ICMR bats for getting rid of protein supplements, restricting salt use in latest dietary guidelines

New Delhi: The Indian Council of Medical Research on Wednesday released the country’s latest dietary guidelines that advise people to get rid of protein supplements, restrict salt use and avoid processed food altogether besides busting popular myths on microwave cooking and different types of salts.

The guidelines, prepared by the National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad, also ask the consumers to read through the food labels rather than relying solely on cost and brand names before making a purchase decision.

“We have also done away with any recommendations on sugar and suggested home-made recipes as complementary food for children of 6-12 months age. Benefits of home-made complementary foods outweigh commercially prepared foods,” an NIN scientist involved in the exercise to make the new Dietary Guidelines for Indians told DH.

The new document comes four years after the NIN revised the nutritional requirements for Indians in 2020. A similar exercise was carried out more than a decade ago when the nutritional requirement guideline of 2010 was followed by a dietary guideline in 2011.

“The dietary habits of Indians have undergone significant changes over the past few decades, leading to an increase in the prevalence of non-communicable diseases while some of the problems of under-nutrition continue to persist. These guidelines are relevant to the changing food scenario,” said Rajiv Bahl, Secretary, Department of Health Research and director general of Indian Council of Medical Research, the parent body of the NIN.

On marketing campaigns and social media posts on the so-called benefits of different types of salts like pink salt and black salt, the guidelines say that irrespective of the variety of salt, their consumption should be limited as the sodium content in all varieties of salts is almost similar.

The NIN has come up with 17 specific recommendations such as eating a variety of food for a balanced diet, consuming plenty of vegetables and legumes and sourcing proteins from food items instead of commercial supplements, popular among the gym-goers.

For a balanced diet of 2000 kcal, the guidelines recommend 500 gm of vegetables and fruits followed by 250 gm of cereals along with pulses, legumes, fish or meat and milk.

"But due to the limited availability and high cost of pulses and meat, a significant proportion of the Indian population relies heavily on cereals, resulting in poor intake of essential macronutrients (essential amino and fatty acids) and micronutrients,” it says.

On people’s aversion towards microwave cooking, it says there are minimal differences in nutritional quality of food prepared by conventional cooking vis-a-vis microwave cooking. Moreover, the microwave retains more vitamins and minerals than any other cooking method as no leaching of nutrients occurs.

The guidelines define ultra-processed food as items high in fat, sugar and salt, and did not recommend such food. Consumption of ultra processed food, it says, is not only associated with overweight/obesity and higher risks of heart attack, stroke and diabetes, but also hastens the process of ageing.

The guidelines make it clear that instant foods like noodles, breakfast cereals, soup mixes, and cake mixes fall under the category of ultra-processed food and enriching such foods with nutrients or fortifying them will not make them healthy.

“Estimates show that 56.4 per cent of the total disease burden in India is due to unhealthy diets. Healthy diets and physical activity can reduce a substantial proportion of coronary heart disease and hypertension, and prevent up to 80 per cent of type 2 diabetes,” it adds.