Diet, Disease & Nutrition - Part2: PROTEIN continued....

So, how much Protein do I need per day?

The long answer is, the amount of protein required in a person's diet is determined :

1. Overall energy intake, 
2. Body's need for nitrogen and essential amino-acids
3. Body weight and composition
4. Growth rate of the individual
5. Level of Physical activity
6. Energy and carbohydrate intake
7. Presence of illness or injury

So, if you're physically active and exercise, exert your body and have a need for enhanced muscular mass, the need for protein increases. Protein requirements is greater during childhood for growth and development, during pregnancy or when breast-feeding in order to nourish a baby, or when the body needs to recover from malnutrition or trauma or after an operation.

If enough energy is not taken in through diet, as in the process of starvation, the body will use protein from the muscle mass to meet its energy needs, leading to muscle wasting over time. If the individual does not consume adequate protein in nutrition, then muscle will also waste as more vital cellular processes (e.g. respiration enzymes, blood cells) recycle muscle protein for their own requirements.

According to US & Canadian Dietary Reference Intake guidelines, women aged 19–70 need to consume 46 grams of protein per day, while men aged 19–70 need to consume 56 grams of protein per day to avoid a deficiency.The generally accepted daily protein dietary allowance, measured as intake per kilogram of body weight, is 0.8 g/kg. However, this recommendation is based on structural requirements, but disregards use of protein for energy metabolism. This requirement is for a normal sedentary person.

Several studies have concluded that active people and athletes may require elevated protein intake (compared to 0.8 g/kg) due to increase in muscle mass and sweat losses, as well as need for body repair and energy source. Suggested amounts vary between 1.6 g/kg and 1.8 g/kg, while a proposed maximum daily protein intake would be approximately 25% of energy requirements i.e. approximately 2 to 2.5 g/kg.

However, if you're looking for a short answer, refer to the table-1 below:

You could also, calculate using the link from University of Maryland Medical System:

Myths about Protein:

Myth#1: I'm getting all the Protein I need from my food.

Truth: If you're an adult weighing 60kg, going by the bare minimum from the above table-1, you'd need 48gms of Protein per day. Refer to the link for Protein content in various foods and food preparations Food Protein Chart

Myth #2: Plant proteins are incomplete and need to be part of a meat-based diet to deliver adequate protein.

Truth: All vegetables and grains contain eight of the essential amino acids and the 12 other nonessential ones.  Beans have more protein per calorie than meat. Moderate consumption of red meat, as little as one serving a day poses a more serious health risk than first thought. (Research from the Harvard School of Public Health)

Myth #3 To build muscle you need lots of protein daily. (Bodybuilders say you need 30 – 40  percent protein or more!)

Truth: Athletes and very active people only need 1.6-2.0 g/kg BW per day according to research. Inactive people need even less. Human breast milk is only about 6 percent protein, yet a baby grows lots of lean tissue on a diet of exclusively mother’s milk.

Myth #4: Excess Protein just turn to FAT

Truth: Protein needs to be broken down into amino acids and absorbed. That process alone burns about five times as many calories as the process of breaking down carbohydrates to glucose. Once the amino acids are available, they can be used for growth and repair or converted to glucose. If they are to be converted, that requires some energy again. The body will turn protein to glucose when necessary, but it prefers not to. If the glucose isn’t needed, it can then be converted to fat. You can’t turn protein directly into fat. At some wildly excessive point, you might be able to eat so much protein that it could become useless and get stored as fat. However, protein has such a potent effect on reducing appetite, you wouldn’t be able to eat that excessive level on a daily basis. You’d also expend a lot of energy as heat with the excessive protein intake. If you’ve ever let loose at a Brazilian steak house, you know what the meat sweats feel like. I would also steer clear of any “expert” who suggests too much protein will make you fat as he or she probably believes weight management is about counting calories.

So, what should I do to get adequate protein in my daily diet?

After looking into the Food Protein Chart, if you still believe you could make it with your regular diet, god help you!

You should look at adding more sprouts, cereals and pulses to your diet along with supplementing your diet with good quality Protein Supplements. I would recommend you to consume anywhere between a minimum of 10gms to a maximum of 20gms of quality protein supplement along with juice/milk/water.

