SHARAN

Oil is pure fat and must be avoided for optimum health. It’s actually super easy to cook without oil. We have some amazing cooking classes coming up in March to help you go oil-free and even make it tasty! We have The Chatpata Oil-free Chaat class, Crackers & Dips, Navratri Special Class, Khakhra class & more!

An experience that taught me a lot about Vitamin D

Dr Nandita Shah took great care of her health, teeth and diet and was therefore surprised to know she had developed a dental cavity!

I live close to the beach in a relatively rural area of India and travel a lot on my bike. My skin is exposed to the sun quite a lot. Yet, after 50 years of relatively healthy teeth, I found there was a cavity.

After avoiding dentists for so long I had to visit one! Since I take such good care of my health and my teeth, I felt a bit defeated. But I was determined to find out why I had developed the cavity. It was a wake-up call. I got my vitamin D levels tested and found them lower than normal. And, all along, I had thought I was getting a fair amount of sunshine just because of where I live! I never imagined I would be vitamin D deficient.

This experience taught me a lot about this vital vitamin. I learnt that receptors are around the eyes and that if we wear sunglasses our body is tricked into believing that it’s not sunny. This can even cause sunburn in other parts of the body. I learnt that darker skin, like mine, needs more exposure to the sun to absorb vitamin D. I also understood that calcium deficiency is usually because of vitamin D deficiency and acid-yielding foods and not because of a lack of calcium intake.

Calcium tablets should never be prescribed or taken – they only cause kidney stones and calcification of arteries. Deficient dietary calcium intake is unknown. Dairy is not a good source of calcium either as it is acid-yielding in the body.

We just need to make sure that we get enough of the vital vitamin D.

Rainbow Pad Thai

Eating raw is one of the best ways to tap into the sun’s energy. The day our meals are more raw and less cooked, we can actually feel a spurt in energy levels. It’s simply because we have used less energy for digestion as we have eaten less cooked food, plus we have also got the sun’s energy from the raw.

This yummy salad is not only pleasing to the palate but to the eyes as well, as it’s replete with nature’s colours.

Ingredients

• ½ medium-sized red bell pepper (red capsicum), thinly sliced
• 1 medium-sized unpeeled carrot, julienned
• 1 medium-sized unpeeled zucchini, spiralised into noodles
• ¼ cup purple cabbage, shredded
• ¼ cup Chinese bean sprouts (typically moong beans sprouted till long)
• 1 tbsp toasted broken pistachios

For Dressing

• 1 tbsp tahini (sesame butter)
• ¼ cup tamarind (imli) paste
• 2 tbsp date paste
• ½ tsp grated unpeeled ginger
• ½ tsp grated garlic
• ½ tsp unrefined salt

Method

Except for the pistachios, mix all the salad ingredients together in a large bowl.

Mix all the dressing ingredients together, until smooth. Toss the salad with the dressing, until it is well mixed. Sprinkle pistachios on top. Serve immediately.

Serves 1

Food For The Mind

FACEBOOK SUPPORT GROUP

If you love Facebook, then join us to be supported on your plant based journey. We are offering two possibilities

1. SHARAN India is SHARAN’s main Facebook page which you can like and follow for getting useful daily updates and news from the plant based health world. You will also get news about the latest SHARAN events, see testimonials, and more.

2. SHARAN’s Vegan Support Group is an open support group to know more about vegan/plant-based lifestyle. Here you can ask questions and share inspiring stories, tips, recipes, etc.

All our doctors and presenters will be here to answer your questions and give you tips. If you have attended our events join this group to be a part of our family.

Please like the main SHARAN page and join the group(s) applicable to you.

Vitamin D deficiency is commonplace                  

Vitamin D is critical for our overall health, particularly if we are to have strong and healthy bones. The best way to get vitamin D is to expose our bare skin to sunlight. However, most of us do not get adequate amounts of the vitamin as we are not out in the sun long enough or because our use of sunscreens, clothes, windows or even smog gets in the way. The next best solution is to have supplements.

It’s vital to get tested for vitamin D and supplement if required. Further information is available at https://staging.sharan-india.org/vitamin-d/