Holi 2021 Know Your Plate: Know What’s In There In Your Favourite Holi Snack Gujiya

Holi is around the corner, and I bet there is not one home where you won’t find Gujiya. Gujiya is one of the main ingredients which are necessary for Holi celebration. People enjoy having this sweet delight to fill more love in the family. It is really hard to resist a ‘Gujiya’ taking a note it might not be a very healthy snack to have. However, people enjoy it thoroughly; there are some nutritional facts that you must consider before having these sweet delights in your tummy. Here at OnlyMyHealth, we bring you verified information about your favourite food.  

What Does Nutritionist Have To Say About Gujiya?  

OnlyMyHealth expert nutritionist Gurpreet Kaur, Clinical Nutritionist at Cloudnine Group of Hospitals, Chandigarh says that the nutritional value of gujiya highly depends on the ingredients used. According to the expert, calorie count depends on the number of nuts present in the Gujiya. Also if it is baked rather than frying would make it healthier for sure. The dry fruits ingredients such as melon seeds and khus-khus can make gujiya high in fibre, antioxidants, minerals and vitamins making it healthier to eat. She says that eating one gujiya in a day won’t do much harm but 2 gujiyas same day an take a toll on your health.   

Nutritional facts about Gujiya:-  

A Gujiya contains around 260-430 calories per serving. One serving of Gujiya is around 100gram. Let’s take a look at what’s going in from your plate.  

• Fat- 16.74 grams  
• Carbohydrate- 69.19grams  
• Protein- 4.58grams  

Therefore the major breakdown of Gujiya takes us to 34% fat content, 62% carbohydrates and 4% protein in 100 gram of Gujiya served. However you must be thinking that it still is not that unhealthy considering it has more carbohydrates than fats, but that is not true.   

The 34% of fat content has around 10 grams of saturated fat which is very harmful for the body and just 0.96gram of polyunsaturated fats and 4.48 grams of monounsaturated fat. This is not it, the carbohydrate intake also consists of major sugar content (47.26g) and rest fibre, sodium and potassium are in minimal quantity.   

Also Read- What is a Flexitarian Diet and Its Health Benefits

Why is Gujiya not good for health?  

Trans Fat Alert- People often buy Gujiyas from market these days which are basically fried in cheap quality oils which is not good for health. These oils are mostly reused which increases the Trans fat in your body. This saturated fat can increase the risk of chronic diseases.   

Khoya- It is a must ingredient in the Gujiya. It is delicious and is nutritious as well but the khoya which is available in the market is generally mixed with starch which makes it unhealthy and can lead to stomach aches etc.  

Saffron- Well, since saffron is expensive, most sweet manufacturers use synthetic colours rather than real saffron. It is a widely used practise which can cause health hazards. Not only in Gujiyas, it’s found in many other sweets as well. So be careful while purchasing any such sweet items next time.  

Ingredients of Gujiya:  

The main ingredients of traditional gujiya contain the following ingredients-  

• Ghee  
• Almonds  
• Paneer  
• Plain Flour  
• Sugar  
• Khoya  

These are some of the basic ingredients which are used in making of traditional gujiya. But these items are often replaced by few unhealthy ingredients such as refined oil and starch added khoya which decreases its nutritious value. Home-made gujiyas can be far healthier for you than those available at sweet shops.  

Also Read- Know What you Are Eating When You Are Devouring A Samosa

How to Burn Gujiya Calories?  

Just a happy serving of this delicious sweet can make you work out a lot for sure. 270 - 438 calories take a good amount of time to burn. You can follow these exercises if you wish to burn the calorie from gujiya in shorter span of time.  

Jumping Jacks- This exercise is great to burn fat in your body. Jumping with your full strength while coming down in sit-ups position can help you with the Gujiya calories.  

Cycling- This can be more fun if you take your companions along. It is a leisure activity and cycling after having this sweet delight is not a bad option at all.  

Indulge in home activities- This may not be as interesting as other options for workout. But doing some good cleaning exercises and activities may be beneficial for both your health and your home.  

All these activities can help you break a sweat and can reduce the guilt to taking saturated fats and carbs from gujiya. Also having lots of water in the whole day can reduce the accumulation of fat in the body. Now you can happily have your favourite Holi snack without worrying much about your health. However if taken in excessive quantities can still be harmful to your body.  

Gujiya may not be as healthy as you may have thought it to be but it is not that bad if taken in right quantity. Home-made Gujiyas are a good option to have during Holi celebration, baked ones even better. Avoid having it from market and know the nutritional value of Gujiya well before you gulp it. Rest assured, if taken in right amount, Gujiyas are always a sweet delight.

Read More Articles on Healthy Diet