Diet For Life

Nutrition for Optimum Fitness & Health

Prof Maj S Bakhtiar Choudhary (Retd)

Hyderabad Spine Clinics

www.drbakhtiar.com

E-Mail:sbakhtiar@hotmail.com

Diet plays a major role in human performance. Sports medicine teams help sport persons to perform better, by providing optimum nutrition, physical training and stress management. Today, reducing body weight and maintaining good shape for appearance, irrespective of health, is a great concern, hence people resort to yoyo dieting and frequent manipulation of various nutrients. People should understand the important aspects of nutritional advices. Key for best health is optimum nutrition for life. One must understand various aspects of nutritional modifications with respect to age, disease and occupation step by step. We must focus on

a.     Correct calories (not eating excess food)

b.     Timely food (to prevent obesity)

c.      Attention on micronutrients

d.     Not falling prey to un-scientific advices

Before we do that, please read the following material to understand the fundamentals of nutrition.  

1.    Understanding Energy Sources

Human body gets energy from three principle nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats and proteins. We have a wonderful chemistry in our body; vital chemical reactions make sure that all the principal nutrients are finally converted into ATP (Adenosine Tri Phosphate), a high energy chemical molecule which readily delivers the energy to all tissues and organs of the body on a continuous basis. Excess energy is saved in the form of body fat (adipose tissue). We also get energy from non-nutrient energy sources such as alcohol. Ethnic food habits and traditional plate of meals were actually designed to provide adequate nutrition. But today people have manipulated their diets too much, because of wrong information and influences.

a.   Carbohydrates (CHO): Chief source of energy for physical activity (50-70% of calories of the day) and the brain functioning (100%). One gram of CHO provides 4 Kcal of energy. This serves as a chief fuel for intense exercise like 100m sprint and long distance running like marathon. Good sources of CHO are breakfast cereals, whole grains, fruits, tubers (potatoes, sweet potatoes) and natural sugars (derived from plants).

b.     Fats (FAT): Good source of energy for physical activities and vital activities. Fat provides energy for low intensity exercises and activities such as marathon. One gram of FAT provides 9 Kcal of energy. Good sources of fat are cooking oils, ghee, butter, fish, meats, nuts and oilseeds. Excess oil in the diet increases the risk of obesity and many diseases.

c.      Proteins (PTN): Poor source of energy for activity and the main function is tissue repair and maintenance. One gram of PTN provides 4 Kcal of energy.  Good sources of proteins are eggs, meat, poultry, fish, pulses, legumes and nuts & oilseeds.

d.     Alcohol: Good source of energy but no use for body functioning.

One gram of alcohol provides 7 Kcal of energy. Alcohol provides no vitamins, no dietary fiber and no minerals. Empty calories are stored as fat in the body.

1.2 Non-Energy / Vital Nutrients

Fruits, vegetables, seasoning and other familiar foods along with cereals provide very important micronutrients in very small quantities such as vitamins, trace minerals and dietary fiber.

1.3 Water

Water is an important medium for all life processes. But today some people tend to drink more than their body needs; this leads to low sodium status and can result in serious diseases like Hyponatremic-cardiomyopathy, Hyponatremic-encephalopathy and loss of muscular coordination and death. Lot of ‘Babas’ and Godmen give these wrong advices which may result in serious medical problems. But during our childhood, we drank water without any hesitation, as per our thirst, and fulfilled the need of the body.     

2.    What happens in the body?

1.     Body needs constant blood sugar (glucose) to maintain brain function and this is managed by the liver.

2.     Human being cannot survive without carbohydrate in the diet. Body needs minimum of 80 grams of carbs (CHO) per day just to survive, more activities call for more energy from carbs as primary source.

3.     Fuel for muscular exercise is primarily carbs. Hard labour and people who are on jobs requiring extreme physical exertion, need more carbs than   sedentary employees.

