Pakistani cuisine is blend of various regional cooking of Indian subcontinent. The best word to describe Pakistani cuisine is spicy. The criteria of eating food in Pakistan is taste only, we neglect health and hygiene factors just to add flavor to our lives. Pakistanis are concerned about taste and spices more than the health of food. There must be chicken, mutton, beef or any other meat in the meal. There must be abundance of oil in the food, health hazards are not concerned in our country. We can’t eat uncooked or half cooked vegetable as it is not tasty, even vegetables should also be cooked in such a way that all its nutrition would go away and only oil and vegetable left. When it comes to spices, there should be at least 10 different spices in a huge amount be added in food to give it the traditional taste and aroma. But the question here arises is: Do we love our lives? Do we love our families? Is taste more important than our lives? The answer is No. we only need to change our habits and our thinking about food. It is okay to have that tasty chicken or mutton karahi full of ghee or oil once in a week, but it is not necessary to have such kind of food daily. Pakistan is our homeland and its cuisine is tastiest but as prescribed by Islam, we must follow a balanced lifestyle too.

Take care of yourselves and cut off unhealthy food from your life to live a healthy and cholesterol free life. Have more water and hydrate yourselves to stay cool and calm.

HAJRA KHURRAM,

Lahore, March 1.