Idli the traditional South Indian breakfast is generally seen as a carbohydrate rich food and many people see it in the weight gaining food category. Before going into the details of nutritional facts of why Idly has to taken during breakfast I would like to insist is that one should know the essentials of eating the right way.
Break ?Fast
In general dinner is taken at about 10 pm and you let your system work for you till the morning carrying out various metabolisms from digestion to repairing of your cell and organs. Your body also makes it a point to produce hormones that are night specific such as the melanin and so on.
Doing all this, your body sure would be in need of some healthy diet in the morning, at least by 8.39 am. Well! I do understand that you are taking your tea in the morning that is only to refresh you and sensitize you to your external environment. You breakfast is what contributes majorly to fuel your body to carry on your days wok.
Hence to fulfill the amount of energy to give you the stamina throughout your day, you need to have a balanced and yet energizing breakfast to break your nights fast ? Break-Fast.
Idlis
Idli is made from fermented rice-urad dhal batter. Until recent times it was considered to be a high calorie food and not good for consumption during dieting. Well, researches prove all these wrong. There are more benefits of eating idlis rather than harm.
Benefits of Eating Idlis
When compared to many of the processed breakfast dishes you generally consume such as oats and corn flakes, freshly prepared idlis are far healthier. Apart from knowing what exactly are the contents that go into your breakfast you also have the advantage of having no extra additives in the form of preservatives.
Whenever you have processed food such as corn flakes you have to remember that to make these packed foods last for along times there are certain preservatives added to them which are not healthy for you to consume.
Steamed Food
Idli as you very well know is prepared by steaming so there is no extra fat added while preparing the food. According to recent researchers steamed food is the best for your metabolism. This makes it light and easy to be digested.
Rich Source of vitamins
Probiotic
Idlis are fermented product and during fermentation the beneficial microorganisms tend to increase in number. Thus you have a good recharge of probiotic microbes that actually multiply and replace harmful microbes from your stomach. This is actually very helpful for good health. Remember stomach has a great role in deciding your health ? a healthy stomach always keep you healthy.
Fermented Food
During the fermentation process with these beneficial microbes, the carbohydrates is used by these microbes for their growth and multiplication giving by- products such as vitamins and minerals that otherwise is not present in the batter. This process also lowers the amount of carbohydrates present in rice, thus giving a better protein ratio.
This helps in reducing calories and increasing valuable minerals and vitamins. Here is the nutrition chart of 3 to 4 idlis
A serving of 3 to 4 idlis contain
| Nutrient | Amount per 3 to 4 Idlis | |
| 1 | Calcium | 33 mg |
| 2 | Carbohydrate | 31.5 g |
| 3 | Fat | 0.5 mg |
| 4 | Iron | 1.6 mg |
| 5 | Vitamin B3 | 1.4 mg |
| 6 | Vitamin B2 | 0.08 mg |
| 7 | Vitamin B1 | 0.14 mg |
| 8 | Vitamin A | 0.05 mg |
| 9 | Protein | 6.7 g |
| 10 | Calories | 157 cal |
The amount of carbohydrates though is on the higher side is good to make you go through your day energetically. Note the other minerals and vitamins present, these are very essential to your body.
Easy to Digest
Idlis are very light on your digestive system. You would not feel discomfort consuming them. It also is gluten free so when you really want to get rid of gluten, idlis would be the best choice.
Substituted Ingredients for Idlis
If you feel that the carbohydrate content is still high you could surely go for idlis made of minor millets such as bajra, sorghum, and ragi and so on. This makes the carbohydrate content even low and increases the fiber content. If you do not have any problem with gluten consumption you could surely go for wheat idlis. In fact people who are diabetic can take wheat idlis.
Well, if you still are counting your calorie intake try reducing unwanted sweetened drinks or sugar intake in your coffee and tea. This will compensate your calories. However if you make a chart and keep a watch on your nutrient intake you would surely acknowledge the benefits of Idlis. You can take idlis with sambar or groundnut chutney.