When you're looking for a good quality protein supplement, check out if that source conforms to these standards:

• PDCAAS - score of the source is 1.00
• Contains atleast 9 amino-acids among 11 of these - Isoleucine, Leucine, Lysine, Methionine, Cysteine, Phenalalanine, Tyrosine, Threonine, Tryptophan, Valine, Histidine
• Low Fat 
• Low Carbohydrate

Soy or Whey or Animal based Protein?

This could be a discussion topic in itself. The competition is between Soy or Whey and certainly not animal based proteins like cheese, chicken, red-meat or whole milk - refer to myth#2. 

There are many articles talking about pros and cons of Soy / Whey. I would let you decide, however my 2 cents on easing your pain of looking for many answers is.

Whey:

If you're highly active, an athlete or someone who's into body building - go for whey on days when you're hitting your peak. Other days fall back to Soy so you're feeling light.

Soy:

If you're anyone from sedentary to active, stick with Soy. You feel lighter and your body can process this protein better.

Excess consumption

Typically, in the current scenario, we're more looking towards a protein deficient, high fat/high calorie diets instead of high protein diets. However, if you're consuming excess protein, its easier to reduce as this doesn't taste great anyways unlike the fat/carb which we love to eat. Ideally, if you stick to the above table or the calculator, you'll never be in excess.

However, if you have Uric Acid / Kidney Problem / Thyroid / Gout or other issues which prevent from consuming Proteins, please check with your Doctor. In my personal opinion, you'd still need 5-10gms of quality protein. Why?

Multiple studies have been done on higher protein intakes, which have found that higher protein intake is completely safe. In the short-term the body adapts to the higher protein intakes which changes some markers of kidney function. This is part of the adaptation process to the additional protein. However, long-term consumption of higher amounts of protein do not have a negative impact on kidney function.

As the authors of a recent study said, “In conclusion, this study, the longest and most comprehensive to date on the effects of a low-carbohydrate high-protein diet on renal function, revealed that the diet was not associated with noticeably harmful effects on GFR, albuminuria, or fluid and electrolyte balance compared with a low-fat diet in obese individuals without pre-existing kidney disease.”

Next, I'll talk about Vitamins, Minerals and trace elements...

Protein Chart in Indian Foods

Protein Chart

Indian Preparations:

US Preparations

Diet, Disease & Nutrition - Part2: PROTEIN

Continuing on the Diet, Disease and Nutrition, lets look at Protein as a nutrient.

Whats Protein?

Protein is an essential nutrient, derived from Greek word 'protos', which mean first.

1. Its the building block of our body
2. Half our dry weight or about 20% of our total body weight, including muscles, hair, nails & skin is composed of proteins.
3. Its required for our immune system, to synthesize neurotransmitters & for creation and signalling of hormones.
4. Importantly, its the only nitrogenous supplement.

For 'Why is Nitrogen essential?' - Please refer to :
Importance of Nitrogen

Classification of Proteins:

1. Structural Proteins - Part of body structure, both formation & destruction is slow
- Collagen : tensile strength
- Elastin : elasticity
- Keratin : nails & hair

2.Functional Proteins - Regulates function, both formation & destruction is fast
- Enzymes : catalyst for various metabloic functions
- Hormones : messenger proteins, trigger various reactions
- Antibodies : involved in defending the body from antigens / foreign invaders

3. Combined Proteins - combined with other substances for specific purposes
- Muco Protein : Saliva - electrolytes, mucus, antibacterial compounds & enzymes
- Lipo Protein : Lipid+Protein, Eg: Cholesterol
- Transport Protein :

Whats the big deal about Protein?
Although our bodies are good at 'recycling' protein, we use up protein constantly, so it is important to continually replace it.

So, how much of Protein do we actually need?

More in the next blog....

Diet, Disease & Nutrition - Part1: WATER

This is a hot topic, isn't it???

So, whats the big deal about Nutrition?

Nutrition is where we get our energy from. Its about why we eat, what we eat & how the food we get, affects our body and health. More so, because Nutrition is the next biggest revolution.

Do you know as per World Health Organisation (WHO) research conducted in 2003, only 27% of deaths in India are on account of Infectious diseases and over 73% were attributed to modern day lifestyles diseases like Cardio Vascular Diseases, Cancer, Diabetes, Bone related Problems & Respiratory problems which are all due to improper nutrition. (Deaths due to dieseases only were considered)

http://www.who.int/
http://www.fao.org/

The question is;
How do I bridge the gap? How do I compare my present food intake with the optimum requirement?

