Sweets: Better be moderate than sorry

Coimbatore: The excitement about eating sweets during the festive season should be moderated. Better to be smart than sorry, said Dr Praveen Raj, obesity and diabetic surgeon, GEM Hospital.

It may be unwise to go overboard over sweetmeats and savouries a week prior to the festival to avoid ending up with stomach upsets and gastric problems during Deepavali.

The calorie content in the sweets is high and as they are most often consumed along with meals, the calories double. So it is important to ensure that you don’t put on that extra kilo this Deepavali, he cautioned.

“No matter how tantalising the sweets are, it is important to realise that it is counter productive  to exceed limits. Spicy savouries on an empty stomach could induce gastric problems, a burning sensation in the stomach, pain, indigestion and an aggravation of ulcers.

Karam, with a neutralising nutritional meal, would be a better option.  “As there is going to be a sure increase in the calorie intake this festive season, there should be conscious effort made on shedding those calories by way of physical exercises,” he noted.

Diabetologists point out that post Deepavali there is usually a 20 per cent increase in the number of diabetes cases reported.

Nowadays, there has been a change and nuts are replacing sweets as they contain protein, good fats and Omega 3, that are healthier than sweets, said Dr V Mohan, a renowned diabetologist.

Those who have the will power to resist temptation are safe, but others have to do that extra bit to get over cravings and eat healthy low-fat foods.

Sugar free sweets are now most sought after, especially among diabetics and sweet meat shops have stacked their shelves with sweets made with artificial sweeteners.

But what needs to be noted here is that though they may be ‘sugar-free’, the fat and calorie content are as much as the other sweets, and hence cannot be considered a healthier alternative.