Few weeks back I got a chance to download and start reading dietary guidelines for Indian’s provided by NIN , click here to download (P.S : its about 126 pages document) some of the recommendations were blindly followed from AHA from USA. Given below were my review and they should have better done the research and written the final draft.
for example on page 14 for fats
Adults need to be cautioned to restrict
intake of saturated fat (butter, ghee and hydrogenated fats) and cholesterol (red meat, eggs,
organ meat). Excess of these substances could lead to obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular
disease and cancer.
on page 17
Adults should choose low-fat, protein-rich foods such as lean meat, fish,
pulses and low-fat milk.
on page 45
Diets that provide excess of calories, fats and cholesterol elevate blood lipids
(cholesterol and triglycerides) and promote blood clotting.
Excessive fat in the diet increases the risk of obesity, heart disease, stroke and
cancer.
on page 48
Saturated fatty acids are known to increase serum total and LDL cholesterol
levels, reduce insulin sensitivity and enhance thrombogenicity and increase CVD
risk.
cholesterol intake should be maintained below 200 mg/day. One
can reduce both saturated fat and cholesterol intake by limiting the consumption of
high-fat animal foods like butter, ghee, meat, egg and organ meats and consuming
low fat (skimmed) milk instead of whole milk. However, consumption of eggs (3
eggs/ week) is recommended in view of several nutritional advantages
on page 61
High intake of salt (sodium chloride) is associated with high blood pressure
and stomach cancer.
on page 62
There is a strong association between salt intake and blood pressure.
Prevalence of hypertension is low in populations consuming less than 3 g salt per
day. The usual increase in blood pressure with age is also not seen with such
intakes. The amount of salt consumed is reflected in urinary sodium. Drastic
restriction of dietary salt decreases the risk of hypertension. However, this effect is
not uniform as only 20-30% of population are salt sensitive
Most of the above points from the draft has not been proven and in some places they were contradict their statement itself for example above they were asking people to reduce intake of salt but not sure that taking more salt directly co-relates to get blood pressure. In my honest opinion they should have done better job by spending more time on research and validate their assumptions and write the guidelines and publish to public
