How to eat right to reduce fat

Eating right very important to cut flab. Here's how you can balance your diet.

1 Portion size: One of the main reasons why you may become overweight, is the size of the portions of food you eat.
Some people eat too much chocolate, others too much cheese, or some just lack exercise. Balance your diet by
consuming everything in right proportion.

2 Body cleansing: Fibre acts like a natural cleanser for the body. Fibres slow down the absorption of glucose from the intestines. Soluble fibres are found mainly in fruits, vegetables and some seeds, and are especially good for people with diabetes. Legumes are among the highest soluble fibre foods. Insoluble fibres, found in bran, whole grains and nuts, act
as intestinal scrubbers by cleaning out the lower gastrointestinal tract.

3 Go slow: Cut down on fried and fatty foods. Choose reduced fat spreads instead. Try skimmed or semi-skimmed milk. A little fat is helpful, such as polyunsaturated and mono unsaturated fat. The fats in nuts are healthy, but nuts have a lot of calories, so they are best in small amounts. Trans-fats (which may be in hard margarine, biscuits, cake for instance) are considered very harmful.

HTC with inputs from Dr Bhuvaneshwari Shankar, chief dietitian, Apollo Hospitals

First Published: Nov 26, 2010 19:21 IST