Kadhi health benefits: You may never know but kadhi, a traditional dish made with curd and besan (gram flour) can help prevent dehydration, loss of appetite and several other conditions that are common in summer. Rujuta Diwekar elaborates.

Do you love kadhi? Originating from Rajasthan, kadhi is a dish which is made with curd and gram flour or besan. It is a thick curry-based dish which also contains vegetable fritters known as pakoras. It has a slight sour flavour to it and is often eaten with cooked rice or roti. And this is just one kind of kadhi preparation. In the diverse state of India, there are several kinds of kadhi preparations, where each state has its own traditional style of preparing it.

And while the dish is delicious to taste, it has several health benefits to offer too. Highlighting them is celebrity nutritionist Rujtua Diwekar on Instagram. As part of her recent guideline of the ongoing fitness project, Diwekar elaborates on why you need to eat kadhi regularly. And if you have stopped having it entirely, thanks to fad diets and novel weight loss ideas, you need to bring the kadhi back in your diet!

Kadhi health benefits and why you must have it daily

"For flawless skin and easy digestion, you must bring back the kadhi in your diet," says Diwekar.

"The traditional kaddhi (and similar preparations like Ambil, kheru, kalan) are at least 2,000 years old. Ayurveda has used it as a therapy for increasing appetite, boosting recovery and skin health during summers."

"The traditional kaddhi (and similar preparations like Ambil, kheru, kalan) are at least 2,000 years old. Ayurveda has used it as a therapy for increasing appetite, boosting recovery and skin health during summers," she adds.

Here are the reasons to bring back kadhi in your diet:

Loss of appetite

If you experience a drop in your appetite during summer months, kadhi can come to your rescue: In summer, the heat can take a toll on your skin and stomach. Abdomen feels cramped, periods get painful, and constipation and gas all become frequent. Furthermore, dehydration becomes inevitable, afternoons begin to feel exhausting and one mostly doesn't feel like eating lunch.

A drop in Vitamin B12 levels and gut bacteria being compromised can result in loss appetite and many of the aforementioned symptoms. Mixing curd with pulses like besan and tempering it with spices and curry leages is a zero-wastage way of adding prebiotics and prebiotics to your diet, especially when you eat it with rice. "Kadhi and rice is a perfect combination of probiotic and prebiotic, and has a complete amino acid profile. It is a complete meal," asserts Diwekar.

Some other conditions that can be dealt with by including kadhi in diet

It helps in reducing bloating, constipation and acne, and is also used as a prevention method for migraine and mood swings, adds the Mumbai-based nutritionist.

Kadhi is surely one of India's 'soon to be lost' secret. Your family will have its own version of kaddhi. "While making it with besan is the most common one, sour dahi is also mixed with millets like ragi or with pulses like kulith to make ambil or with hyper-seasonal veggies like desi cucumber to make Kheru."

So for all of you who feel a loss of appetite, constipation and acne breakouts, bring back kadhi in your diet.

Rujuta Diwekar is a nutritionist based in Mumbai.

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Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information.