‘Ginger and fennel can help you fight excess acid’

I have thyroid, and doctors have advised that I wait for at least 45 minutes after taking the medicine to eat. Delayed eating is causing me acidity. What healthy options can I include in my breakfast to keep acidity away?

You must definitely eat soon after rising. Try eating within the first hour of rising. Besides delayed eating, it could also be what you are eating that can fuel the acidity. Is caffeine the first thing you intake? If yes, that could be the trigger to increased gastric acid production. Always line your stomach with food first and then 15-20 minutes later caffeine can follow. That is the best way to avoid and relieve acidity, stomach ulcers. A healthy breakfast should consist of a nourishing balance of carbohydrates, fibre, protein and healthy fat. A healthy serving of oatmeal, fresh fruits like watermelon, bananas, apples, pears and papayas are great for combating acidity. Muesli with yogurt, egg sandwich, stuffed rotis (less spice and less oil) with vegetable raita are some of the options to a great healthy jump-start breakfast. Large gaps between meals tend to be followed by large meals and that is prompts increased acidity. Also keep the focus on adequate water intake through the day to combat acidity. Add a little ginger and fennel to your tea or incorporate it in your breakfast recipes to give your body further ammunition to attack the excess acid.

What foods you suggest are best for this season? Any specific rules about enjoying seasonal fruits like peaches, goose berries, strawberries, figs in a particular way to maximise their nutritional benefits. Also, if I freeze strawberries to last me a few more months after its season, does it compromise its nutritional benefits.

Sink your teeth into the season’s best produce — carrots, spinach, peas, radishes, beets, turnips, strawberries, grapes, oranges, apples, bananas, pears, pomegranates and kiwis. They’re a great source of fibre, flavonoids, essential vitamins and antioxidants to help you boost your immunity during the colder months. To maximise their nutritional benefits always consume your fruit alone and not with or immediately after meals. Eat fruits as your mid day fillers such that they keep your blood sugar levels from crashing, and also mainly avoiding interference in their anti oxidant absorption, which happens when it is eaten with meals. Always ensure cautious washing and cleaning procedures, and eat your peaches, goose berries, figs, apples, pears and guavas with their skin intact — it often carries more fibre content than the flesh of the fruits. Make it a policy to ‘eat’ your fruit and never drink it. When you juice the fruit you lose most of the fibre and nutritional content and you tend to consume more fruit at one go as compared to when you would eat it. Also, when you freeze fruits, especially those that are high in water content like strawberries, it freezes the water within them. On defrosting later, the ice crystals break through the fragile cell walls, making the berries soft and flaccid. Freezing and then thawing the fruit causes it to lose water, and sadly also most of the nutrients with the water.

Pooja Makhija
Consulting Nutritionist and Clinical Dietitian.

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Mail your queries at: dnahealthpage@gmail.com; you can contact Pooja at: pooja@nourishgenie.com