Read along as I would give you some details.

Food can be divided into two distinct groups of nutrients:
1. Macro - Water, Carbohydrates, Protein, Fiber and Fat
2. Micro - Vitamins and Minerals, Phytonutrients


Macro Nutrients:

Water:

Did I say Water? Yes I did.
About 60% of body made up of Water. So, the importance of water cannot be undermined. Because, you can live without food for days or sometimes weeks at a time, getting subsistence levels of nutrients by digesting your own muscle and fat. But, without water, you'll die in a matter of days, more quickly if you're in a place which de-hydrates you fast.

What does water do?
1. Regulates body temperature
2. Provides Cushion / Acts as a Shock Absorber
3. Maintains Blood volume
4. Lubricates & Cushions joints
5. Carries Nutrients and Wastes
6. Helps in formation of Cells & Nutrients
7. Participates in Chemical reactions like Digestion, elemination & respiration

How much water do I need to consume?
A dietician would tell, "Equivalent to the energy spent by the body" or "Pregnancy and lactation, exercise, hot environmental temperatures, dry climates and high fiber diets all increase needs for more water". But how much is it exactly? About 2 to 3 liters of water per day.

Special Needs during - Pregnancy & Lactation:
Inadequate water consumption can lead to fatigue, muscle weakness, and decreased mental alertness in pregnant women. To the fetus it can mean inadequate nutrient transport, poor waste product removal, an excessively warm maternal environment and insufficient fluid in its amniotic sac. All these effects of dehydration jeopardize fetal growth and development, and in some women can bring about preterm labor and delivery. So, pregnant and lactating women would need an additional 300ml water per day than they'd consume otherwise.

So, whats the best source of Water?
Its Water offcourse. However, it can be a total of Water you drink, milk and fruit / vegetable juices. Leave out coffee, alcohol and other diuretics, they don't count.

As Madhurie Singh said...

Good job Gautam!

May I add here a small experiment I tried after watching Discovery TV. It said whether you drink enough water or not, body has a mechanism to adapt in a weeks' time.
I guess our body does adapt as I could see that my thirst did reduce but the effect on the skin was horrible. It started to look wrinkled!!!
So yes you are right, water is the most important nutrient for healthy living.

Next -> Protein, wait till I post...karo karo thoda intezaar

3 Idiots & Our Dreams!!!

Do you have a Dream/Passion? Do you follow it or have allowed it to escape your thought?

Well, I've had people tell me, oh, dreams never come true. Passion is a rich man's past-time. Is it? Off course dreams don't come through, if we don’t' work them. Yes, we can't follow a passion, if we can't make time for it.

Who do you think comes in our way to follow our dream or pursue our hobby? 99.99% of the times it’s us. Why do I think so?

If our boss says, he'll pay overtime to spend 2hrs extra at work every day, we readily agree to do it. Do we even realize, we're allowing him to exploit our valuable time-bank as he's not allowing us to spend that quality time on our dream/passion. Thereby restricting our long-term growth and assuring our loyalty to the job. We're allowing him to mine our time. The same time, if we could invest in ourselves, may be by doing a certification, follow a passion, work on our dream, do a bit of community service, take a music lesson, spend time with our parents, wife or kids or for that matter our friends etc.. we’d be a better person in the long-run. But, we can’t say ‘No’. We’d rather earn now than think long-term. That’s the difference between an ordinary person and an entrepreneur. We stop dreaming, we stop short of realizing that there’s something beyond just a career/job.

Do we all have time to spare, a survey conducted amongst the top businessmen and entrepreneurs says, "Yes, we all do. Some recongnize it, others don't." So, its how we utilize this spare time, un-productive time, which determines where we go in life. If we allow TV, Beer Bar, Movies to exploit our time & money, well, god save us. Can we delay these things to achieve our dreams or follow our passion? Offcourse we can, if only we could decide.

Was it like that from the time we were kids? No, it wasn’t. When we were kids, we wanted to be a Pilot, an Astronaut, a Lorry driver, a Doctor, Movie star et al in a span of few hours. Why? How? Cause, nobody told us back then, that you can't dream because they don't come true. We were prepared to put in whatever it took. So, what changed when we grew up? We had our parents, teachers, society and peers either stealing our dream/passion or discouraging enough that we not only forgot our dream, but we forgot dreaming all together.

