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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Nutrition and public health: Here's why eating wisely is a must -Vivian Fernandes

Nutrition and public health: Here's why eating wisely is a must -Vivian Fernandes

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published Published on Feb 15, 2017   modified Modified on Feb 15, 2017
-The Financial Express

Barley has 5.66% soluble fibre per 100 grams, the highest among cereals consumed in India, while parboiled, milled rice has 0.76% and atta or wheat flour, 1.63%. Gooseberry (amla) is the richest source of vitamin C (252 mg per 100 grams)—no points for guessing—followed by pink-fleshed guava (222 mg). Curry leaves have more beta carotene, a source of vitamin A, at 7,663 micrograms per 100 gram serving than orange-coloured carrots (5,423 units), though few would consume the condiment in such quantities. Red-coloured carrots have half the amount as the orange variety. Bajra and ragi are rich sources of iron and zinc among cereals.

These nuggets have been gleaned from the Indian Food Composition Tables, released by Hyderabad’s National Institute of Nutrition (NIN). It is the first major revision after 45 years and contains original data for 528 key Indian foods and 151 discrete food components. Key foods are those that supply 75% of the population’s nutrients. They are derived from nationwide dietary surveys. The National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau has been conducting these since 1972 in 10 states, which account for three-fourth of the country’s residents.

The information in the tables “of unprecedented analytical quality is statistically representative of both the national food supply and consumption pattern,” the introduction to the 535-page volume says. No data has been borrowed or derived from any other source and “represents accurate nutritional food that are consumed across the country.”

The volume is available at NIN and will be published online “soon,” says its website. Since middle-class Indians are obsessed about food, nutrition and longevity, the entrepreneurially-minded among FE’s readers could break it down into information downloadable with a few finger taps on smartphone screens for use by the over-nourished or those who are plain anxious. They will need the institute’s prior permission, of course.

Releasing the volume in Delhi, mid-January, health minister J P Nadda, hoped that NIN would quickly release an app for those who cannot lug around the “2 kg” volume (he was pretty accurate). Soumya Swaminathan, director-general of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), which oversees NIN, responded that the app was a work-in-progress and should be out in two months. “You can order a pizza or a paneer roll and the app should tell you how many calories and nutrients you are going to consume,” she added.

The food items were sourced from six regions. The nutrients and bioactive components were analysed with more than 30 analytical tools. For instance, fatty acid profiling was done with gas chromatography. D2 vitamin content in plant foods has been presented for the “first time in the world.”

There is a close link between nutrition and public health. So, it is no surprise that NIN had its origin in a 1918 inquiry into the prevalence of beriberi which was ascribed to low intake of vitamin B from rice and other grains. Parboiled milled rice was found to contain a considerably higher amount of vitamin B than raw milled rice. The inquiry led to the establishment of a national research laboratory at Coonoor in Tamil Nadu, which later was expanded into NIN at Hyderabad.

The first Indian food composition tables were published in 1937. The values of 17 components were provided for 218 food items. In the third edition, 1941, the importance of amla as a rice source of vitamin C was highlighted. Those currently in their 50s, who suffered a daily ministration of cod-liver oil (for vitamin D) at the hands of their mercilessly caring mothers would note that this edition proposed fish liver oil as a substitute (if that is any consolation).

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The Financial Express, 14 February, 2017, http://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/nutrition-and-public-health-heres-why-eating-wisely-is-a-must/549962/


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