Indian Dietician Association (IDA) on Tuesday shed the light on the fact that Indian diet lacks 50% adequate protein pattern. While government continues to initiate a number of programmes to meet the nutrition-deficiency in the country, the freshly revealed facts lays emphasis on the inadequate diet pattern in the country. Protein Foods Nutrition Development Association of India (PFNDAI) backs the facts initially revealed by IDA. This makes it necessary for people to incorporate extra amount of proteins as the vegetarian diet alone is not competent enough to meet the protein requirement of the body.
The experts also say that this issue can be a matter of serious concern for expecting mothers as they won’t be able to achieve optimal protein intake with the exclusively vegetarian diet until they include milk to the diet.
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"Proteins from different sources complement each other. Even with a ratio of 5:1 cereals and pulses combination, the protein quality in terms of digestibility and bio-availability is only around 65 per cent when compared to milk protein," said B. Sesikeran, a pathologist.
He was speaking at the launch of "The Protein Week", an initiative aiming to educate people against the myths and realities of proteins.
According to experts, Indians lack awareness about good quality sources of protein. Protein requirement in the second growth spurt during pregnancy is twice of a toddler's and this requirement is heightened by almost 20 gm per day in the third trimester compared to an adult woman.
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Neelanjana Singh, President of IDA, Delhi Chapter, said: "Quality-based protein is as important as quality of protein taken. For effective utilisation of protein, it is necessary to also include adequate calories in one's diet."
Under this initiative, the IDA and PFNDAI intend to hold education seminars by including key opinion leaders across the country to create knowledge and discuss the protein-related issues.
(With IANS Inputs)
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