Q: Could you suggest a few healthy options for breakfast? I hardly get to eat anything till very late in the day. I want to make an elaborate breakfast for myself so that skipping lunch won’t hurt me. Incidentally, I am 27 years old and a vegetarian.

RD, Calcutta.

A healthy breakfast is one that provides sufficient calories and the right amount of essential nutrients to keep you going till your next main meal. Your choice of foods should be such that a balance is maintained between the carbs, fat and proteins. An excess of any of these or totally excluding one will not help. For instance, if you concentrate on starchy foods, you are likely to feel lethargic or drowsy some time after your intake. However, not having enough carbs and taking too much proteins or fats will result in your not getting adequate calories and fibre. In order to get calories through healthy sources, take wholegrain cereals which will also add fibre and trace elements to your diet. You can choose from the variety of breakfast cereals available like cornflakes, wheatflakes, oats, dalia, muesli which can be taken with milk, or go for rotis, idlis, upma, poha or sandwiches. Include fresh fruits and you may also take a small helping of dry fruits if you are not overweight or suffering from high lipid levels, hypertension, etc. Do not completely ignore your protein intake; milk or milk products like chhena should be included. You can take sambar with your idli, include dal products like chana with some veggies when taking rotis, add some besan or soyabean powder to the rotis or take sprouts. Use vegetable oil for food preparation and avoid too much butter, ghee, margarine and cheese. Take sugar or jam/ jelly/ marmalade in small amounts only.

Q: I am 34 years old and 178 cm tall. I am extremely lanky. Since the last two years, I have been suffering from hypothyroidism which has resulted in the loss of six kilos apart from a feeling of lethargy and weakness and a rise in lipid and uric acid levels and joint pain. I am now 60 kilos. Please suggest a diet that will help me gain weight proportionate to my height without raising my lipid value. What are the food items I should avoid other than red meat, egg yolk, ghee, butter, sweets and fried stuff? I walk for about four to five kilometres a day.

RKS, Durgapur

For weight gain, you must increase your intake of those foodstuffs which are likely to cause you least harm. The bulk of your calories should come from carbohydrate-rich foods.

Always choose wholegrain cereals instead of refined starches. You can take parboiled rice, atta, dalia, oats or any other cereal with fibre and avoid starches like maida, processed cereals,milled rice, etc. Consume plenty of veggies (after removing the seeds) and fruits must not be taken as juice, in canned form or in syrups. Fish or chicken may be included in moderate quantities but omit organ-meats and fish-roe. Take fat-free milk and milk products but avoid sugar. Any vegetable oil taken in moderation will not harm you.