ICMR advises following a balanced diet and eating nutrient dense foods all day. This involves eating whole grains, a protein-packed diet and foods like grains, legumes and pulses in the diet. These help strengthen the heart, manage weight and offer other health benefits too.

During pregnancy and in the breastfeeding stage as well, it is essential to eat the right kind of foods as it can affect both mother and baby and that too in a long run.

New Delhi: The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) recently shared a set of diet guidelines for people across age groups and now, the ones that are doing the rounds are guidelines for women who do not workout. The latest set of guidelines are to offer women with little or not workout stay fit always. Although regular exercising is a must to stay fit and healthy always, there are some cases wherein making time for workouts becomes a challenge. Read on to know what the ICMR advises for women who do not workout.

ICMR diet guidelines for women who do not workout

1. Balanced diet: ICMR advises following a balanced diet and eating nutrient dense foods all day. This involves eating whole grains, a protein-packed diet and foods like grains, legumes and pulses in the diet. These help strengthen the heart, manage weight and offer other health benefits too.
2. Portion control: Apart from eating right, it is important to be mindful about the portions to manage weight well. It is an effective way to manage obesity and metabolic disorders. It is further important to be mindful about the portions when it comes to high-calorie foods.
3. Healthy eating during pregnancy: During pregnancy and in the breastfeeding stage as well, it is essential to eat the right kind of foods as it can affect both mother and baby and that too in a long run.
4. Drink lots of water: Hydration holds paramount importance when it comes to a healthy diet. Apart from water, healthy drinks like coconut water and fresh fruit juices should also be consumed.
5. Regulate sugar, salt intake: High sugar and high salt intake are also bad for health – while the former is associated with diabetes, the latter is with hypertension. It is advised to limit salt intake to 5 grams in a day and sugar should only be 10% of the daily total calorie consumption.
6. Right cooking techniques: It is also important to choose the right techniques for cooking food. This means opting for steaming, boiling and baking over frying which helps reduce intake of unhealthy fats.
7. Workouts: For whatever reason, if you are skipping workouts, doctors say it is not justified enough. Therefore, one must be sure to include some form of exercise for 30 minutes every day. This can include moderate-intensity workouts such as swimming, walking and cycling.