100 grams of power

Eat good Indian home food, but count your calories carefully.

If technology has made life simpler, it has also made healthy living more complex. And a visit to your closest supermarket will tell you just why. The inexpensive packets of pulses, rice, atta and even ghee that are stacked in the supermarket are usually very casually picked up by most of us; they are considered healthy just because they transform into home-cooked food. In reality, however, a lot of the foods sold today may be doing more harm to our body than good. In fact, experts believe that one of the major causes of obesity in India may be the consumption of the wrong kinds of calories and energy. And with 17 per cent of the youth aged between 14 and 18 being obese or overweight, they may not be wrong.

While the body mass index (BMI) may be a relevant indicator of obesity, Indians suffer from "invisible fat" "" that is, we have more fat in our bodies and less muscle "" a significant danger signal that suggests future obesity. Already, India is one of the most obese nations in the world, with the highest number of diabetics too. Doctors believe the country is heading towards multiple epidemics, most of which are manifestations of the increasing fat percentage in our bodies. Though the causes for this are known already, some factors causing obesity can be well hidden.

"Technological advances in food processing are making food cheaper," says Professor Barry Popkin, director, University of North Carolina Interdisciplinary Obesity Program, and adds that in India products like ghee, hydrogenated vegetable oils, pulses and rice are heavily processed. This makes them high in saturated fatty acids and at the same time takes away essential nutrients. "The more processed the foods are, the less their nutritious value and the more they add to body weight and fat," he explains.

Invited to the country by the Public Health Foundation of India, Popkin is part of a team that is attempting to find solutions and impart knowledge on the growing issue of malnutrition in India. The country's transition from an underdeveloped to a developing country has made it a soft target for chronic diseases like obesity, cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular problems. Urban citizens consume more energy than they expend, and tend to increase the quantity of energy-dense foods in their diet because of lack of time.

"Energy density refers to the amount of calories per 100 grams of food," elaborates Jap Seidell, professor of nutrition and health at VU University, the Netherlands. So, if you were to consume 100 grams of chocolate that has 500 calories, you'd be adding many more calories compared to the consumption of 100 grams of fruits and vegetables. Plus, since chocolate is low in fibre and high in fat, it may catapult your energy levels instantly but also bring them down equally quickly. Fibres, on the other hand, are more filling and less easy to digest, keeping your hunger satisfied for longer.

Indians are biologically made such that their genetic profile is very different from Westerners. When fat collects inside our bodies, it goes straight to the heart and liver, putting us at risk for the worse disease profile. "Owing to this profile, Indians are more likely to get diabetes and CVD even with a little bit of extra fat," says Popkin.

While cutting down on your fat intake and excess calories is an obviously good idea, a rollback to the traditional Indian diet might also work wonders. "There are very positive aspects to the traditional Indian diet with its whole grains and vegetables. But now an industrial diet has taken over, which is creating a very unhealthy population," relates Walter Willett, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard University. He also suggests cooking in vegetable oils since they have healthy fats, as opposed to ghee and Dalda. And an even better way to keep your body well nourished is by either opting for a mix of different cooking oils or by regularly changing the oils you consume.

More importantly, before you stuff your refrigerator with the fat-free products of all kinds that are available in the market now, Willett suggests you check on the calorie count of these products. "They may be fat-free but may be high in sugar. Eventually it will boil down to the number of calories they have per 100 grams and overeating could have the same disastrous effects."