Planning to have a ‘light’ dinner tonight? Nutritionist on why it’s not actually healthy

A ‘light snack’ or ‘light dinner’ is said to be easy to digest and is a preferred choice for health-conscious people who do not want to pile up on unnecessary kilos. There are many packaged snacks and namkeens that claim to be light and healthy option for munching. Poha (flattened rice), murmura (puffed rice) and upma (made of semolina) too are considered healthy as eating them doesn’t make you feel too heavy which encourages people to add them more frequently to their diet. (Also read: Best and worst breakfast choices for people with diabetes)

Nutritionist Bhuvan Rastogi who often busts nutrition myths on social media took to Instagram to talk about why foods that make us feel full should be preferred to those that are light on stomach.

Rastogi says the foods that are quick to digest are like sugar and maida (all purpose flour) and are generally high on carbs and devoid of protein or fibre. The nutritionist says that light foods are a good option only when one is sick and needs quick energy but having them all the time could lead to excessive carb intake, leading to many lifestyle disorders.

Eating foods of all groups on the other hand is healthy and keep us full for longer.

“One of the most common things I hear people say is that I had a light snack, I have something light for dinner. They are always referring to a plate of poha, upma or murmura without even realising that a wholesome plate of daal roti is actually better,” writes Rastogi.

“We need to understand that “lightest” foods are sugar and maida, which basically is free energy (calories) and requires very little digestion, both extremely high in glycemic index and will not make you feel heavy at all. But we already know they are bad for us, right. So moving forward put light foods in the same category group as sugar/ maida and make food choices accordingly,” he adds.