4.     Fat in the body provides energy for low intensity physical activities; ex. sleeping, sitting and such work.

5.    Proteins (from veg. and nonveg. sources) provide energy only up to 15-20% of daily needs. Muscle protein can break down drastically in the absence of carb-stores in the body.

6.    Change of food habits from native to modern diets puts body in tremendous stress thus body metabolism gets disturbed. Body has to make many changes to adapt to new, unknown diets and that’s the cause for developing intestinal disorders such as acidity, gas, constipation, IBS, ulcerative colitis and cancer.

7.    If the diets are deficient in vitamins and minerals for a long time, the receptor sites of these micronutrients get damaged and it’s impossible to provide them vital nutrients through nutrition alone, without supplementation.    

 3.    Starvation and Human Body (Effect of Very Low-Calorie Diets)

During starvation (when carbohydrates are very low or absent from diet), body breaks the muscle protein and converts into carbohydrate and then utilizes for energy for work.  This mechanism of producing energy is known as gluconeogenesis. Ketone diets have a similar effect on human body resulting in rapid weight loss due to serious muscle loss, which is extremely dangerous for the body.

These pictures are of children dying of starvation in Ethiopia, Ruanda and Somalia. These clearly demonstrate loss of muscle, one can see their skin, bones and a fatty belly. This means, body prefers to break the muscle first and then the body fat, in the absence of adequate carbohydrates in the diet. Body tries to preserve the visceral fat till the end. This is what actually happens during ‘non-diet’ dieting i.e. going on very low-calorie diet, ketone diet or high protein diet.

3.1 Problems with Common Man

World is burdened with diabetics, obesity, and many serious stress-related illnesses. Reducing bodyweight has been a key factor in managing these serious diseases. People believe that dieting is an easy way out for weight reduction. People find the ‘scientific ways of reducing or managing bodyweight’ a difficult task, hence they resort to short cuts which truly don’t exist. Exercise has its own limitations such as compliance, type of exercise, frequency, intensity and scientific experts to provide adequate exercise prescription.  That’s why so many diets have come into practice such as carrot diet, water diet, fruit diet, vegan diet, GM diet, Atkin’s diet and ketone diet. 

3.2 You are Vulnerable to Exploitation

An oft- repeated question by common man is, ‘Can I reduce weight by dieting?’ On the contrary, people should be asking, ‘How to stop gaining weight’? This temporal thinking makes common man vulnerable to unscientific practices. Nowadays, lot of information available on media is likely to influence masses and result in serious health problems for common man.

The medical sciences did not focus on nutrition in past three decades and dieticians & nutritionists did not study medicine to understand patho-physiology. Then who will give the right advice?  Military doctors, Sports medicine doctors and Physiologists like Sir Roger Gilbert Bannister, Captain Albert Richard Behnke, Prof D William,  Prof McArdle, Frank I. Katch, Victor L. Katch. Prof Costil, Dr Lohmann and Prof Mader have contributed a lot in understanding exercise and nutrition. Today there is so much confusion because of lack of correct understanding.

4.   Best Diet for Life

(Understanding the Needs of - Carbs, Fats and Protein Requirements)

 We have hundreds of Whats App messages and FB posts on nutrition and they have added more confusion to health awareness.

4.1           Carbohydrates

a.     People who are active, definitely need 60-70% of carbs in their diet. Complex carbs such as whole grain cereals, tubers, fleshy fruits are important (80% of total daily carb in-take).

b.     Simple sugars like table sugar, jaggery, juice, man-made sweets and artificial sugars are likely to raise blood sugars and finally get converted into body fat (triglycerides) hence they should be reduced to minimum. People should calculate carbohydrate intakes as per their body weight and as per their level of physical activity. Excess consumption of carbs beyond body’s requirement is likely to increase obesity.

c.      For most people doing moderate activity, around 70-80g of uncooked cereals (Rice or wheat) are required thrice a day. People with 80-100kg of body weight may need up to 100g of uncooked cereal thrice a day. Diseases like diabetes and kidney disease need more modifications to diet.

