Click here to view. Power Poha recipe. With iron-rich poha and protein-rich kabuli chana, Power Poha is an ideal breakfast that provides for your kids’ active days and constant growth. Bright yellow poha, interspersed with everybody’s favourite kabuli chana, with tomatoes for added brightness and lemon juice for a refreshing tang, Power Poha is quite appealing.

Is Power Poha healthy?

Yes and no, depending on who is eating this. Poha is made of poha, onions, kabuli chana, tomatoes and coriander. 

Let's understand the Ingredients.

1. Poha : Pros : Poha is rich in iron. Iron is a key element in maintaining the levels of haemoglobin and red blood cell count. Due to high magnesium levels, poha can be had by cardiac and blood pressure patients. Cons : Not safe for diabetics as it has high carb levels. Read the article is poha healthy? to understand. 

2. Kabuli Chana : One cup of cooked chickpeas has 14 grams of protein, which is a really good amount. Rich in Folate or Vitamin B9 that helps your body to produce and maintain new cells, especially red blood cells. Chickpeas is rich in Fibre, both Soluble Fibre and Insoluble Fibre and lowers total cholesterol. Read the 10 fabulous benefits of kabuli chana. 

3. Tomatoes : Tomatoes are extremely rich source of Lycopene. Tomatoes are a powerful antioxidant, super rich in Vitamin C, good for heart. Tomatoes are a Pregnant women's friend. Read about 13 amazing benefits of tomatoes.

4. Onions : Yes, its a great Anti Oxidant. The phytochemical present in onions along with their Vitamin C help boost your immunity. The chromium in onions help regulate your blood pressure. The sulphur in the onion which brings you tears is actually good for your eyes. Raw onions keep your heart healthy and see here for total benefits of onions. 

5. Coriander (kothmir, dhania) : The antioxidants vitamin A, vitamin C and the quercetin present in coriander works towards strengthening our immune system. Coriander is a fairly good source of iron and folate – the 2 nutrient which help in the production and maintenance of RBC in our blood. Good for reducing cholesterol and for diabetics. Read 9 benefits of coriander to understand details. 

6. Lemon, Lemon Juice : Lemon is a very good source of Vitamin C and thus helps in the production of  white blood cells and antibodies in the blood which attacks invading microorganisms, prevents infection and builds immunity. Therefore, Lemon juice is given to prevent common cold. The ascorbic acid in lemon juice helps in absorption of iron from the food. So if you’re iron deficient or have anaemia squeeze a lemon on iron rich recipes. See detailed benefits of lemon, lemon juice.

Can diabetics, cardiac patients and over weight individuals have power poha?

Poha is good for cardiac patients due to high magnesium levels.  For diabetics, it's best to avoid poha as its high in carbohydrates. 

Can healthy individuals have poha?

Yes they can. 

power poha is good for

1. Healthy Lifestyle

2. Weight loss

3. Pregnant women

4. Heart Patients

5. Weight Gain

6. Kids

8 Pointers to get healthy on a Indian diet

1. Eat healthy and say yes to good home cooked food. Prefer whole grains like oatmeal, quinoa, buckwheat, barley and healthy flours like bajra flour, jowar flour, quinoa flour, wheat flour etc. rather than refined ones like maida. Have healthy Indian fats like ghee, coconut, coconut oil in your diet.

2. Opt out of junk food, packaged food, deep fried foods. Prefer steamed snacks and other non-fried snacks. Check out some Healthy Indian Snacks. Remember to eat small frequent meals through the day as that will keep you always full and prevent your blood sugar from dropping. By starving your body through some diet, will not help you one bit. In fact, dieting will make you binge on 2 to 3 meals which is not good. 

3. Have 4 to 5 servings of vegetables and 2 to 3 servings of fruit is a must. Follow the logic of a vegetable in each main meal of the day and a fruit in-between meals. Check out a few Healthy Indian Soups and Healthy Indian Salads  recipes using this food group.           

4. Cut down on sugar and salt in your diet and pick honey ( very small amounts) or dates to sweeten your food. Slowly cut the sugar habit as this is not going to happen over night. Sugar  is also called white poison. It is a simple carbohydrate with zero nutritional value. On intake, sugar will cause inflammation of the body which will last for many hours. It will spike your blood sugar level and shut down the fat burning process. This also causes high blood sugar levels in your body. The development of prediabetes comes from uncontrolled eating sugar and refined food products for many years and the classic symptom is if you have excess belly fat. This leads to diabetes and further onwards to heart attack, high blood pressure, strokes, impotence and kidney damage. 

Salt and blood pressure. Apart from stress and obesity, one of the main reasons for high blood pressure is excessive sodium and salt intake. Most people find it difficult to limit the amount of salt in their cooking, thinking it will affect the taste of their favourite dishes. 

This is not true. Bajra and jowar are rich in potassium and critical for those with High Blood Pressure as it lessens the impact of sodium. Eating more Potassium Rich Foods will remove more sodium from your body through urine. So include the basic bajra roti and jowar roti in your daily diet to have with Lower Blood Pressure Subzis Recipes. 

5. Befriend a few healthy seeds and nuts like chia seeds, flax seeds, sesame seeds, walnuts and almonds. 

6.  Sprouts are called ‘living food’. They are high is most nutrients and easy to digest as well. Let them feature in your meals at least thrice a week. Also Read : All Benefits about Sprouts. 

7.  Exercise 45 minutes every day. No excuse. You can walk fast, run, do weights, play your favourite sport or go to the gym. No activity reduces muscle tissue which will lead to muscke loss and all kinds of problems with that. 

8.  Sleep early and get up early. Get your body into rhythm and it will function best. Sleep helps your body to recover and makes you look much younger. Also getting good sleep prevent muscle loss. 

Power Poha is high in

1. Phosphorous : Phosphorous works closely with calcium to build bones. 

2. Iron : Iron is essential in the chemical reactions that produce energy from foods. Eat more greens and garden cress seeds to prevent you from being anaemic. Here are the top 7 sources of iron rich foods. 

3. Vitamin C :  Vitamin C is a great defence against coughs and colds.

Note : a recipe is deemed high in a Vitamin or mineral if it meets 20% and above the recommended daily allowance based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

How to burn 199 calories that come from one serving of Power Poha?

Note: These values are approximate and calorie burning differs in each individual.