Milk is good, stay off sugar and protein boosters: Food scientist

“No one food is rich in multiple nutrients and different combination of foods is necessary to get all the nutrients we need. In our dietary guidelines, we have given ten food groups and people should aim to have items from each of them on their plate every day,” clarifies Dr Rao in an interview with The Federal.

He added that sometimes, a dal may be missing in their plate; that is fine, too. But they need to ensure they are daily eating from at least seven or right of these food groups, he adds.

What you need to fill your daily plate with

The NIN and ICMR booklet also serves up ‘My Plate for the Day’ to show what people need to eat ideally on a daily basis, which includes the proportions of items from each food group that need to be consumed.

“Rice or roti form a large part of our plate everyday, so we need to diversify with fruits, vegetables maybe egg, protein rich dal, meat, that balance is important," said Dr Rao. "Even if you want to have more cereals, which are more carbohydrate-dense, strike a balance and go for more complex cereal diets. For an average Indian to consume a 2,000 calorie diet, 240 gm of grains need to be consumed. And 30-40 per cent can be sourced from millet or any other coarse grain,” he pointed out.

Protein supplements

Targetted at health providers, dieticians, policy makers, the ICMR-NIN's dietary guidelines, which provides simple, practical measures of lifestyle and food related advice for people, also focusses on protein intake among people.

“This is something we felt we had to tackle in tune with new developments. There is a lot of talk about protein supplements. It is a myth that protein supplements can give you muscle mass, which can only be built up by exercise. To get your 49 gm of protein, you can opt for animal protein or dal. One portion of dal can be mixed with three portions of cereal to get the maximum benefit," he said. "What's the need for a protein supplement if you don't have a deficiency?"

Baby food and sugar

On the recent controversy over baby food supplements, Dr Rao aid his institution has always maintained that six months onwards, babies should be given what is cooked at home.

“In our dietary guidelines, we have provided simple complementary food recipes. These are the ones traditionally cooked at home and frankly they are best for babies," he said.

On how much sugar is permissible, the ICMR-NIN steered clear of giving any suggestions at all.  “If we say you are allowed 25 gm of sugar daily or around 10 per cent of your calories, people assume they can have that much every day. So, we deliberately kept away from talking about sugar. It is a cultivated taste, if you keep giving sugared food to your children, they will develop a sweet tooth,” explained Dr Rao.

Moreover, the guidelines demolish the belief that jaggery and honey are superior to sugar. They are all nothing but added sugars, pointed out Dr Rao.

Danger of ultra-processed food

Besides detailing the 17 guidelines ‘based on scientific data’, the dietary guidelines document also tackles the danger of ultra-processed foods, high salt and sugar foods, the importance of reading food labels, and basic nutrition needs for people across age groups.

Talking about the dangers of eating ultra-processed foods, Dr Rao criticised the fact that foods like instant noodles and packaged sweets are sold saying they are added with B-complex vitamin. "But fortifying a bad nutrient quality food does not enrich it any further," he said.

Further, citing the example of a ragi cookie, he said: “Ragi may be rich in calcium but what is concerning is the maida, fat, sugar and sodium that goes into it. If products have artificial iron or some other element, it cannot enrich an ultra-processed food that is not healthy at all.”

Get your saturated fats from different sources

On the subject of saturated fats, Dr Rao's advice is that if one is taking 30 gm of visible fats, he would advise to source it from different oils.

"Don’t get your fats from one source like ghee or coconut oil – that is bad. One-third of ghee, or coconut oil or palm oil is permissible. These oils are not bad for health but should be rationally used,” he pointed out.

Foods such as fenugreek seeds, amaranth seeds, flax seeds, chia seeds and basil seeds have health promoting effects and can be consumed at least three to four times a week, says the document.

Earthen pots are one of the safest cookware, says the document. These require very little oil, are environment-friendly and keep the food's nutritional content intact. Heat can also circulate through the food in earthen pots, preserving the nutrition.

Salt is salt, milk is not bad

Dr Rao also rubbished the claim that Himalayan or black salt is healthier. “Salt is salt, what is worrying is that salt contains sodium, more sodium causes hypertension,” he said.

People say milk should not be had but NIN says 300 ml of milk is good. "Our food approach is based on diet diversity for good health. Not one food is rich in all the nutrients and so milk or milk products like curds or buttermilk is good," rationalised Dr Rao.

An indivualised diet

In a chat with The Federal, meanwhile, Dr Sheela Nambiar, OB-GYN and lifestyle medicine physician, concurred with the ICMR-NIN guidelines on the need for diversity in diet and filling your plate with different vegetables and fruits.

"A diversely rich meal is more healthy and beneficial for gut health. However, it is also important to take a person’s age, their lifestyle, the amount of exercise they do to be able to also indivualise a person's diet. Each one's needs have to be also considered," said Dr Nambiar.

These guidelines, however, are more a broad overview of what is good or not good for you and is not ‘personal dietary advice’, confirmed Dr Rao

In Nambair’s view, today in India, we are faced with 'the overfed and the undernourished. For the rich there is a huge choice for eating, plenty of artificial food with western influences, coupled with people not exercising and moving enough.

"Sedentary lifestyles, lack of proper sleep, additive supplements all add to the problems and we cannot isolate and talk only about diets. A person's psychological make-up also needs to addressed. I think the dietary guidelines, are giving a broad recommendation, the basic premise about foods which is good. Diets, however, need to be indivualised and people need to be handheld and guided often,” she said, commenting on the release of such guidelines.

Reading food labels

The dietary guidelines emphasises the importance of reading food labels, a subject that is not promoted enough.

Kanika Khanna, a Delhi-based dietician, feels its critical to drive this message home as well.

“People get fooled often and pick up oats or ragi cookies thinking they are healthy without reading the ingredients. Besides some element of ragi, the rest is all maida. People don’t ferment dosa batter at home anymore though fermentation increases gut bacteria. I would say go back to old traditions instead of processed foods. Moreover, drinking protein shakes is not going to increase muscle mass but will just end up affecting your kidneys," she said on what's going wrong with Indian diets today.