4.2 Fats and Oils

a.     Fats and oils (visible fats) in diet provide calories, essential fatty acids and fat soluble vitamins. Saturated fatty acids (SFA), mono unsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and omega-3 fatty acids (N3FA) in appropriate levels are important in maintaining good health and immunity, for everyone.

b.     We have no single cooking oil cultivated in India or abroad which can provide for all the human requirements. If you understand the right sources of fatty acids and composition of Indian oils, it is easy to choose the right combination for healthy life. Fats are not thrown out of the body either in urine or stool, but they are stored as fat.

• o   First of all, we need to restrict the quantity of oil (to be planned as per body weight).
•     Secondly, we need to use the combination of oils to provide all essential fatty acids throughout life. The best combinations are listed below.

                  1. Groundnut oil+ Mustard oils

                2. Groundnut oil + Soybean oils

                                                                                                                                                    3. Groundnut oil + Eating fatty fish (2-3 times a week)

                
                4. Groundnut oil + Eating 10 g of flax seeds daily.

Note: Groundnut oil is equivalent and superior to expensive olive oil currently marketed in India

Groundnut oil is rich in MUFA, Groundnut oil has no omega 3 fatty acids hence a combination is advised. For both healthy and diseased, the above advice is suitable.

Invisible fats.

Nuts and oil seeds also provide good amount of fat; for example, 5 almonds or walnuts can give one teaspoon of oil. One should balance visible oils and invisible oils in their diets carefully.

4.3  Protein requirement

We need 0.8 to 1.2g of protein per/kg/day. Many people tend to either consume less protein or more protein in their diets. People with non-veg diet can safely have one whole egg every day. Meats and fish are safer than poultry chicken. One can have meat or fish or a country chicken 1-3 three times a week in moderate quantities.

For vegetarian diet, approx. 500 ml of milk (in any form) is a must. Teaspoon of butter, cheese, 60-100g of of pulses (Dals) are important. Legumes like lobia, chana, rajma and soybeans benefit the body.

5       Dietary Fiber

This is very important part of regular nutrition as fiber helps to reduce cholesterol, constipation and prevent bowel cancers. Good quantity of vegetables, both leafy and other vegetables, fruits, and whole grains and breakfast cereals provide good amounts of dietary fiber. On an average, a person needs half kg of vegetables per day and 2 servings of fruits every day to get adequate dietary fiber.  Most of the Indian traditional diets provide good amounts of fibre. We need around 40-60 grams of dietary fibre in a day for optimum health. Excess fibre can cause gallbladder stones, hard stools and constipation.

6       Water

Nowadays, people drink water by counting glasses or liters. Everyone gives advice on water consumption from 1 liter to 8 liters of water per day without understanding the actual needs. Human body has effective thirst mechanism to provide stimulus to drink correct amount of water.

One should drink water whenever one feels thirsty. Physiologically, average person needs approx. 120 ml of water at a time to quench thirst. If you are thirsty, drink more. Sports person, pregnant women and some occupational demands require more water. It is estimated that a 70 kg man needs only 2.5 liters of water per day. Drinking water from RO (reverse osmosis) technology is safe. Water filtration means removal of colour, odor and precipitation.

7       Focus on Weight Management

Weight management is a continuous process. Correct diet helps you to prevent being underweight and obesity. Exercise helps you in burning stored calories to maintain correct body weight. Focus should be on maintaining correct cooking oil intakes, correct intake of carbs, not reducing protein intake and taking adequate amount of fruits and vegetables. Your goal should be fat loss, not weight loss, because unscientific methods of dieting can lead to serious loss of useful muscle. Ex. ketone diet can drastically reduce your body weight which is actually your muscle (lean body mass).  

8.1 Food Discipline

Time of food is extremely important. People who delay their meals are at greater risk (80%) of becoming obese. All obese people in the world are the ones who don’t eat food on time especially breakfast. Based on their occupation, activity, appetite and disease, they need personalized advice.

