🥗 Mindful eating means understanding the food we eat and making healthy choices that nourish our body. In this chapter, we explore what we eat, how food varies across regions, nutrients, balanced diet, and ways to test food components like starch, fats, and proteins.
🔍 3.1 What Do We Eat?
Food is an essential part of our life. We eat different items every day, and they change based on culture, geography, and personal habits.
📝 Activity 3.1 – Record Your Weekly Diet
| Day | Food Items |
|---|---|
| Monday | Chapati, Sabzi, Rice, Dal |
| Tuesday | Idli, Sambhar, Banana |
🌾 3.1.1 Food in Different Regions
Traditional food depends on local crops, climate, and culture.
📋 Table: Traditional Food Across India
| State | Locally Grown Crops | Traditional Foods | Beverages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Punjab | Wheat, Maize | Makki di Roti, Sarson da Saag | Lassi |
| Karnataka | Rice, Ragi | Idli, Dosa, Ragi Mudde | Coffee, Buttermilk |
🍳 3.2 What Are the Components of Food?
- Carbohydrates: Provide energy (e.g. rice, potato, banana)
- Fats: Stored energy (e.g. ghee, nuts, oil)
- Proteins: Body-building (e.g. pulses, milk, eggs)
- Vitamins & Minerals: Protective nutrients (e.g. fruits, vegetables)
- Roughage: Dietary fiber (e.g. green veggies)
- Water: Essential for digestion and body function
⚠️ Deficiency Diseases (Examples)
- Vitamin C Deficiency ➤ Scurvy
- Iodine Deficiency ➤ Goitre
- Vitamin A Deficiency ➤ Night Blindness
🧪 3.3 How to Test Food for Nutrients?
🥔 Test for Starch
Add iodine. If it turns blue-black ➤ starch is present.
🧈 Test for Fat
Rub food on paper. If oily spot appears ➤ fat is present.
🥜 Test for Protein
Add copper sulfate + caustic soda. If turns violet ➤ protein is present.
🥗 3.4 Balanced Diet
A balanced diet has all nutrients in correct amounts. It should include cereals, pulses, milk, fruits, vegetables, water, and roughage.
🥤 Healthy vs Junk Comparison
| Food | Energy | Proteins | Fats | Dietary Fibre |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potato Wafers | 536 kcal | 7g | 35g | 4.8g |
| Roasted Chana | 355 kcal | 18g | 6g | 16.8g |
👉 Choose roasted chana over wafers!
🌾 3.5 Millets: Nutrition-Rich Cereals
- Examples: Ragi, Bajra, Jowar, Sanwa
- Benefits: High in iron, calcium, dietary fibre
- Eco-friendly and easy to grow
🚚 3.6 Food Miles: From Farm to Plate
Food Miles = Distance travelled by food from farm to consumer. Reducing food miles supports local farmers and reduces pollution.
📌 Summary
- Eat seasonal, local, and diverse food
- Include all major nutrients in your diet
- Avoid junk food, eat mindfully
- Don’t waste food — respect farmers’ effort
💡 Keywords
Carbohydrate, Protein, Fats, Roughage, Balanced Diet, Deficiency Diseases, Vitamins, Minerals, Millets, Food Miles, Culinary Practices
🧠 Let’s Answer – Chapter 3: Mindful Eating
1. Pick the odd one out and give reasons:
- (i) Chana is the odd one out – Jowar, Bajra, and Ragi are cereals, while Chana is a pulse.
- (ii) Rice is the odd one out – Kidney beans, Green gram, and Soya bean are all pulses, but rice is a cereal.
2. Traditional vs Modern Culinary Practices in India:
Traditional cooking uses natural ingredients, spices, and home-style methods like steaming, boiling, and slow cooking. Modern cooking includes packaged foods, fast food, and use of ovens or microwaves. Traditional foods are healthier, while modern foods may be quicker but often less nutritious.
3. Ravi’s questions to the teacher could be:
- How can food work like medicine in our body?
- Can eating the right food really protect us from getting sick?
4. Delicious vs Nutritious:
🍩 Junk food like pizza, burgers, and chips are tasty but may not have important nutrients. 🥦 Nutritious foods like fruits, dals, and vegetables are good for health but some kids may not enjoy them.
5. Medu’s Diet Change:
Medu should eat more vegetables, fruits, and whole grains to avoid constipation. He should avoid too many biscuits, noodles, and white bread. These changes will improve his digestion and reduce stomach pain.
6. Reshma’s Eye Problem:
- (i) She is suffering from night blindness.
- (ii) Her body lacks Vitamin A.
- (iii) She should eat carrots, spinach, mangoes, and papaya.
7. Preferred Food Option:
I would prefer fresh fruit because it has more fiber, natural nutrients, and is not processed with chemicals or preservatives like canned juice.
8. Gourav’s Case:
- (i) Calcium helps bones heal and become strong.
- (ii) Vitamin D helps our body absorb calcium better.
- (iii) Why was Vitamin D not given earlier along with calcium?
9. Sugar and Iodine Test:
Iodine only reacts with starch. Sugar is a carbohydrate but not a starch, so it does not turn blue-black with iodine.
10. Activity to test Raman’s statement:
Test both sugar and potato with iodine solution. Sugar will not change color but potato will turn blue-black. This shows that all starches are carbohydrates, but not all carbohydrates are starches.
11. Mishti’s Socks vs Teacher’s Saree:
The teacher’s saree may have some starch, so iodine turned it blue-black. Mishti’s socks did not have starch, so there was no color change.
12. Millets – A Healthy Choice?
Millets are rich in fiber, iron, and minerals. But only millets are not enough. We need proteins, vitamins, and fats too. So, a balanced diet is important.
13. Identifying Iodine Solution:
Add a starch solution to the sample. If it turns blue-black, the sample is iodine solution.
📝 Junk Food Letter Activity:
Write a letter to your principal requesting to stop selling chips, cold drinks, and candies. Suggest healthier items like fruits, sprouts, roasted chana, and lemonade.
📊 Nutritional Requirements:
Children, adults, and elderly people need different diets. Active people need more energy and proteins. Sick people may need more vitamins. Nutrition depends on age, activity, and health.
🥗 Diet Chart for a 12-year-old:
| Meal | Food Items |
|---|---|
| Breakfast | Milk, Roti, Boiled Egg or Sprouts |
| Lunch | Rice/Chapati, Dal, Green Sabzi, Curd |
| Evening | Fruit or Roasted Chana |
| Dinner | Roti, Sabzi, Salad |
