Overview

• Celebrity nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar highlights rajgira, cashews, bananas and legumes such as sundal as the four key additions for a balanced vrat plate.
• Dietitian Amreen Sheikh urges a fibre focus with sweet potatoes, pumpkin, raw bananas, fruits and buckwheat or amaranth to prevent constipation, sustain fullness and steady blood sugar.
• Guidance stresses cooking methods that reduce heaviness by choosing steaming, baking or roasting and by using buckwheat or rajgira flour for rotis, dosas and cheelas.
• Common pitfalls flagged include deep-frying sattvic staples, excess sugar and salt, over-reliance on potatoes, overeating, poor hydration, packaged mixes and overusing spices.
• Clean-eating tips expand the playbook with whole vrat ingredients like samak rice, makhanas and fruit-based desserts plus portion control and steady hydration.