8.2 Native Habits and Staple Food

Whenever you make a choice of your dietary plan, please stick to your native staple habits. South Indians belonging to Dravidian race essentially should consume rice based products.  North Indians who derived basic Aryan food habits should consume cereals other than rice.

One can have unfamiliar food once in a while or occasionally. People who are allergic to lactose in the milk should avoid all forms of direct milk. Some may tolerate milk products. Today all South Indians are eating wheat-based food without realizing the dangerous effects of gluten in wheat. Similarly, North Indians are eating rice-based food for the sake of taste. It’s like putting petrol in a diesel engine; just imagine. This is the reason for increasing cases of acid peptic disease, IBS, ulcerative colitis, common dyspepsia and intestinal cancer.

8.3 Being Underweight

Being underweight can be genetic or acquired. Some are high calorie burners with very lean body and fail to gain weight corresponding to their age and height. Gaining muscle and weight is difficult for these people. Dietary management should focus on high calorie intake (30 Kcal/Kg/day).  Adequate proteins, fatty acids and good amount of milk products are the key to gain weight and exercise has a major role in gaining weight.

8. Common Defective Practices by South Indians

a.     Ketone diet will kill you if you cut down complete carbs in your diet. Gluconeogenesis will set in and muscle breakdown by products like Urea, creatinine, uric acid will damage your kidneys, liver will find it difficult to maintain blood sugar (so called diabetes cure) and go into liver cell failure.

b.  Only dieting without exercise can seriously damage skeletal muscles

c.   Aged people who lose their muscle mass will find it difficult to gain it back and this will reduce bone mineral density

d.  People should understand that body fat reduction can happen only in response to correct aerobic exercise (and not on ketone diet) on a sustained basis

e.    Micronutrients such as vitamin D, B12, folic acid, calcium and iron play an important role in managing metabolism and hence the body fat and weight

f.    Focusing on increasing waistline is important, not on decreasing kilos on machine

g.  Diabetic population feel very happy to reduce blood sugar on ketone diet, but they are forgetting that they are losing precious muscle and putting severe load on their kidneys. This irreversible damage can occur in a short duration of less than 3 months

h.  Final word: Don’t believe somebody who is not qualified, not experienced and don’t look for shortcuts.

                     Human physiology is made for mixed food habit                                                                        (Veg plus Non-veg)
                     Correct diet helps in not increasing body fat and weight                                                               (But not for reduction)
                     Any mistake in regular diet will break the muscles first                                                             (Not at all good for body)
                     Timely breakfast is the first thing you should begin

                      (People who take late breakfast after 8 AM tend to become obese)

     Restrict the cooking oil quantity as per body weight (contact for advice)
Do not have raw vegetables or sprouts (may contain fungus, algae and bacteria)
Non-veg food is better at home but not from hotels/dhabas
Do not drink coconut oil (can increase triglycerides

         Fasting on the days you don’t feel hungry is better
Have early dinner and leave 90 min gap between dinner and sleeping time
Before you take any diet advice you must check your blood levels of Vit D,B12, Hb% and thyroid profile 

     Food has no relation with Blood Cholesterol                                                   (High cholesterol is a genetic disease)

     If you eat more carbs than your needs, your triglycerides will increase

     If you cook and eat cabbage and cauliflower, they do not disturb your           thyroid function

     Alcohol does not save anybody from Heart disease but surely can cause         obesity, cancer, liver disease, muscle loss and psycho-social problems

     Lemon and honey cannot decrease or increase your body weight; most         of honey what we get is duplicate and spurious

9.      Anti-Cancer diet

Cancer is on the rise all over the world and more so in India. There are some Phyto-chemicals in vegetables and fruits that can prevent and fight against cancer and its complications.

1. Turmeric: Turmeric is number one in the list. The Curcumin content in turmeric is proven as potent anti-cancer nutrient.