I would like to quote a small story here:

Once upon a time in small village in the northern part of Russia, lived two friends, Ikan and Ivon. They were the best of the buddies’ in-spite of being separated by 5years. Ikan was 7 years and Ivon 12years. They would always play near the lake, sometimes catching a little fish and releasing it back into the lake. They would climb a nearby hill, eat fruits, trouble the other kids, but all in good fun. Then came winter and most of the children were generally indoors. But not Ikan and Ivon, they were fun loving and they would still be found playing near the frozen lake.

One evening, while they were at play, Ivon slipped and fell into a small hole in the frozen lake. Ikan was scared, he called for help and since it was getting dark, all the villagers were either home or on their way back. Time was running out, Ikan thought that if he can’t help his dear friend, no one else would. So, he used a small twig and started to widen the hole. Putting in a lot of work, Ikan managed to pull Ivon out of the lake.

The village head, a very old man had by then organized a search party after their parents raised an alarm. The search party found the two boys near the lake shivering and exhausted. The villagers then put a small fire on the lake-bed for warmth and asked the boys about, what had happened. Upon learning about the incident, no-body were prepared to believe that a 7year old boy could have used a small twig to widen the hole and managed to save his friend much older and obviously heavier than him. They narrated this to the village head who immediately announced a reward for Ikan and asked the villagers:

“Do you know how a small boy could save his heavier friend?”… after a brief silence he said

"Because, Ikan didn’t have people like you, telling him that he could not do it!!!"

That's what I liked in the movie 3-Idiots, we all 'WOW' at it, can we do it> Secret of the ages is, "Just do it!!!"

So, come out of the excuse mentality, follow your dream, at the least make an effort. As someone said:

“Shoot for the stars, you’ll at-least end up on the Moon.”

TRY? Please don't!!!

Something I learnt from my experience with people.

Try - This word assumes that you are going to fail at whatever comes after the word try. For example, "I you'll try and finish this work today..." this really means, "I know you aren't going to get to this. Statistics prove that, 98% of people who say that they're going to 'try' for something seldom do that.

Would you feel good, if???

1. The Pilot of the airline you're flying said, ' We'll try to have a good take off and landing or We'll try to give you a good flight?'

2. The Armed forces chief said, " We'll try to defend our country "

3. The Bride/Bridegroom said, "We're trying to get married on 28th Feb, and we request your presence." Would you attend such a wedding?

So, next time you want to use the word 'try', don't 'try', instead use firm words like ->

I will make it or
I wont make it.
I will do it.
I wont do it.

Clarity of purpose and words gives your life a clear direction.

Only time we're ok hearing the word 'try' is by a doctor operating a sick patient and when everyone's given up hope, more so beacuse doctors always 'Practise'

Reality Shows, Really???

I would like draw your attention to the most happening thing in Television these days - Reality Shows!!! Its quite long post and needs patience.

Reality shows are anything but real. They are a carefully choreographed social experiment with a predictable result: higher ratings, more advertising money and a bigger market share. Naturally, the sun always shines on TV and the viewing public is presented with a congested nothing of everyday life. Not. Since no one can make nothing look good (some politicians are exception to the rule), games are devised, which are designed to promote a dog-eat-dog mentality, with contestants trying to please the public but usually falling prey to their personal traits. They are chosen among hundreds of candidates which are profiled, screened, tested and checked from every possible aspect. The aim is to create an environment of maximum possible conflict, because conflict sells and to bring in unnecessary gossip or personal life of the contestants. And the last sentence is the only reality there is. Everything else is created, produced, crafted, choreographed, manipulated and - well - faked.
Media don't present reality, they create it.

There is a difference between ordinary public, the "media consumers" if you will and "media professionals", individuals and organizations that create media and/or live off them (celebrities, performers, journalists, politicians, opinion makers, etc…). The latter know the name of the game and are acutely aware of the fact that what the viewing public is presented with, is at best a close approximation of reality and take that into consideration when entering a relationship with the media. That is why you will often see two professionals nearly get into a fight on TV, but see them happily chatting over a bottle of beer only hours later.
The "media consumers" have no such luxury. They can either accept what media serves them or choose to ignore them completely. They do not enjoy the privilege of a behind-the-scenes look. And naturally producers of reality shows do little to dispel the faked reality of television which is the main driving force behind people applying en masse to enter these shows.

