Click here to view. Walnut Dip recipes.A lusciously creamy dip, with a strong nutty tone, the Walnut Dip goes perfectly well with cream crackers, tomato-flavoured or herbed chips, and such other finger foods. The usage of cottage cheese and fresh curds imparts both a rich texture and a pleasantly tangy flavour to this dip, ensuring that the nuttiness is balanced well.

Is Walnut Dip healthy?

Yes, this is healthy. But restrictions apply to some.

Let's understand the Ingredients.

What's good.

1. Walnuts (Akhrot) : Eating a handful of Walnuts a day is said to increase the good cholesterol (HDL). Walnuts are rich in Omega 3 Fatty Acids which contain high amounts of DHA which improve thinking power in adults and excellent for brain health for newborn kids. Being a good source of Folate, Vitamin B9, it’s good for pregnant women to top up their folic acid with eating a bit of walnuts daily.  As it's low in the Glycemic Index, and loaded with Fibre, it’s a good choice for Diabetics. See detailed  benefits of walnuts.

2. Paneer : Paneer contains high quality protein and calcium which aids in weight loss. Since paneer is low in carbs and high in protein it gets digested slowly and hence good for diabetes. Potassium in paneer helps to reduce the effect of high sodium, by lowering blood pressure and contraction of blood vessels, resulting in improved heart health and reduced risk of heart attack. Great for weight loss and read the interesting article on is paneer good for you?

3. Milk and Low Fat Milk : 1 cup of milk provides 70% of the Recommended Daily Allowance of Calcium. Milk promotes strong bones. The Calcium in Milk helps to protect your teeth against gum disease and keeps your jaw bone strong and healthy. Milk is low in carbs and therefore does not raise blood glucose levels. However diabetics must consider including low fat milk as advised by their dietitian only so as to avoid any fluctuations in blood sugar levels. Protein is another key nutrient which milk is rich in - 8.6 g from a cup. So all those looking to build protein stores can add milk and its products like curd and paneer to their diet. One cup of Milk gives 10 grams of carbs.  Low fat milk has lower fat and the same benefits of milk. 

4. Curd + Low fat Curds :  Curds help in digestion as it has very good bacteria. Probiotics in curds acts as a mild laxative but, in case of diarrhoea and dysentery, it is a boon, if curd is used with rice.They help in weight reduction, good for your heart and build immunity. The only difference between curds and low fat curds is the fat level. Read the benefits of curds to include in your daily diet. 

Can diabetics, heart patients and over weight individuals have Walnut Dip?

Yes, this recipe is good for diabetics, heart and weight loss BUT use low fat curds and low fat paneer  Eating a handful of Walnuts a day is said to increase the good cholesterol (HDL). Walnuts are rich in Omega 3 Fatty Acids which contain high amounts of DHA which improve thinking power in adults and excellent for brain health for newborn kids.

Can healthy individuals have Walnut Dip?

Yes.  Paneer contains high quality protein and calcium which aids in weight loss. Since paneer is low in carbs and high in protein it gets digested slowly and hence good for diabetes.

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. 

How to burn 49 calories that come from Walnut Dip?

Walking (6 kmph) = 15 mins

Running (11 kmph) = 5 mins

Cycling (30 kmph) = 7 mins           

Swimming (2 kmph) = 8 mins

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