2. Grapes: Resveratrol is a chemical available in deep red colour grape skin. Resveratrol is the chemical agent which has potent anti-cancer activity. Red wine is supposed to have Resveratrol, that’s why some people consider red wine  good for health. Resveratrol is known as Phyto-chemical antioxidant. It protects from cancer and anti-aging. It protects from infections. It boosts the immunity.  This is available in red wine but the quantity of Resveratrol available in wine is less, so we need to drink in large quantities...

3. Crucifer vegetables like cabbages and cauliflower and other vegetables like coriander, mustard leaves are rich in anti-cancer Phyto-chemicals.

4. Banana stem has anti-cancer effects.

5. Pomegranate has proven anti-cancer chemicals.

6. The omega 3 fatty acids in fatty fish and flax seeds on a regular basis can protect people from cancer. All fresh vegetables and fruits do have anti-cancer chemicals. People with high risk of getting cancer, people in high risk of occupational cancer should make sure that they have all these in their diet regularly.

10.      Sample Diet Plan for an Average 70 kg Man / Woman

Time of Food:       <8 AM Break fast

                             <1 PM Lunch

                             <8 PM Dinner / Supper

Cereal: Your choice depending upon where you belong.

Example: For a South Indian

Have around 70 grams of uncooked rice and rice products (cook rice in different forms). One day you measure it and standardize it. This is a quantity for each meal for a moderately active man.

Non-Veg Habit

Have one whole egg in any form

Have goat meat/ lamb meat or fish or country chicken once /twice a week (Not factory chicken – poultry habit)

Have all vegetables but definitely cooked, not raw.

Have 350-400 ml of milk or milk converted into products (check if you are allergic to milk)

All seasonal fruits are good but not juice.

Vegetarian Habit  

Have 500 ml of Milk or milk converted into products (check if you are allergic to milk)

Lots of beans and legumes

Have pea nuts/ground nuts boiled or fried 100 grams a day

Eat mushrooms

Eat flax seeds one teaspoon full

Have lentils such as Lobia (bobbarlu) thrice a week

For a North Indian  

Have around 70 grams of wheat / jawar / ragi / bajra millet/ corn flour, but not rice. One day you measure the flour (atta/rava/suji) and standardize it. This is a quantity for each meal for a moderately active man.

Non-Veg Habit

Have one whole egg in any form

Have goat meat/ lamb meat or fish or country chicken once /twice a week (Not factory chicken – poultry habit)

Have all vegetables but definitely cooked, not raw

Have 350-400 ml of milk or milk converted into products (check if you are allergic to milk)

All seasonal fruits are good but not juice.

Vegetarian Habit  

Have 500 ml of milk or milk converted into products (check if you are allergic to milk)

Lot of beans and legumes

Have pea nuts/ground nuts boiled or fried 100 grams a day

Eat mushrooms

Eat flax seeds one teaspoon full

Have lentils such as rajma / chana / lobia thrice a week

Steps to Maintain Correct Body Fat and Weight

1. Get your body composition assessed by an experts

2. Get your body fat percent, LBM, BMI, WHR, BMR, Obesity grading,          goal setting for fat reduction estimated

3.    Never lose more than 2-3 kilos of body weight in a month (this may be a muscle loss but not fat loss)

4.    Losing waist line inches are more important than losing kilos 

5.   Monitor your progress in a calendar

6. Fat loss is a long process hence don’t be in a hurry to lose weight

7.     Sustainable weight loss without losing important tissues like skeletal muscles should be your objective

8.    Sports persons, pregnant women, people having serious diseases, aged population, children and people having different occupations need modification to their diet under the supervision of a Sports medicine doctor or specialists from their respective fields.

Note: This is a compiled information based on scientific facts. This is a useful guideline to common population. This is not a compulsory advice and author bears no responsibility. If you wish, you are most welcome to contact me for personalized advice.  

Contact:

Prof Maj S Bakhtiar Choudhary (Retd)

Hyderabad Spine Clinics

www.drbakhtiar.com

E-Mail:sbakhtiar@hotmail.com

Tel: 9849136940