Fasting or Feasting: Why Should You Avoid Sabudana and Potatoes? Know Healthier Alternatives Instead

With Mahashivratri today and the Navratri also approaching, many people keep fast in tune with their religious and spiritual beliefs. When it comes to fasting, most people drastically change their diet, abstaining from eating whole grains and getting diverted towards fruits.

However, two things that are most popular during fasting are sabudana, or sago, and potatoes, eaten as an alternative to regular meals. However, dieticians advise against these.

According to experts, potatoes are packed with carbohydrates, fibre, vitamins, particularly vitamins C and B6, antioxidants, and phytochemicals. Even though they are good for health, the nutritional content of this tuberous vegetable varies depending on the variety and how they are prepared. For example, frying potatoes adds more calories and fat than baking them.

Also, if consumed in excess, since potatoes are high in calories and carbohydrates, it can result in weight gain, indigestion and even bloating. According to Ayurveda, potatoes cause heat in the body, and so they require more energy to be digested.

Sabudana is also extremely high in carbohydrates, making it a fast energy booster. Since it has a neutral flavour, it is consumed on fasting days making delicious dishes like sabudana khichdi, which consists of sabudana, potatoes, sugar, and peanuts.

Since sabudana can increase satiety, you might eat it for lunch or dinner while fasting, but this starch is not a good choice as it leads to bloating and weight gain. Also, since sabudana contains a high amount of carbohydrates, instead of feeling full for longer, the extra sugar could make you hungrier and even cause a spike in insulin levels.

While you may not want to eliminate potatoes and sabudana from your fasting diet, it is important to know the right way to indulge in your favourite foods to ensure that they are healthy and nutritious.

You can make a small portion of sabudana khichdi by soaking the sago pearl for a few hours and then cooking with an unpeeled potato along with spices like cumin, coriander, and chilli powder. This dish can be consumed along with yogurt or fruits.

Instead of just eating sabudana and potatoes, you can try healthier foods that are not just loaded with nutrients but are hydrating and nourishing and do not spike sugar levels. A few of these foods include:

Loaded with fibre, protein, and other essential nutrients, kuttu atta helps in influencing the gastrointestinal hormones that aid improved digestion. It is great for those who regularly experience bloating and indigestion yet love fasting. According to the American Journal of Gastroenterology, increasing your fibre intake by 5 per cent reduces your risk of developing gallbladder stones by 10 per cent.

Samak rice or barnyard millet is the best food, especially for those with diabetes, as it helps control their blood sugar levels. Barnyard millet has about the same amount of carbs - 51.5 and 62.0 g/100 gm, as other millet kinds and more crude fibre - 8.1 per cent and 16.3 per cent, than other grains.

It also helps regulate constipation and other digestive issues, including bloating, gas, and stomach dismost common during fasting.

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