GRAB IT BY THE BAR!
The granola has very high health benefits and can also help with your sugar cravings
Granola is one snack that works best throughout the day. Considered the new-age breakfast, it can be baked or toasted.
Often dried fruits like dates, dried cranberries are added to add extra nourishment along with sweetness.
Dr Deepti Bagree, head of department, healthcare division, RESET— Holistic Living Concepts, says, “Granola is a new age breakfast option which is baked or toasted until the ingredients such as rolled oats, nuts, sometimes puffed rice and sweeteners like honey or brown sugar, turns golden brown.”
Other added ingredients are chia seeds, flax seeds, coconut, nut butter, chocolate etc. Choosing gluten free oats and organic ingredients adds to its extra benefits. Bagree adds, “It becomes a great choice for those on diet, considering its healthy composition list and easy to carry options.” It can be had with yoghurt, milk or fresh fruits or even plain. Ushakiran Sisodia, clinical nutritionist, Nanavati Super Speciality Hospital, says, “If you need a pocket full of readyto-eat calories and micronutrients there is no better option than a granola bar. High shelf life and dense proportions of minerals, vitamins, calcium, magnesiu m and fibre makes the granola bar an ideal health partner. Most importantly, due to its high energy properties, granola bars can be most useful for hunger pangs during meals and can minimise the intake of unhealthy snacks.” Granola is a rich source of fibres, healthy carbohydrates, and fats, protein, along with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Micro nutrients like iron, magnesium, zinc, copper, and selenium.
A regular intake of granola can considerably help enhance your health.
HEALTH BENEFITS INCLUDE:
Gut health:
■ The fibres from rolled oats acts as a prebiotic that feeds good gut bacteria.
■ Curbs cravings: Being rich in so many nutrients, it helps one avoid unnecessary and frequent eating.
■ Regulates BP: High fibre content from oats and nuts rich in magnesium helps regulate blood pressures. Diabetic-friendly:
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Avoiding refined sugar makes granola a diabeticfriendly option along with regulating blood sugar levels.
■ Antioxidants: Rich in nuts, dried fruits, and if coupled with fresh fruits, helps add variety of antioxidants to granola making it excellent for the health by scavenging free radicals.
■ Addition of coconut or Brazil nuts, can add other benefits like medium chain triglycerides, selenium that helps boost metabolism.
THE MANY VARIATIONS
Different types of the granola bar may include those made of only dry fruits or grains or by mixing both. You can make a list of ingredients you wish to add to the bar, decide on its size and shape, and even add the ingredients that can offer a better taste and crunch.
A combination of granola which can provide rich dietary fiber, protein, Omega 3, micro nutrient and other nutrients are described below. Hetal Rathod, senior dietician at PD Hinduja Hospital Mahim, lists:
■ Protein: Nuts and seeds such as walnuts, almonds, pumpkin, and sesame coupled with whole grains is one of the best combinations that provides good amounts of proteins and carbohydrates that provides energy. It is an excellent post workout snack.
■ Fibre: Granola contains good amount of fibre that helps maintain bowel health.
■ The combination of protein and fibre in granola helps in maintaining the glycemic load of the meals. Rathod adds, “Although granola contains several healthy ingredients, there are certain brands that h more calories, fa and sugars.” One should focus on portion control and be cautious of produc that mentions, “healt bar” or “on the go snacker” or “prote bar” that mislead people with addition of sugar and sweeteners.
DIY GRANOL
The coating for y granola should be about half sweetener half oil. Savio Fernande executive chef, Elior India, say , are two of the best sweeteners you can use for granola because their liquid state coats each oat well.”
Next, get as clumpy as you like. For nice, simple chunks you need no special ingredients and just a few steps. First, press the granola into an even layer before you put it in the oven, then stir it only once halfway through cooking. For good clumps, press down on the finished granola before it cools and avoid jostling it on the pan until cooled completely.
The hardest part of baking granola is knowing when it is done. Using a low oven temperature (150 Degree Celsius or below) helps dry out the granola without overbaking it, but keep in mind that the granola won’t be dry right out of the oven — it will dry as it cools, so take it out of the oven when it looks lightly toasted and smells like cooked honey. We’re going for a toasty smell here.
Add dried fruit after baking. You can toast most nuts with the oats in the oven, but dried fruit will burn on the pan, so be sure to add it after baking.