Diet health-food restaurants growing on residents

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, July 18

Thanks to the increasing popularity of diet food craze in the city, diet-advice clinics by dieticians have started graduating into full-blown diet health-food restaurants and health food retail centres, rolled into one.

These restaurant-cum-retail centres are not only offering an eclectic menu of scrumptious delicacies made from these ingredients, made without any ghee, milk, curd, cream, butter, oil, etc, but visitors can pick these organic ‘superfoods’ off the shelves.

These restaurants are cashing on the popularity of the junk food, and turning these healthier. “People love junk fund, but we have made the same healthier, by making these without using any oil, cream, curd milk, ghee etc,” said Sania Gupta, from Diet Saga, the newly-opened ‘cafe’. “The burgers have been made without ketchup, and the tikki is made from rajmah and lentils,” says Hitesh Arora, the chef. “The pasta has been made from whole wheat and the cream conjured from vegetables,” he added.

While people can enjoy dishes made from superfoods such as flax seeds, quinnoa, black rice, cous cous, etc, they can just buy these as well. Residents already on diet say that the restaurant-cum-retail experience is proving to be a great one.

“The best part is that we can not only buy these superfoods, but can taste the delicacies made from these, to have an idea of how it would taste,” says Rohit, a resident. “I didn’t know about superfoods such as chia, quinnoa earlier, but having tasted them, I have a fair idea of whether to buy or not,” he said.

“Juices are served raw without removing any pulp from fruits and vegetables. “There are a host of juices of different flavours with aloe-vera as base,” says Yugansh Gupta from Diet Clinic. An array of green teas of different flavours, including rose tea, vanilla, jasmine, lavender, mint, matcha green tea, are not only healthy options, but are also relaxing.

The rising health-food culture is spurring health-food groups and clubs as well. People are joining our ‘green-smoothie club’ and ‘diet kitties’, which is helping promote a healthier lifestyle and food, says Dr Vinu Kumar from another such restaurant-cum-retail store – The Holy Tree. As food is made without gluten, milk clean, butter, cheese, etc, it is much healthier. As superfoods add more nutirients, these are added to shakes, smoothies, salads to pack a dose of health to the taste,” she says.

Residents who love junk food are elated with the coming up of health-food restaurants. “I crave for burgers and pizzas but had to abstain from it because of health reasons. Thankfully, these are now being made with much healthier and nutritious ingredients, and I relish these without any guilt,” says Amitoj, another resident.