If You Love Laddus, Let Them Go

If you love laddus, let them go
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/cooking-and-recipies/37215-if-you-love-laddus-let-them.html
Esha Mahajan, TNN - Oct 12, 2011, 01.31AM IST

NEW DELHI: The Navratra fervour has died down and so has the austerity that marks the festivity. As Diwali celebrations pick up pace, sweets are eaten with relish. And with the palate and tradition to egg us on, most of us down many more laddus and barfis than are good for us. The result: indigestion, weight gain, raised blood sugar and worse.

Consuming a lot of sweets has a hormonal impact on the body, and can cause related disorders like PCOD ( Polycystic Ovarian Disease) among young women. High intake of sugar can cause lethargy, and since it also increases appetite, people tend to eat more. And the binge continues well after Diwali - sugar aggravates the appetite for more sugar. Weight gain due to sweets can also trigger depression, says Dr Ishi Khosla, a clinical nutritionist.

While free indulgence of the sweet tooth is an invitation to disease, even a seemingly moderate intake of festive sweets can result in unexpected weight gain. For a person who weighs about 70kg, just four pieces of boondi laddus can easily add half a day's calorie requirement, says fitness expert Raghav Pande.

And a preemptive exercise regimen wonat make amends for the festive excess. asPeople try to compensate by working out more and eating healthy before the festive season, but they donat realize that calorie burning needs to be a continuous process. A week of healthy living cannot compensate for bingeing later on, says fitness consultant Sunil Kumar Bisht.

Visible changes like weight gain are the least sinister of sweetsa ill-effects. Doctors say traditional cooking methods produce harmful byproducts in sweets. Most sweets are deep-fried. Cooking at high temperatures for so long reduces the nutritional benefits of ingredients such as milk and nuts. Apart from significantly increasing the calorie content, deep-frying also changes the nature of fats, producing more saturated fat, which is unhealthy for the body. Furthermore, constant reheating of the same batch of oil produces cancer-causing substances, says nutritionist Anshul Jaibharat.

Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=37215
Adulteration of ingredients like milk and ghee has always made headlines around Diwali. Unfortunately, the adulterants used nowadays go beyond water, corn starch and vanaspati. Many sweets contain carcinogenic preservatives like formalin, which can cause asthma attacks, and damage the liver and the kidneys. The silver foil used to garnish sweets is made of aluminium, which is also harmful, says nutritionist Sushmita Goswami.

As awareness about the hazards of bingeing on sweets spreads, many people have started changing the rules of the festive season by giving dry fruits as gifts, or not accepting sweets from others. Even when we do receive sweets, we keep just a few boxes for prasad after Diwali puja, and give away the rest, says Rajpreet Kaur, who works with a non-governmental organization.

source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/c...w/10319638.cms

 
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One comment,

Who eats 4 laddoos! I eat 1/2 after a meal once in a while. However, I like french vanilla ice cream with hot apple pie, yummy . Again not all the time, only when available in the house and no one is looking .

Sat Sri Akal.

I have been thinking and now wonder if the author and experts are part of a new breed of nutritionistas. Here is a recipe for laddoo, making about 16 laddoo


.

Portioned out, for each single laddoo, .125 of a cup of besam flour, .094 cup of sugar, and .065 cup of ghee or butter. Or, 2 tablespoons of besam, 1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar, and 1 tablespoon of ghee/butter.



How can one laddoo or even two be a problem, unless one is a glutton and eats half a plate? Not that I have not myself been guilty. Balance the fat and calories from sugar against the nutritional value of the besam and the nut garnish. This is food for special times. We do not eat laddoo every day ! The paragraph that had me thinking was :

Sometimes extremism is simply rude. Accept the gift and say Thank You, then don't eat the laddoo, if self control is a problem. Because of this thread, my husband is going shopping. heh heh

p/s What is a Diwali puja?

SPNADMIN: FYI
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=37215

Diwali Puja Process

One of the main festival in hindu is Diwali, the Goddess of prosperity and wealth. It is believed that Goddess Laxmi visit everyone during Diwali and brings peace and prosperity to all. On the night of Diwali "Lakshmi-Pujan" is performed in the evenings. A traditional Pujan is performed after sunset in all the homes.

Five pieces of ghee diyas (lamps) are lit in front of the deities, naivedya of traditional sweets is offered to the Goddess and devotional songs are sung in praise of Goddess Laxmi. After Deepawali Puja people light diyas (lamps) in their homes to usher in light and clear the darkness from the world.

After Diwali Puja people light diyas (lamps) in their homes to usher in light and clear the darkness from the world.

In villages cattle are adorned and worshipped by farmers as they form the main source of their income.

Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=37215
In south cows are offered special veneration as they are supposed to be the incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi and therefore they are adorned and worshipped on this day.

Step By Step Diwali Puja Process:

1. First clean the Puja room and then Bathe each Deity ( Lakshmi & Ganesh) first with water, then with panchamitra/or rose water, followed by water once more

2. Now put Deepak (Lamp) in front of the Deities - As the tiny diyas of clay are lighted to drive away the shadows of evil spirits

3. Make a Panchamitra with 5 ingredients of milk, curd, ghee (clarified butter), sugar & Honey.

4. Place Few mithais, snacks & fruits as a prashad.

5. Make offerings of flowers, abir (red colour), sindoor (vermillion), haldi (turmeric), and Light the

6. Agarbatti (incense sticks) and lamps filled with Ghee.

7. Now make offerings of fruit, sweet meat (mithai), Salty snacks (Mathis, Ghathia, Namakpare) and offer dakshina (token money), which could be given to the poor.

8. In the end offer paan (betel leaves), cloves. Now pray to the dieties to seek their blessings.

9. Ganesh Puja -Ganesh Puja is a must for Diwali Puja. (Lord Ganesha is to be worshipped in all pujas before any other God or Goddess.) (Ganesh Aarti is sung)

10.Laxmi Puja : Place Lotus and other flowers at her feet as an offering. A silver coin is placed in front of the Goddess during the puja. Now perform Arti with flowers in hand (Lakshmi Aarti is sung)


After Diwali Puja have the Prasad and go out to burst Diwali Crackers.

source: http://www.truthstar.com/diwali/diwali_puja_process.asp

Then a Kaur is practicing a full blown puja. Just asking