Nutrition is one of the most important aspects of health. If we’re not eating right, we’re inviting a whole spectrum of diseases to come plague us. The tricky part is not only to consume a variety of nutrients, but also to consume them in right amounts. eat too much, or too little, either ways you’re bound to ill health. So, balancing he right amount of nutrients becomes essential.
With increasing awareness and upliftment of socio-economic status, although India is improving its diet, we’re still too far from perfection. A good amount of Indian diet consists of carbs – the energy rich nutrients. And, with little awareness, we may be focusing on getting those crucial vitamins and minerals, while forgetting that we also need proteins.
Protein consumption in India
Despite growing awareness about nutrition in India, the current scenario in India portrays otherwise. National statistics have indicated that protein consumption has been decreasing gradually. To understand why this continues to occur,
the Right To Protein initiative released findings from their nationwide study called India’s Protein Paradox stating, although 95% of Indian mothers recognized protein as a macronutrient and believed it was necessary, only 3% really understood why they should consume protein in their regular diets. Coupled with a few myths such as protein leading to weight gain, lack of awareness turns out to be a major obstacle.
It is evident that there is a need to correct information that is being shared in the society.
Educating people about,
- the right sources of Protein that are easily available in the market
- the important role protein plays in our life’s
- debunking the popular myths associated with protein,
can help combat the protein deficiency problem in India, and the protein paradox study is undoubtedly a step in the right direction.
Besides, the food industry needs to take initiative in producing products which are not only protein-fortified but also protein rich. Especially since affordability of the such foods can help bridge both protein quality and quantity gap. A great example of this would be foods such as soy is known to be great source of protein and is also a product that is affordable to all sections of the society.
While modern India has been emphasizing on the importance of nutrition in our daily lives, we are still nowhere near our nutritional goals and daily protein requirements. We’re still consuming lower amounts of natural proteins in our everyday life than required. In the plethora of existing food fads and misconceptions, awareness needs to be created about the importance of protein among all sectors of the population and not just body builders as per the common belief. Also, people need to be made aware of important functions of protein. Only then will we be able to fight the protein deficiency as it exists within the Indian population, both rural and urban as of today.