"Wow, I'll be on TV! Everyone I know will see me on TV and I'll be famous! This is my big break! Maybe I'll start a musical career, like what-was-her-name, you know Miss Sunidhi Chouhan!"

When "media consumers" enter reality shows they become both object of mockery and admiration, fueling the desire of other "media consumers" to be there in their place. However, when they outlive their usefulness, the TV will shun and reject them without a blinking an eye, just as it took them onboard without hesitation as soon as it became apparent they had they "have what it takes" for making the show interesting, whatever that may be.

"So, you're blind, huh? Dont worry, we've already set everything up… Look, it's your call, but if you decide to stay, we promise to give you full medical support for as long as you're here. Hey, mom and dad will see you every time they switch the TV on. Or even over the internet. You'll be a big hit and since you're blind everyone will like you. What could be better than that?"

Producers of reality shows claim to respond to public demands. Wrong. Just as with reality, media also creates demand for content, especially when they market it right. But what they actually respond to is a drive for profit. TV producers invest respectable amounts of money in reality shows and in return get an attentive public, higher ratings, higher market share a shit load of advertising money and even bigger pile of money they made by charging for all those text messages sent and 24/7 internet access.

And what does the viewing public get in return? That there are people out there whose lives are just as miserable as theirs?

It could be, that it was all an elaborate PR stunt, and that I've fallen for it. As I said, media create reality.

During the first music reality show TVS Saregama in the nineties, hosted by Sonu, which produced a lot of talent, I always used to wonder at the judgement given to certain contestants. I thought the judgement should also be based on what viewers think as they're the one watching the show and if these contestants do make it to the top, these same viewers would purchase their albums/movie cassettes.

So, I was naturally thrilled when Gajju'ji introduced the concept of voting through sms/website. All was well, until I guess about an year or so back, father of a contestant wasn't willing to accept that his kid had lost based on votes, as he had ensured that his relatives kept on voting on the website and through sms. So, all in all, if I can muster my finances and resources enough, I could get any of the contestant to WIN, irrespective of his/her capability and talent, which proves that talent is nothing.

Now coming to my actual concerns,
1. These votes/sms/interactive calls all cost money and its big money for both the mobile company and the reality show - a least of Rs. 3/- per sms, while a normal sms would cost 30p or lesser. But, why should I as a consumer be taken for a ride? My maid servant tops up her mobile (we presented to her) once a year with the festival bonus we give her. Her 9 year old school going girl finished the currency in a matter of few weeks by voting for the reality shows. Its huge money, she alone lost close to Rs 900/-, which is more than her monthly salary. Imagine many more like her who could have lost thousands of rupees and the mobile companies raking in huge profits.

2. We all saw what happened to one of the reality show contestant, she was admitted to Nihmans (mental health care hospital in Bangalore) due to depression caused by comments from the reality show judges. Who has given these judges the license to ruin a kid's / contestant's life? In Bangalore a girl committed suicide cause her brother didn't allow her to watch a reality show. Where are we heading?

3. You'll be really gross if you'd watch shows like MTV Roadies, where contestants are asked to do such nonsense and awfull things, it leaves a bad taste in the viewer. Ditto Ditto for Big Boss, where the contestant bitch about each other so much and bring in a lot of personal life into the shows, cause as I said controversy sells and it sells big. The lastest addition being Sach Ka Samna... oofff, this show could derail many relationships. The questions asked are always on extra-marital relationships and sex... most of them are...

I could go on and on but this will seem like a thesis/doctorate work on 'ill effects of reality show', so would stop here and seek your views and concerns. Could we also have a campaign against the reality shows first and if we have consensus register a PIL against these shows. I'm not against the shows, they've given us talents like Sunidhi Chowhan, Kunal G many more.

All that I would look at is :
1. Talent should be recognised and not the power to buy votes via sms/calls.
2. Shows should not bank/capitalise on a contestants weakness like some one is blind/poor or has had a trauma etc.. but focus on talent and capability.
3. Voting via sms or other means to be regulated so that the mobile companies / shows dont erode people of their hard earned money.
4. Shows should refrain from selling by showcasing controversies between judges, contestant or bringing their personal life into these shows.

Let me know what you feel.