plate is full of foods that contain vitamins and minerals to improve your sex life. These include vitamins A, C, E and selenium. You also need to eat a lot of foods that are low fat and high in nutrients.

Tomatoes are a great food to feel that loving feeling. They have a lot of vitamin C. Vitamin C helps increase the levels of hormones like estrogen and progestererone, which can help you feel sexy. Peaches are a passion fruit that have a lot of Vitamin A, which improves your sexual health by increasing hormone levels of progesterone and keeping your thyroid working well.

Black beans can be very erotic and give you energy so you can have a vibrant sex life. Onions can be hot and steamy and keep you from developing heart disease, which is important because the medications to treat that can negatively affect your sex life.

The banana is said to be an exotic fruit that has a lot of potassium, which keeps your muscles and nerves working well so you can have a healthy sex life. Asparagus is another food good for your sex life because it has potassium, calcium, and phosphorous. All of those give you energy and keep your urinary tract and kidneys working properly, which is important for a healthy sex life.

Exercise required

Exercise can very well help to maximise your sexual potentials. Exercise does the body a lot of good. Different clinical studies have shown that any kind of regular constant physical activities are associated with a lower risk for erectile dysfunction. The study explains that physical activities help the blood flows smoothly in different parts of the body especially in the male sexual organ which is very important to prevent erectile problems.

Regular exercise can stimulate sexual desire and make sex more enjoyable. If the couple enjoys good sex, then it is an indication of good relationship. ‘Good Sex’ per se provides significant physical and psychological benefits which promotes health and well-being.

Any kinds of exercise will do as long as your body gets the energy it needs. Most common exercises that contribute highly for sex are yoga and different types of aerobics. Aerobic exercises revs up hormones, fights stress, takes away fat and rejuvenates the whole body. This will help you get more confidence and stamina when having sex. Sports and dancing are also good for priming your body for love making.

Walking, running and even push ups and sit ups helps greatly during intercourse. It can improve your chest, shoulders and abdominal parts that are essential for good sex pleasure. Keeping your muscles strong and improves stamina for prolonged, more pleasurable love making.

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Italian Recipes-simplicity that makes it sumptuous

A unique feature of foods in Italy is simplicity. Italian cuisine is great with just a few ingredients: tomatoes, oil, bread and wine, to name a few. Quality of ingredients such as mozzarella and tomatoes is what makes the difference. This is why the most simple dishes are delicious in Italian food salad dressings are not used,  All they need is the freshest vegetables with great olive oil and possibly some balsamic vinegar.

Try out some Italian recipes

Pizza Margarita 

For the dough:

11/3 cups warm water (105° to 115°)

1 pinch sugar

21/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (1 package)

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

3 to 4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

For the topping:

1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes

1 pound fresh mozzarella, sliced thinly

extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling

salt

fresh basil

Mix the sugar into the water and add the yeast. Stir once and allow to sit for 10 minutes. Mix olive oil and salt into yeast mixture and begin adding flour a little bit at a time, stirring with a wooden spoon. When it becomes too thick for the spoon, mix with your hands. Add flour until you have a soft, but not sticky, dough. Knead dough on a floured surface for 10 minutes. Coat the inside of a mixing bowl with olive oil and place the dough ball inside, flipping it so that its entire surface gets oiled. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours. Punch to deflate dough, turn it out onto a countertop and divide it into the number of pizzas you wish to make. Knead each small piece until smooth and uniform and allow to rest for 20 minutes under a dish towel before shaping.

Preheat the oven to 500°.

Simmer tomatoes over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Shape each dough piece into a 1/4-inch-thick round and place on a cornmeal-covered baking sheet without sides. Put a thin layer of tomato and mozzarella on each round of pizza dough and sprinkle with olive oil and salt. Bake for 7 to 8 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and the crust is golden. Tear the fresh basil onto the pizza and serve immediately.

Makes 2 12-inch or 3 9-inch pizzas.

 Spaghetti  Napolitano

Ingredients

200   Gms  Spaghetti

60  Ml  Nepolitanne  Sauce

02  Gms  Chilli  Flakes

Seasoning  To  Taste

05  Ml  Olive  Oil

10  Gms  Parmesan  Cheese

02  Nos  Garlic  Toast

Chopped  Parsley   as  required

Method 

Boil  Spaghetti  till  al  dente.

Take  a  sauce  pan,  sauté  garlic    and  chilly   flakes   with   olive  oil.

Add  Nepolitainne  Sauce  (Tomato  Concasse  Based Sauce), add  seasoning.

Serve  Hot  with   Grated  Parmesan Cheese  , garnish  with  chopped  parsley.

Grilled Prawns   and  Garden  Vegetables

Ingredients

03  Nos  King  Prawns

10  Ml  Italian  Dressing

10  Ml Olive  Oil

10 Gms  carrots

10 Gms  Baby  Corns

07 Gms Chopped  Garlic

Melted  Butter As Required

Seasoning  To  Taste

Method 

Marinate  Prawns  with  Seasoning  and  Keep  in  The  fridge   for  at Least  one  hour.

Hot  Griddle  should  be   non  stick  hot, Grill  marinated  prawns    till  done  (  One  Can also  remove  Shell  and  Grill) Toss  vegetables  with  little  butter  and  chopped  garlic    and  seasoning.

Serve  Hot  with  Italian  Dressing.

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