Welcome to a new series from The Globe. What’s in your cart?So we’re asking Canadians how they manage their kitchen supplies.
Illustration by Kat Flick Miller
“You are what you eat” may be a cliché to some, but for naturopathic doctor Priyanka Gupta, that’s exactly the advice she gives to patients at her women’s health clinic in Toronto’s west end.
Nutrition is also especially important to the 47-year-old physician, who is one of millions of women in Canada experiencing menopause.
Gupta says menopause is one of her biggest concerns – a feeling shared by many women going through it – but a healthy diet can help ease symptoms.
When it comes to nutrition, Gupta says, “The No. 1 thing women should focus on is protein.” A high-protein diet can help women maintain healthy insulin levels and lose abdominal fat during menopause, which is associated with an increase in hormone-related malignancies such as endometrial and breast cancer.
Her own diet prioritizes protein sources like fish and legumes, antioxidant-rich fruits like berries, and whole-grain carbohydrates like brown rice, which are less likely to cause blood sugar spikes, she says.
Here’s how Gupta makes healthy, menopause-conscious eating choices.
Ways to save: I save money by substituting cheaper staples: buying frozen fruits and vegetables instead of fresh, and buying rice, a staple in South Asian kitchens, in bulk.
How I splurge: I use lots of high-quality oils, ghee and clarified butter, which are common in South Asian cooking, and you’ll notice a difference in the taste.
The hardest eating habits to maintain: Running a business and having an overall busy schedule can make it difficult to eat healthy due to time constraints. It’s a tough habit to stay motivated to keep up with. I know that in order to be able to cook most of my meals at home, I have to get creative, plan ahead, and budget.
How my shopping habits have changed recently: With rising food prices, I’ve really increased my use of more affordable staples. For example, it’s very easy to buy canned foods, but by switching to dried lentils and beans, I can use larger portions in my meals. Dried pulses take longer to cook, but I take a few extra minutes and soak my pulses the night before and cook dal (red lentil soup) in a pressure cooker all day, for example.
Five items always in my cart:
- Quinoa – Bob’s Red Mill – $18.99: This is one of the staples in my meals. It serves as a base and a high protein alternative to rice. It’s also great mixed with fresh vegetables in a salad or used as a protein boost in a salad.
- Frozen Vegetables – Green Giant – $4.99: Frozen veggies are often cheaper, but they’re just as fresh and taste just as good as fresh. Green Giant has some great blends, like their green bean and carrot blend and their carrot, bell pepper, and broccoli antioxidant blend, that taste great and are easy to add to stir-fries.
- Almond Butter – Nuts 2 You – $7.99: I like to eat organic nut butter instead of regular peanut butter because it only has one ingredient – dry roasted almonds – it tastes great and has no added sugar or other additives.
- Whole Grain Basmati Rice – Tilda – $12.99: I grew up in an Indian household, so I grew up eating basmati rice. When I was growing up in India, whole grain rice was not as readily available, but now that it is more readily available and I cook for my family, I have switched to whole grain rice. Whole grain rice has a lower glycemic index than white rice, which is good for your blood sugar levels, especially important for women going through menopause and wanting to lose belly fat.
- Dried Red Lentils – Great Deal – $3.18: I buy lentils dry, so you get more in one bag than you would if you bought them canned. Lentils are good for you because they’re high in protein and fiber. We eat some kind of legume 5-7 days a week.
This interview has been condensed and edited.
