Nutrition and Diet

Nutrition & Diet
Obesity is the largest global chronic health problem and it is going to emerge as a more serious world problem than malnutrition.It is often associated with discrimination and prejudice causing some people to loose self esteem and reduced quality of life.

Overweight refers to a person having extra body weight from musle, bone, fat and water. Obesity refers to person having a high amounts of extra body fat.

How you predict overweight and obesity?
The easy and important predictor of overweight and obesity is the Body Mass Index(BMI). BMI can be calculated by using the formula

BMI=Weight in Kg/Height in meters2
Classification BMI(Kg/m2 )
Underweight 18.5
Normal range 18.5-24.9
Overweight 25.0-29.9
Obesity >=30
Class 1 30.0-34.9
Class 11 35.0-39.9
Class 111 >40


Causes of Obesity
Obesity is determined by a combination of genes, metabolism,behaviour,culture and environment.Genes and metabolism may help explain about 25-40% of body weight.Genes may increase one's risk for obesity,but it may not be the only cause of obesity. Obesity results from eating too much and not being active enough for most of the population. Modern society encourages poor diets and lack of exercise.

Symptoms of obesity
Problem with bones, muscles such as lower back pain and arthritis
Heartburn
High cholesterol levels
High BP
Menstrual problems
Breathing problems like shortness of breath

Main co morbidities associated with obesity
Insulin resistance,dyslipidemia,infertility,psychosocial distress,obstructive sleep- apnea,inflammation/atherosclerosis,cardiovascular disease,osteoarthritis,hyperuricaemia and cancer.

Tips to reduce and maintain healthy weight


* Do not skip meals

* Eat balanced diet. Include cereals ,pulses,green leafy vegetables,other vegetables,moderate vegetable oil(un saturated),fruits,restricted sugar, skimmed milk and its products daily in proper quantities to meet the requirements of carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins, minerals and fibre by the body. Calorie reduction is the most important requirement for weight loss. cutdown of 100 calories per day leads to 4.5kg weight reduction per year.The total calories from food should be 25-30% from fat in the form of unsaturated fat, 15% from protein and 50-60% from carbohydrates in the form of complex carbohydrates like wholegrains,vegetables and fruits.Reduction of 500calories from Basal energy expenditure helps to reduce 9 kg weight per year.

* Go for whole cereals and pulses like wheat, ragi, jowar, millets rather than refined ones like maida and its products like bread,biscuits,refined noodles,pastries etc

* Don't be over restrictive like avoiding one or two meals and replacing it with fruits or juices.

* Regular physical exercise (atleast brisk walking for 45minutes 5 to 7 days a week)

Physical activity contributes to weight loss,decreases abdominal fat,increases cardio respiratory fitness.Exercises like aerobic exercise, swimming, bicycling, jogging, dancing leads to these benefits. Brisk walking is the easiest one applicable to almost all age groups. Weight lifting can also be helpful to loose weight.You should be more active everyday by doing routine work like climbing up stairs rather than taking elevator or walking somewhere rather than driving ,engage yourself in gardening,household work rather than using electronic gadgets or depend upon the servant can help you to burn calories without much difficulty. * Watch for food portion size

* Inclusion of liberal amount of fresh vegetables and fruits reduces hunger pans,maintains your blood sugar and prevent constipation because of its fibre content and it is abundant in phytochemicals ,antioxidants which prevent against cancer

* Try to include fruits with skin. Because deskinning removes fibre.

* No fat or low fat dairy and its products can be used

* Drink liberal amounts of water frequently like one glass of water once in two hours intervals.

* Get rid of deep fried items and calorie dense foods

* Avoid fatty items like mutton, beef, pork,crab, prawns

* Include fish or fish oil , soya and its products weekly twice because of its omega3fatty acid content.

* Eggwhite can be taken daily.

* Replace saturated fats like butter,ghee,vanaspathy,coconut oil and include vegetable oils like saffola, sunflower, gingelly, soyabean, olive, ricebran oil etc in minimum quantity.

* Cooking medium of all food should be either steaming,pressure cooking,boiling or grilling.

* The combination of reduced calorie balanced diet and increased physical activity leads to better weight loss than either one done separately

* Watch for sugary drinks and nutritional sweeteners and eliminate it.

* Replace sugar with artificial sweeteners.There are two types of artificial sweeteners. You should include non nutritive sweeteners in minimum quantity.

Nutritive sweeteners-White and brown table sugars,molasses,honey,syrups are nutritive sweeteners.In addition sugar alcohols derived from fruits (or) commercially made are also nutritive sweeteners.The most common sugar alcohols include sorbitol,mannitol,xylitol and maltitol.All nutritive Sweeteners provide calories to the body and may affect your blood glucose.

Non nutritive sweeteners are the true artificial sweeteners.They do not provide calories and will not influence blood glucose.These include saccharin,neotame,aspartame,sucralose,stevia acesulfame potassium(Ace-k) Which sweeteners are safe?
Sweetener Comments
Sucralose Safe
Neotame Safe
Sugar alcohols Safe but may cause bloating,gas or diarrhoea
Aspartame Safe.people with pku should avoid.some people have complaints of head ache
Acesulfame potassium I nadequately tested
Stevia Inadequately tested
Sacharin Unsafe


What is Zero calorie Diet?
The Diet which provides less than 5 kilocalories is zero calorie Diet.

The only naturally occuring zero calorie diet is water .Daily consumption of 8 to 10 glasses of water helps you to maintain healthy life.

The artificially engineered zero calorie diet is diet soda which made out of artificial sweeteners.Eventhough diet soda is less in calorie, does not mean that you can include in liberal quantities like water. It has its side effects if you consume in liberal quantities.

Is Reading Food labels help you?
Yes,Reading food labels can help you to make wise food choices.Most packed foods in the grocery or departmental stores list nutrition information on the package in a section called the Nutrition Facts.

The nutrition facts tells you the serving size and the amount of various nutrients such as total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, Polyunsaturated fat, Mono unsaturated fat, electrolytes like sodium,potassium,carbohydrates like simple sugar,nutritive sweeteners,artificial sweeteners with name, carbohydrate and protein sources like wheat,ragi,whey,milk solids(fat/non fat),soy protein,fibre per serving.

The foods that are exempt from the label include foods in very small packages,foods prepared in the store and foods made by small manufacturers.

For individualised diet plan you can approach Qualified Dietitian