Welcome to The Globe’s new series, What’s In My Cart?, where we’re asking Canadians how they stock their kitchens.
Illustration by Kat Frick Miller
“You are what you eat” may be a cliché to some people. But for naturopathic doctor Priyanka Gupta, that is exactly the advice she gives to patients at her women’s health clinic in Toronto’s west end.
Nutrition is also particularly important to the 47-year-old practitioner, who is among millions of women in Canada experiencing menopause.
Gupta says menopause is one of her biggest concerns – a sentiment shared by many women going through this transition. But a healthy diet can help reduce symptoms.
When it comes to nutrition, Gupta says “the biggest thing women should be focusing on is protein.” A high-protein diet can help women maintain a healthy insulin level and reduce menopausal belly fat, which is associated with increased hormone-related malignancies such as endometrial and breast cancers.
Her own diet prioritizes protein sources such as fish and legumes, antioxidant-rich fruits such as berries, and whole grain carbohydrates such as brown rice, which she says is less likely to cause blood-sugar spikes.
Here’s how Gupta shops for healthy, menopause-friendly meals.
How I save: I save by swapping out staple food items with cheaper alternatives. I buy frozen fruits and vegetables instead of fresh and buy rice (which is a staple in South Asian kitchens) in bulk.
How I splurge: I splurge on high-quality oil and ghee, clarified butter, which we use a lot in South Asian cuisine. I think you can taste the difference in quality.
The hardest eating habit to keep up: With having a business, and a busy schedule in general, the time constraint can make it difficult to eat healthy. Motivation is a habit that’s hard to keep up. I think you need to be creative, plan ahead and budget in order to actually make sure you’re cooking most of your meals at home.
How I’ve changed my shopping habits recently: Given the rising food prices, I’ve really increased my use of more affordable staples. It can be very easy to shop for canned items, for example, but by switching to dry lentils and beans, I’m able to get more servings out of my food. It takes more time to cook legumes dry, but I just take a couple of extra minutes, soak them the night before, and cook my dhal – red lentil soup – in the pressure cooker throughout the day, for example.
Five items always in my cart:
- Quinoa – Bob’s Red Mill – $18.99: This is one of the staples in a lot of my meals. It works as a base, as a high-protein alternative to rice. It’s also great to mix in with fresh vegetables and make into a salad, or to use it as a protein boost in your salad.
- Frozen vegetables – Green Giant – $4.99: Frozen vegetables are usually cheaper, but just as fresh and taste just as good as raw vegetables. Green Giant has good blends like string beans with carrots or an antioxidant blend with carrots, bell peppers and broccoli which tastes great and is easy to toss in a stir-fry.
- Almond butter – Nuts 2 You – $7.99: I like to eat organic nut butters as an alternative to regular peanut butter. It has one ingredient (dry-roasted almonds), tastes great and lacks those added ingredients like sugars.
- Whole grain basmati rice – Tilda – $12.99: I come from an Indian household, so I grew up eating basmati rice. Whole grain rice wasn’t as accessible when I was growing up in India, but it is now, so I made the switch as I began cooking for my own family. Whole grain rice is better for your blood sugar, since it has a lower glycemic index than white rice, which can be important, especially for women going through menopause looking to reduce some belly fat.
- Dry red lentils – Great Value – $3.18: I buy my lentils dry, which gives me more servings from one bag, compared with buying a can of prepared lentils. Lentils have a lot of protein and fibre, which is great for your body. In my house we probably eat some type of legume five to seven days a week.
This interview has been condensed and edited.