Majority of the people in India have many doubts, wrong information and confusion when to comes to taking nutritional supplements like protein powders or even other nutraceuticals like vitamin/mineral/herbal supplements. A large population is completely against usage of any dietary supplements and these false claims comes ‘unfortunately’ from a large section of medical community.
Lets just be clear about the difference between pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products.
A pharmaceutical drug is a medication or a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. A pharmaceutical company, or drug company, is a commercial business licensed to research, develop, market and/or distribute drugs, most commonly in the context of healthcare. They are well regulated and monitored by government bodies.
A nutraceutical product may be defined as a substance, which has physiological benefit or provides protection against chronic disease. Nutraceuticals may be used to improve health, delay the aging process, prevent chronic diseases, increase life expectancy, or support the structure or function of the body. Generally these are not approved by drug administration bodies for medical use or treating diseases. All health supplements like protein powders, multivitamin and mineral supplements, herbal products come under this category.
As the name suggests, dietary supplements are just an addition to our normal diet. If chosen correctly and with right guidance from an experienced professional, supplements can do wonders in preventing many lifestyle diseases, keeping us energetic and healthy, giving boost to various critical metabolic functions of our body. In fact there some medical studies where certain vitamins and minerals have been used in optimum dosages to treat certain health issues in body.
Of course nothing works the same way for all people and there is no one size fits all approach. The kind of supplements, dosage and frequency depends on a lot of parameters of a person. Taking nutrients in the form of supplement is a personal preference and also a matter of feasibility. It is not mandatory to take nutritional supplements as we all agree that our previous generations were healthier and fitter just by eating normal home cooked foods and with no special physical training programs. Having said that, considering the fast paced stressful lives we are living in and gradual reduction of food quality, there is no doubt that high quality protein/vitamin/mineral supplements could support us and enhance our state of wellbeing.
Just by leading a good lifestyle like having balanced diet, exercise, getting enough sleep, controlling stress – they themselves would keep us well conditioned. When we take the right kind of supplements specific to our individual needs along with a good lifestyle, it gives an extra edge to us. It is like adding fuel to fire.
We also need to be aware of current farming practices, food supply and storage systems, the quality of groceries we buy, the way we store our food and cook our food, the way we eat, our ability to digest the food efficiently and absorption the nutrients from food, genetics, inherent food allergies, predisposed diseases etc. All these factors could have a negative impact on the final nutrition we get from food.
Read https://fitbodytofitmind.in/why-do-we-need-nutritional-food-supplements/ for more info on this.
Taking nutritional supplements is personal because it is not only about the knowledge and information but it depends a lot on ones beliefs, genetics, socio economic background, family support, kind of job and so on.
However there are some misconceptions and misinformation out there which prevents or frightens people to explore unknown possibilities which might benefit us a lot. Let us look into few of them. Integrative or Holistic healing methodologies( usage of a combination of natural diet, exercise, sleep, meditative/deep breathings techniques, specific nutritional supplements) are all majorly preventative health practices. It includes Ayurvedic medicine, Unani, Homeopathy, Naturopathy, Osteopathy health systems as well. All preventative healthcare systems take a holistic approach of healthy living. Majority of us do not believe in prevention and preventative practices. Even if we believe, it is difficult follow to preventative healthy lifestyle as it does not give instant results and it needs consistency. Preventative approach may require some people to take certain supplements to optimize our body systems to work efficiently. However, we were told again and again by many people especially medical professionals to not take health supplements. There are many reasons for this which we need to critically analyze and take informative decisions as per our individual needs.
Even with a perfect diet, the combination of many things – including our depleted soils, the storage and transportation of our food, genetic alterations of traditional heirloom species, and the increased stress and nutritional demands resulting from a toxic environment – make it impossible for us to get the vitamins and minerals we need solely from the foods we eat.
Doctors used to think we got all our vitamins and minerals from food. But the tide is shifting. Doctors now prescribe nutrient supplements.
Emerging scientific evidence shows the importance of nutrients as essential helpers in our biochemistry and metabolism. They are the oil that greases the wheels of our metabolism. And large-scale deficiencies of nutrients in our population – including omega-3 fats, vitamin D, folate, zinc, magnesium, and iron – have been well documented in extensive government-sponsored research.
Supplements are relatively new in India
High quality nutritional supplements are in early stages in India. A lot of people including medical professionals are not aware of scientifically proven efficiency of certain supplements. Many people have a misconception that dietary supplements are relevant to bodybuilding or film stars or fashion models. This is not at all true because certain common health supplements especially protein powders, multivitamins, Omega 3’s, amino acids are used by high performing athletes participating in different kinds of competitive sports including Olympics. They are completely legal and safe products to use if we make correct choices. Dietary supplements are add-ons to our natural diet to provide that extra edge to attain our specific goals.
