According to a study published in The Lancet Global Health journal, Indians are deficient of essential micronutrients.
Micronutrients are those compounds needed less than 100 mg/day, majorly vitamins and minerals. Despite low quantity requirement, impact of micronutrients on human body is indispensable as their acute or chronic deficiency can lead to life-threatening conditions. These compounds ultimately synthesize enzymes, hormones and other essential substances required for development.
As per new study, conducted by Harvard University scientists “Across the world, there are over five billion people whose diets do not include iodine, vitamin E, and calcium.” There is no exception among Indians as majority of the population are deficient of iron, calcium, and folate. In this article, we will discuss about the impact of micronutrient deficiency and essential diet change to combat it.
Researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), along with Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), stated: “Each deficiency carries its own health consequences, from adverse pregnancy outcomes, to blindness, to increased susceptibility to infectious diseases.”
Most prominent impacts of micronutrient deficiency are stunted growth, anemia, fatigue, weakness, shortage of breath, dizziness, and so on.
To combat this deficiency, you need to focus on what you are consuming daily. A small tweak or change of habit can do wonders for you.
There is no alternative to dark-green vegetables. To combat micronutrients deficiency, you must include broccoli, lettuce, spinach, kale in your diet. Apart from that, focus on red and orange items like tomatoes, carrots, peppers, and pumpkin. Don't forget to consume starchy foods like potatoes, corn, and green peas. Include legumes like beans, lentils, peanuts, and peas in your diet along with eggplant, cucumbers, beets, avocados.
Visit any nutritionist, the first recommendation you will get is regular consumption of whole fruit. It can be different forms lik fresh, frozen, canned, or dried. Do not drink fruit juice as might contain added sugars. Moreover, these fruit juices doesn't contain enough dietary fibre. Thus, it's always suggested to consume whole fruit. Regularly available fruits like banana, guava, orange, watermelon are loaded with micronutrients.
If you prefer fruit juices, check ingredients and select those with higher amount of vitamin A, folate, vitamin C, potassium, magnesium, and phosphorus.
Dairy is a great source of micronutrients, including vitamins A, B12, and D; riboflavin; minerals, calcium, magnesium, and zinc. Include dairy products like milk, cheese, and yogurt in your diet. If you are facing lactose intolerance, choose alternatives like fortified soy beverages, almond milk, coconut milk, cashew milk and so on.
As per the study, Indian women are deficient in iodine compared to men. On the other hand, Indian men consume less zinc and magnesium than women. To combat this, focus on fortified food items and multivitamin suppliments.
Fortification is nothing but addition of nutrients to food to prevent any malnutrition. This is a process of enrichment. In supermarket, you can get fortified cereal breakfast, fortified milk, salt, ice creams, yogurt and so on. From syrup to tablet, multivitamin supplements are available in market in numerous forms. Even vegan varieties are also available.
To prevent micronutrient deficiency for healthy life, it's better to focus on personalized nutrition approach now.
