We got a celebrity nutritionist to design a Navratri diet plan to help you detox

Today marks the beginning of the Navratri festival, and we know that most of you must be ready to fast. Everyone has their own reasons behind fasting. While some have religious reasons, others do it to give a break to their body and detox. Which is a brilliant idea! In fact, Ayurveda also supports this detox theory of yours.

But the thing is that converting a Navratri feast into a detox diet takes a lot of effort. You can’t say “I’m fasting” and nosh on aloo sabzi and puri. That said, you can lose weight and detox this Navratri. Not just that, but you will also feel elated and fresh after these nine days. 

But can you go about it? For that, we consulted with celebrity dietician Shweta Shah. Take tips from her and make the most of this Navratri fast.

Relevance of Navratri fast according to Ayurveda

Shweta also agrees with the Ayurvedic relevance of fasting and suggests that this is a great way to detox your body for a really long time.

She said, “According to Ayurveda, pitta dosha accumulates in the body during this time so fasting is recommended to balance our doshas. Fasting is an ancient method to detox your body, which is prescribed by the Ayurveda. This Navratri fasting will help you to reboot, recharge, and rejuvenate your health.”

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Shweta lists six things you should eat if you are on a detox fast this Navratri

1. Have fluids in different forms

Hydrate your body. Drink water at regular intervals. Also, you can include coconut water, herbal tea, smoothies, and lemon water with apple slices for hydrating your body.

2. Opt for healthy snacking

Fasting means having more snacks when we feel hungry. So please choose your snacks carefully and try to stick to healthy options like fruits, nuts, almonds, makhanas, rajgira ladoo or chikki, sweet potato etc.

3. Include buckwheat in your diet

For breakfast, you can have buckwheat dhokla, buckwheat apple porridge, amaranth apple porridge, or buckwheat dosa with peanut chutney. Include buckwheat in your fasting diet. Buckwheat a superfood is high in good quality protein, magnesium, vitamin B6, dietary fibre, iron, niacin (vitamin B3), thiamine (vitamin B1) and zinc.

4. Sweet potato is a better alternative than potato

Sweet potato is also one of the best options for fasting. It’s best to eat this food after boiling. Also, you can enjoy sweet potato chaat, sweet potato kebabs, and sweet potato sabzi.

5. Include samai millet too

Samai is a type of millet which is high on calcium, potassium, phosphorus and amino acids except for lysine. Try samai khichdi with tomato kadhi, samai dosa with sweet potato sabzi or peanut kadhi, samai pulao, samai vegetable upma, samai rice poha.

For dinner, you may choose samai khichdi with tomato kadhi, kandha chilla with peanut chutney, and samai pulao with tomato raita.

6. Don’t skip lunch, instead have rajgira

For lunch you can have rajgira chilla with paneer burji, a glass of lassi, raw banana kebabs with peanut chutney, or rajgira roti with pumpkin sabji.

Here are some things that you should avoid eating during Navratri fast

1. Avoid eating too much potato as will lead to gas and acidity.
2. Avoid onion and garlic. They are categorized as taamasic in nature. They produce heat in the body.
3. Avoid using fried and oily foods. Also do not go for packaged snacks as they are rich in sodium.
4. Instead of regular salt use pink salt. It has numerous health benefits like water regulation, increasing our energy, and lowering blood pressure, etc.

Dos and don’ts for a detox diet on Navratri

Dos

1. Eat at regular intervals. Follow the sun’s circadian rhythm (eat according to the sun)
2. Eat soothing food to calm your stomach like curds, cucumber, and fruits.
3. Always hydrate yourself.
4. Choose healthy alternatives whenever possible.

Don’ts

1. Don’t keep your stomach empty for a long time.
2. Don’t eat spicy and oily food, as this will lead to increased heat in the stomach.

There you go ladies, your full-fledged guide is ready so that you can kick start your Navratri fast. So, use this guide to the T and have a happy, healthy, and detoxifying Navratri.