Anuradha Sridharan

Yet another year is coming to an end. Around the same time last year, I was winding up my last-day formalities with Flipkart. I didn’t have a plan for 2017. I decided to just let time take its course and go with my intuition. I wasn’t sure about getting back to work. Though I knew I wanted independent part-time sort of opportunities, I didn’t put enough effort to seek them. I was clear about one criteria though - I wanted those 3-4 hours that I have for myself to do meaningful work.  That goal translated into more activity in my blog. The number of blogposts I wrote this year is the highest in my blogging journey of the last 13 years. Except for a few random posts and book reviews, the majority of them were around food and nutrition. I especially enjoyed the process of writing about different packaged foods , their ingredients and nutritional information. Supermarket visits became more interesting - looking for new products, clicking pictures in various angles and then rushin...

2018 is just a few days away and if you are someone who sets resolutions or goals, here are a few I’d recommend related to food and healthy eating. Do pick the ones that are relevant to you. As for me, I’m picking up #4, #6 and #9. 1) Avoid packaged food for atleast 3 days a week - Includes oats, cereal, muesli, bread, sandwich spreads, cheese 2) Keep weekly shopping cart free from processed/junk/ready-to-eat food - If that’s too extreme, set a limit to only ONE pack per week 3) Cook/Eat atleast one fresh, home-made meal a day - No pre-chopped veggies, frozen food, reheated food etc 4) Eat atleast one meal a day with full awareness (mindful eating) - No gadgets, no books, no TV - Chew food properly - If possible, sit down on the floor and eat 5) Eat 3 servings of vegetables and 2 servings of fruits a day - atleast 80% of them will be local to the region I belong to (more guavas/chikkus/papayas and less kiwis/avocados/Washington apples etc) 6) I...

Healthy Eating is not ONLY about adding super foods and nutrient-dense foods to our everyday diet, but also about eliminating the harmful, the unnecessary ones. I believe, if we focus more on “cutting down” rather than “adding more” foods , then 80% of our health issues would vanish. Here are the 5 foods that I stopped buying this year.     1. Ginger garlic paste Though the brands call themselves “mother’s recipe”, “home made” etc, the ingredients paint a different picture with various chemical additives in the form of stabilizers, preservatives and acidity regulators. In the morning rush hour cooking, it takes just a few seconds to grab the pack from the fridge, squeeze a tsp of such pastes in gravies and put it back in the fridge. But is it really worth it? Definitely not. The alternative is to make a batch of home made ginger garlic paste and stock it. I find that too cumbersome a process to peel a big batch of garlic and ginger. So as and when needed, I pee...

I have started reading the widely popular “The life-changing magic of tidying” by Marie Kondo. It had been in my wishlist for quite some time and finally I bought myself a copy of it. Once I finish reading it, I’ll write a detailed review. For now, let me share my experience from yesterday of rearranging and organizing my wardrobe using the Konmari method. I had finished the chapter on clothes and was excited about attacking my wardrobe yesterday afternoon. I thought to myself, “ Clothes are easy. I don’t buy a lot of them. I should be able to clear them in an hour’s time before D comes back from school ”. The “before-Konmari” Anu would have moved from one shelf to another when she cleans. But “after-Konmari”, she had to follow the book diligently and bring down every single piece of clothing on the floor. As much as it made me very uncomfortable, I went ahead with it. Summer clothes sorted and put back in a corner of the top shelf. BTW, those were swimwear, swim cap a...

Image Source: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/indian-dal-rates-get-canadian-tadka/1/660508.html Before I proceed further, let me state upfront that I’m not a complete vegan yet. I do consume dairy products, out of habit (milk in my tea, curd). Though the quantity is less, I’m hoping I could put an end to it soon. I believe the commercially available dairy is harmful to health because of the various hormone injections, excess use of antibiotics etc. So I don’t consider dairy to be of any nutritional value, even though the media shouts on top of its voice with “high protein, high calcium” slogans. I had earlier written about plant-based sources of calcium . Do check it out if you haven’t yet done so already. Let’s come to the most “ talked about ” macro-nutrient - protein. I’m not going to get into the details of why we need protein. It is essential for various functions in the body, supports growth, maintenance and cell repair. What’s most relevant in today’s context is...

 I recently stumbled upon this article on Hershey’s growth plans for India. Two figures bother me -  1. Their net sales in India grew 16% year-on-year during the Sept quarter, making it the fastest growing among Hershey’s core markets outside the US, which include Brazil and Mexico (as quoted in the article) 2. Hershey India plans to invest $50 million in India in the next 5 years. Increasing sales, more investment coming to India, but at what cost? Our children’s health. I remember this brand vividly because around 2 years back, my daughter used to ask me to buy Hershey’s Chocolate syrup for her, whenever she accompanied me to the supermarket. I had bought it twice but she didn’t like the taste of it when mixed with milk. The picture of the pack you see was bought in early 2016 and was lying in a corner in my pantry. Before I throw it out, I thought why not write about it first.  As far as I could remember, this was the only product from Hershey’...