24/7 lifestyle: No meals, just food substitutes

MUMBAI: When 26-year-old Sajit Tadvi dropped  eight kilos in less than six months from his 5 feet 7 inches frame, the financial services BPO executive knew he had serious trouble on his hands. “I was 72 and dropped to 64,” says Tadvi. “Working odd hours and not eating proper food time was a killer.” Tadvi consulted his fitness trainer-friend who recommended food supplements.

“I was losing weight as I didn’t have the time to eat proper food. I usually ate junk food like burgers and vada-pav or skipped meals. I started taking dietary supplements as it made sense to have something which is nutritious in place of my meal,” says Tadvi.

Tadvi is not alone. An increasing number of young professionals are taking to food supplements, often using them as replacement for food in extreme cases. “There has been a substantial increase in the number of people buying food supplements in the last 2-3 years.

Protein supplements with negligible amount of carbohydrates are the ones which are most demanded and bought by people,” says Jayesh Mehta, who owns Paradise Nutrition Inc which introduced Ultimate Nutrition, USA in India.          

The figures support him and speak for themselves. In 2003, the nutrient food supplements industry was Rs50 crore. “Today the industry is worth Rs500 crore and there is an annual growth of 40-50 per cent,” says Thomas Philip, managing partner of Millennium Nutraceuticals based in Chennai. 

But industry insiders who keep track of the gray market in the supplements business say the figure is close to Rs1,000 crore. But what are food supplements? “Food supplements or dietary supplements are nutrients extracted from food and packaged into a powder, liquid or bar.

They are added to the food when the food is inadequate to meet the diet requirements,” says Gauri Murthy, Head, Nutrition Department, K11 Fitness Management Company.

Take the case of 53-year-old Rekha Gadgil. This Reserve Bank of India assistant manager’s schedule routinely includes the skipping of breakfast.

Instead she has powdered protein supplements mixed with either milk or water. “I usually get late for office and have to skip my breakfast. I have been having protein supplements for years now,” she says.Each supplement to its own

Though health experts are divided on the usefulness of food supplements, they are one when it comes to the question of replacing food with supplements. “They are called supplements for a reason. They are supposed to supplement food and not replace it,” says health and fitness expert Leena Mogre. “Natural sources of food are of utmost importance. Supplements are secondary.”

It’s something that Tadvi has also realised. “The protein supplements that I take ensure I don’t go hungry. But I am not back to my normal weight. My fitness trainer told me to take it along with food, which I haven’t done,” he says. And there’s a specific reason why.

“The common perception about food intake is in terms of calories, which differs on a day-to-day basis and from person-to-person,” says Dr Harish Khatri, who specialises in optimal health and weight programme.

“But a human being also requires nutrients — eight major nutrients and more than 30 micro-nutrients — which is calculated on the basis of a Required Daily Allowance (RDA). So the RDA of Vitamin A is completely different from the RDA of Vitamin C.”

Each food supplement is inherently different from the other and provides different nutrients to the body. “There are four main types of food supplements. Protein supplements are used for increasing the body’s strength and energy levels, amino acids supplements are used to improve the immune system to deal with conditions of stress, creatine supplements increase muscle mass and power, and fat burners stimulate metabolism,” says Murthy.

Researchers feeling queasy

A recent research study published by the Human Nutrition Department of Ohio State University found that mice and rats responded in an adverse manner to Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA), an essential amino acid found in trace amounts in beef, lamb and milk. 

Synthetic forms of CLA are marketed as supplements that help reduce body fat with some manufacturers claiming that CLA helps reduce the risk of diabetes and certain types of cancer.

The study found that mice fed a CLA-supplemented diet lost weight very fast, but also accumulated excessive amounts of fat in their livers. Excessive fat accumulation in the liver is linked to insulin resistance, a hallmark of Type 2 diabetes.

Another study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association last week found that vitamin pills commonly taken by millions of people are doing them more harm than good.

Three supplements — vitamins A and E and beta carotene — appear to increase the death rate by 5 per cent among those taking them, says the study. In response the British Heart Foundation has said people should not take supplements, but concentrate instead on eating a healthy diet.

Supplementing a fast lifestyle

“A 24/7, 365 days lifestyle has led to a pill-popping, protein milkshake culture,” says holistic health guru Mickey Mehta. “We are always pressed for time, always stressed out and the first causality is food. And lack of proper food habits leads to a deficiency of essentials vitamins, nutrients and proteins. Supplements, then, are seen as a quick-fix.”

In short, supplements are seen as the botox of nutrition and that is precisely what is worrying the city’s health and fitness experts. “They should not be taken without consultation. Abusing the supplement can lead to irreversible damage of the liver and kidneys. Excess of fat burners, in some cases, can even lead to death,” says Mogre

Nutritionist and co founder of Health Total Clinic, Dr Anjali Mukherjee, has a similar view. “Most people don’t have balanced diets. Supplements are safe provided you take it on a doctor’s consultation. The key, however, is that supplements are meant to be secondary to a balanced diet.”