Help your family embrace a healthier lifestyle with almonds

INDIA, 9th December 2021: As people across India slowly start settling back to their day-to-day chores post the elaborate festive season, it is now even more important to practice mindful eating and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. While most of us could not help but over-indulge during the festivities and got carried away with the revelry and lost sight of our health, it is now time to again start making tweaks and adjustments to daily habits to ensure optimal health of us and our family. Keeping in mind these nuances, and to promote maintaining a healthier lifestyle throughout, Almond Board of California, today, hosted a session around “Changing dynamics of family health’’ that focused on how families across India can revisit their diet and fitness choices amidst changing dynamics of the post-pandemic world, and instead adopt a variety of small changes to lead happier, fitter and healthier lifestyles as we step into the new year.

The session moderated by well-known RJ Meha featured prominent Bollywood Actress and Author, Soha Ali Khan Actress along with Ritika Samaddar, Regional Head-Dietetics, Max Healthcare – Delhi who discussed in detail the urgent need to relook at one’s overall lifestyle choices, how families across India can revisit their dietary choices, and instead adopt a variety of small changes to lead happier, fitter and healthier lifestyles in the new year. Focusing on the significance of healthy eating, the panellists discussed the multiple lifestyle disorders like obesity, diabetes and heart problems and that making minor alterations like adding a handful of almonds as part of one’s daily routine can very easily help in maintaining good health and in staying fit consistently. The discussion also captured the nutritional properties of almonds and their positive impact on consumers’ health. Almonds can help promote feeling of fullness¹ and keep hunger pangs at bay, which in turn can help family members avoid the consumption of less healthy food items. In addition to this, the multiple nutrients present in almonds including Vitamin B2, magnesium, and phosphorus are known for their role in energy release from food. 

Ritika Samaddar, the Regional Head-Dietetics, Max Healthcare – Delhi said, “Awareness of good food choices and snacking habits is key to leading a healthy lifestyle, especially now when the world around us is changing rapidly. This is even more applicable now that the festive season just got over. While indeed it is common to overindulge during festivities, now that things are back to normal, leading a healthy lifestyle and ensuring to maintain a healthy regime is of the essence. I always suggest including nuts such as almonds in your diet. Apart from being a source of 15 nutrients such as vitamin E, protein, riboflavin, calcium etc., this flavoursome source of energy also helps in staying active and given the vitamin E content, may also support pulmonary immune function².”

Adding to this, leading Bollywood actress, Soha Ali Khan said, “In the post pandemic era, a lot of us now realize the importance of staying fit and healthy. Living in a fast-paced world like ours, it’s important for us to adapt to it, while focusing on our own and family’s health. Now more than ever, it’s crucial for every family member – old or young – to take stock of their health amidst today’s busy lifestyle. Adding healthy and natural foods like a handful of almonds to the diet is an easy way to start. For me, almonds have always been my go-to snack since a young age and I ensure I keep a handful handy, for any sudden hunger pangs. Having almonds as a snack is an age-old tradition at our home that I picked up from my mother. I too have incorporated the habit of feeding my family almonds as a snack on a daily basis and being mindful about a balanced diet to help ensure my family’s health and wellbeing. Eating a handful of almonds everyday makes for a healthy and tasty snack. Almonds also provide healthy fats, protein and fibre, all of which can help promote feelings of fullness which can also help in keeping your cravings under control.³”

Modifying dietary habits and making corrective lifestyle adjustments is one of the best ways for families to ensure better health in the long term. Making small dietary and lifestyle changes like incorporating nutritious foods including a handful of almonds every day and exercising regularly, families across India can make a healthy difference to their lives.