It is a complete wrong proposition that a common man should not take dietary supplements unless a person is into bodybuilding. It is true that taking supplements is not mandatory but at the same it is completely wrong to say that one must not take nutritional supplements due to some false beliefs and notions. There is no basis for this argument and these kind of statements would come from people who are not nutritional experts or do not read the latest medical researches or who did not try out any nutritional supplement ever or who have wrong beliefs and hidden motives.
Few people might even go to an extent to say that supplements contain drugs or harmful compounds. This is coming straight out of fear of the unknown because this trend is relatively new in India. These comments could also be made by people who might have heard these false propositions from some other people who are not experts in the field of nutrition supplementation.
It has been more than 2 decades since market for protein and other nutritional supplements opened up in India. Until few years back we were having these dietary supplements only through imports majorly from a few US companies like ON, BSN, MuscleTech etc., From past 5 to 6 years there has been a proliferation of many Indian nutraceutical companies who are manufacturing supplements at a reasonable cost. Few There are a few companies that manufacture quality products which gives us results and deliver value.
Moreover, we have access to a lot of scientific studies and researches proving the efficacy and health benefits of having quality dietary supplements. Since there is low awareness among common people to this day, our regulatory authorities mandate nutraceutical companies to label the packs and bottles with warnings like ‘not to be consumed by children, lactating & pregnant women’. These kind of warnings would definitely scare many common people. But the same authorities do not control the ultra-processed foods loaded with sugar, unhealthy fats, synthetic preservatives, colors and flavoring substances which could lead to many chronic diseases and even proven to be carcinogenic to an extent. At the same time it is allowed to advertise junk foods, ice-creams, biscuits, cakes, chocolates, sugary drinks and other processed food in kids channels. Kids watching these channels can easily be lured in to buying these food products believing that they are in fact fun to have with friends and makes us energetic. The ads are too deceptive and alluring for young minds to understand that these junk foods cause more harm than good.
Our minds are being programmed with cleaver and cunning marketing
Low quality kid’s milk powders started long before the advent of whey protein supplements in Indian Market. All these milk powders and energy drink powders are manufactured by big global conglomerates who have large proliferation in Indian market from decades. These companies have all the resources to create an attractive marketing especially using Bollywood and Indian Cricket celebrities. With constant advertising using the celebrities for marketing who we look up to, these companies have programmed the subconscious brain of our people that their products are highly nutritious and healthy.
These companies spend huge amount of money and resources on selling these relatively cheaper drinks to our children and family. Yes, they are affordable because they do not contain quality ingredients. They are much cheaper compared to a whey protein powder because the quantity of high quality protein used in these powders is quite low. Majority of us are least concerned about what is written on product label and many people do not understand many of the ingredients. Most of the milk powders are full of additives such as sugar, barley or wheat powder, maltodextrin, colors, flavors, preservatives. Drinking these powders early morning and evening would not make much difference. Whereas a good quality whey protein contains a max of 3 or 4 ingredients if it is flavored and only one ingredient (i.e. protein) if it is unflavored. Just a 1/4th (quarter) scoop of whey protein can provide us with roughly 6 grams of high quality protein (equal to 1 whole egg). These companies know that most Indians probably will never read the nutrition labels. Even if they do, they won’t be able to really understand what’s written. Our brains have been bombarded with ads on TV from decades. Now our society has reached to a point of cognitive dissonance where it is very difficult to accept the fact that we have been fooled and misled from long time. Despite of the fact that a lot of awareness is being spread by some informed and concerned people against the use of such useless drinks for the families, specially the children; the elders in the family simply refuse to even accept the open lies in front of their eyes.
In the age of information, ignorance is a choice
There are many studies and medical researches which prove the amazing benefits of eating high protein foods and diet. Many people choose to stay ignorant and deny many benefits and therapeutic properties of high-protein diets in health conditions especially during the old age, for younger kids, when some is recovering from an injury, accident or a surgical procedure. In all these cases protein accelerates the recovery process because it is required to rebuild the damaged tissue. Protein is not only useful to build muscle and for stronger bones but protein is also important to manufacture hormones in our body, for many enzymatic activities, for providing essential amino acids for repair and recovery, for growth and tissue development, for optimum mental health to name a few.
Our health care system is majorly curative in its approach and hardly provides preventative care. We visit a doctor only when we are sick and we do not generally go visit a doctor seeking a prescription for how not to get sick. Many of us often get confused between professions and studies like medical science, nutritional science, exercise science and so on. Even though they are all related to human physiology and health, they are all different. Doctors, Nutritionists, clinical dieticians’, physical and fitness trainers are all separate professionals. Each profession has its own value and role to play. Unfortunately we look up to doctors for all kinds health and lifestyle related topics like exercise, diet, nutrition, meditation etc., which does not make any sense.
