Navratri fasting in coronavirus times
Naina Arora and Ruchika Garg
The Covid-19 pandemic has brought the country under a lockdown for 21 days, but the spirit of Navratri — the festival of worshipping Goddess Durga for nine days, primarily celebrated in north India — is keeping the atmosphere festive at homes. However, due to the coronavirus scare, many people, who are fasting, are sceptical about ordering essentials online, to make ‘vrat ka khana’, leaving them with the option to cook healthy delicacies at home.
Jyotsna Sharma, a Gurugram resident, says, “I’m working from home now, and I’ve gained weight since office shut. Navratri has come at the right time, so that I can fast and eat healthy. I prepared basic sabudana khichdi and my husband and kids loved it. Though they are not fasting, they ate it since it’s nutritious. Plus we all know how important it is to be healthy.”
Another Gurugram resident, Upasana Mahatani says, “My sister-in-law has decided to take it easy. Due to the lockdown, they couldn’t procure raw materials. So, they are preparing vegetarian food at home without onion.”
Fasting is beneficial in many ways. Nutritionist Manisha Bhatt says, “Fasting improves immunity, speeds up metabolism and promotes longevity.”
Echoing her sentiments, nutritionist Kavita Devgan mentions, “Sabudana is a good source of carbohydrates. Also, you can whip up an amaranth porridge with milk, or as dalia with vegetables. Makhana is loaded with antioxidants. Pumpkin delivers potassium, an electrolyte that keeps muscles functioning, and vitamin C, good for the immune system.”
There are many delicious dishes that one can try at home while fasting. For instance, Berry Pulao, for which one needs samai rice (50gm), plums (20gm), raisins (20gm), dates (10gm), makhana (10gm), ghee (one teaspoon), some rock salt and almonds (10gm). “Boil samai rice. Chop plum, raisins, and dates. Slice almonds. Heat a pan, add ghee. Toss cooked samai rice with the other ingredients. Add rock salt and serve with toasted makhana,” says chef Nishant Choubey, sharing the simple recipe.
I’m working from home now and gained weight as office shut. Navratri has come at the right time, so I can fast. I made sabudana khichdi and my family loved it.
JYOTSNA SHARMA LOCAL RESIDENT
said in their study. Emerging research suggests that some anxiety disorders could be linked to inflammation.
“Our findings are in keeping with previous research which has also indicated that women are more vulnerable to anxiety disorders than men,” said study co-author Karen Kobayashi. Data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging which included 26,991 men and women between the ages of 45 and 85, was studied in detail by the team of researchers.
In addition to diet and body composition measures, the prevalence of anxiety disorders also differed by gender, marital status, income, immigrant status and several health issues. For instance, one in nine women had an anxiety disorder compared to one in fifteen men.
“We were not surprised to find that those in poverty had such a high prevalence of anxiety disorders; struggling to afford basics such as food and housing causes relentless stress and is inherently anxiety inducing,” said study co-author Hongmei Tong, Assistant Professor at MacEwan University in Canada.