The diet question in India - Part 1

“Lunch is two rotis – never more than that – dal, sabzi, grilled chicken and lassi,” writes Saina Nehwal in her autobiography, shedding some light on the diet of a superachieving sportsperson.

Of all the sacrifices required to become an elite sportsperson, the sacrifice of food seems the hardest. To an Indian especially, giving up quantity over quality seems a hard choice to make, and perhaps that is one of the biggest factors that deters the pursuit of excellence. Saina writes that her breakfast consists of: “egg whites and brown bread for breakfast and a protein shake before and after my morning training.”

The Indian diet presents a complex challenge – it is (generally) not considered nutritious or protein-rich, which necessitates the intake of protein supplements for the competitive athlete. But it isn’t easy to ignore it either – for a well-made Indian meal is nearly impossible to resist!

Well-known sports nutritionist Ryan Fernando agrees that the typical Indian diet is insufficient for a sportsperson. “To a certain extent it’s true that the Indian diet is not designed for sport,” he says. “But if tweaked with the help of a nutritionist, you can make it work. The Indian diet is predominantly vegetarian and carbohydrate based, with the absence of even moderate amount of proteins.”

The drastic change of urban lifestyles means that what was acceptable 20 years ago no longer suffices. “Before the British came, Indians use to eat unpolished rice, and it was a good source of thiamine,” says Ryan. “But once white rice became a status symbol, everybody switched to that.”

Ryan offers a few tips to those aiming for a healthier diet (for non-sportspeople):

- Determine how many calories you require in a day. Eat to your heart’s content – but your heart is the size of your closed fist. The portion should be the size of your closed fist. You need to eat eight meals a day, but we’re actually eating five-six fistfuls per sitting.

- Use a spray bottle instead of a teaspoon for your oil (to make dosas, for instance). You tend to use smaller quantities with a spray bottle. You need 20ml of oil in a day, but most people use 80ml.

- Add an exercise programme: a 45-minute walk, three times a week should be sufficient.

- Try to eat five servings of fruits/ vegetables a day. It’s difficult to stick to this plan, but it pays off.Eliminate white bread or refined flour – use red rice, whole wheat flour, ragi balls; avoid aata.

- To increase protein intake, consume dairy products (cheese), pulses, quinoa seeds or sunflower seeds, which can be added to your food, and are rich in protein.

- Those who are desperate to snack on sweets can eat rosogollas without the sugar syrup – cottage cheese is a good source of protein.

- Jaggery is a good substitute for sugar. You could also try herbal sweeteners (Stevia)

(Visit: www.quanutrition.com to contact Ryan Fernando)

Saina Nehwal’s daily diet (excerpted from ‘Playing To Win’)

On waking up, I glug down a glass of milk. Then it’s egg whites and brown bread for breakfast and a protein shake before and after my morning training.

Lunch is two rotis – never more than that – dal, sabzi, grilled chicken, and lassi. In the afternoon, I again drink a glass of my protein shake before and after training.

Dinner is the same as lunch but one roti, not two.

If I had a choice, my pick of side dishes would be besan kadhi, aloo gobhi, aloo mutter, aloo capsicum… basically anything with potatoes in it. If I feel hungry between meals, I snack healthily with fruit or fruit chaat. Sometimes bhujia makes its way into my snack pack, especially aloo bhujia!

On Sundays I eat anything I want. Truth be told, after all these years of rigorous dieting I find it hard to binge. But paranthas or naan and paneer butter masala are often found on my plate.

(To be continued…)