Doctors would have to study and research on the topics of nutrition, exercise and other lifestyle topics for them to give a valid advise on them. Nutrition science, exercise science, other health related lifestyle practices are not covered in depth in medical studies that doctors go through. That is the reason why they are different degrees, certifications and professionals for different health care practices. Unless a doctor takes their personal time to study the latest advancements and researches in the field of nutrition and health supplements, they would not be able to provide an unbiased and genuine advise. Unfortunately most of the doctors are overworked and do not have the time to spend hours of time in extra research for greater good of patients. Moreover, explaining a person about the lifestyle changes, nutrition and supplementation takes a lot of time but a doctor hardly can spend a few minutes with a patient. In this scenario many doctors can only be focused to provide immediate relief to the patient instead of spending hours of time in explaining the patient about prevention and lifestyle changes.
We all know that a doctor gives prescription on medical drugs specific to an individual. A doctor never asks you to use the same drug when ever you have the same symptoms in future or use it for someone else having similar symptoms. Because the doctor took the decision to write the medicine based on the patient’s health problem, symptoms, test reports and other information made available to doctor at that point of time. Similarly nutrition needs, exercise programs, sleep/rest protocols, supplementation vary from person to person. A proper assessment of person’s health parameters, habits, daily routines, kind of job they do, stress levels they experience, current physical and mental health condition and whole lot of other metrics need to be assessed to order to take health supplements that work for a specific individual.
Similar to medicines, there are many scientifically proven benefits of certain vitamins, minerals, herbs in improving health, preventing diseases and also in some cases they could even treat certain type of chronic lifestyle diseases. This information is available in public domain in scientific and biomedical research journals like NIH-Pubmed, Lancet, BMJ, JAMA so on. With some effort and time, we can understand how the research is conducted and how a particular nutrient (like protein, vitamin…) has been used to improve the health condition of the test subjects. We can also get the details like supplement dosage, frequency and relevance that has been used in the respective study. Important thing here is for us to be objective and critical in assessing this huge amounts of data and decide its relevance to us. We need to be impartial and must not fall for our cognitive biases while doing research and analysis.
Bad Publicity by medical community and media
We need to understand and accept the fact that there would be few bad people who does crimes in any industry and profession. Unfortunately because of few sporadic events that happened (like catching fake supplements), many people have lost trust in the supplementation industry. Some gyms and trainers would take advantage of enthusiastic youngsters who are willing to pay for a good looking body and they may sell supplements to them that are not good for health. Some people became victim to these fake products and damaged their health. Media made a huge cry out of these incidents (rightfully so) but mislead many people in getting convinced that all kinds of health supplements are bad for health. Instead of looking at those cases as isolated incidents, many people decided not to take any risk and completely abandoned health supplements.
When it comes to media, it’s the negativity which matters, more than the truth. They are happy publicizing news on fake supplements and the side effects people are getting as a result of consuming them, rather than the benefits of original and good supplements and how millions have benefited from them. They selectively ignore the scientific facts behind the supplements and broadcast the negative news to gain more TRPs. We do not avoid taking medical drugs because as we watched few cases where fake drugs were caught in some medical shops because we know we cannot paint everything with same brush. We need to objectively assess and take informed decisions for our own good instead just listening to unqualified people blindly.
Most of the doctors and media, instead of educating the people about the appropriate usage of these health supplements, they just add fuel to fire and discourage the patients to use supplements.
We know that health care system, pharmaceutical industry and insurance work as a nexus. It has been reported in national and global media regarding huge scams in pharma industry and how big pharma companies paid huge fines for their mistakes, we know there is a give and take between pharma and hospitals, it is an open fact that doctors receive commissions when they prescribe certain branded medicines. The entire system is thriving and making profits on curative approach of healthcare management rather than investing hugely on preventative health system. Hence, many people have their own business interests .
Healthcare people may not be willing to take time and effort to promote something where their own business may be negatively impacted. Many times it is just a fear of unknown and their own beliefs preventing them to give the right guidance. Since they do not use it or believe in it, they do not recommend it to others as well. Unless convinced and paid good incentives, most medical professionals aren’t interested in recommending certain health/dietary supplements, even if they know it’s better. Again I am not saying that everything and everyone is bad, but this is how majority of current circumstances are.
Nutraceutical industry is still not a priority for the government to regulate it more systematically like pharmaceutical industry. If there are more stringent norms to ensure the quality and genuinely of the health supplement products, people may have a greater trust on the products.
Meanwhile we need to be self-responsible to study, research and analyze the scientific data that is available to us online and decide for ourselves which is relevant to us and which is not. We need to do research on the nutraceutical and herbal companies we are buying products from. Prevention is always better then cure. But at the same time strengthening our bodies using right supplements and approach is very important. Anything has to be taken in a right dosage and frequency for it to work optimally.
The best person who can take care of you is YOU. So be smart and scientific in choosing correct health supplements as per your body and health requirements. Do not waste money on low quality products which has no scientific evidence. Either you have to spend some time and effort to do research and analysis by yourself or you need to reach out to a qualified expert who could help you out with your health needs. Be an informed consumer and take complete responsibility for your own health. You can take care of others only if you are doing well yourself.
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