Indian Street Food Cyclists Should Avoid

Cycling is a strenuous activity that burns a lot of your energy. As a result, refuelling comes in an as uninvited guest. With the cities in India flooded with numerous street food joints, hunger always has an answer. If deciding what to eat is a problem, simply let the aroma of the freshly cooked food lure you to the stalls. A quick munch and you are good to go. This notion is not only believed but practised unknowingly.

Here are a few food cyclists should avoid as their colours and flavours are highly deceiving-

Vada/Samosa Pav:

Fried Batata Vada sure has been the lifeline of Mumbaikar’s for decades. The mouth-watering street food can leave your taste buds and your stomach satisfied. But at the end of the day, they are fried and are rich in starch. If you weren’t aware, these tasty Vada/Samosa pavs can take ages to break down and increase your recovery period. Also, don’t forget the maida that can slow down the process of digestion even further.

Medu Vada:

A south Indian staple that is often eaten by many along with Idli is considered to be healthy. However, the fried dish is high in calories and is another food cyclist should avoid. Also, the black gram lentils are hard to breakdown and hence this food cyclist should avoid too.

Get to know some of the best carbohydrate rich food sources for cyclist here.

Indo — Chinese:

Easy to make and eat, these Chinese stalls are scattered across different pockets of the cities. As this fast food is nothing close to the authentic Chinese food. Mumbai has gone ahead and turned and twisted its style, resulting in triple rice.

While the rice and noodles guarantee to fill those hungry bellies, high usage of artificial colours, Ajinomoto, and stale oil is hidden with extra spices to make it look tasty and yummy. Such food is known to cause shortness of breath, nausea, headaches, migraines, burning or tingling sensations around the mouth, stomachache, etc. No ride is worth this food and cyclist should certainly avoid it.

Pav Bhaji:

The dish seems pretty promising with the many vegetables added to it. However, the constant reheating and extra butter make it unhealthy for consumption. If you are one of those who thinks only cycling can make you healthy, you are wrong. Eating healthy also plays a vital role as it can help cut down your calories. On the other hand, do not forget the spices and the extra butter slathered on the bread.

Chaat:

Chaat is tasty and appetizing, but let’s face the facts, it’s not healthy and if you are on a weight loss regime you better watch what you eat. The gol gappas, bhel puri, Dahi puri are a complete no-no during monsoon as well as other seasons. They are often made from contaminated water that can cause diarrhoea, jaundice, and other diseases. Hence, it is one of the food cyclists should avoid.

The list of Indian street food will run into pages and we surely can’t feed you with details as our editor has requested to keep it short. So make the smarter choice, eat healthily and get the results you always desired. Whether it is reducing that waistline or simply preparing for a race, the right food can get you one step closer.

Ensure to follow a healthy diet while training and avoid the foods that interfere with your performance and body’s nutritional needs. Needless to say, athletes can occasionally splurge on a beer and/or pizza. However, ensure not to make these choices habitual.

“If you eat well most of the time you don’t have to worry about the rest of the time. Routinely choosing such post-training ‘rewards’ put you in danger of missing out on key vitamins and minerals needed to support the metabolic processes required in training.”