Are you eating the right food?

Following is the chat transcript with clinical and fitness nutritionist Hiteshi Dhami Shah, on January 24 at 11am

Following is the chat transcript  with clinical and fitness nutritionist Hiteshi Dhami Shah, on January 24 at 11am.

Arvind: Hi. I am 24 years old and have started intense weight training, 5 times a week. My trainer has advised me to take whey protein. How do I know which is the right protein to take, are there any side effects and is 2 spoons before and after my workout fine?

Hiteshi: The protein intake will depend upon your body weight. Since you are doing an intense weight training, your ideal protein intake should be 1 to 1.2 gms per kg body weight out of which 50% should come from first class protein meaning eggs white, low fat milk and their products, lean meat like fish and chicken and whey. Whichever brand of whey protein you take, read the label carefully to make sure it is an iso or concentrate whey with no steroids added. You can take 0.5 gms per kg body weight of protein intake through whey preferably after exercise and before exercise take a complex carbohydrate and protein meal in combination around 30-45 min before exercise. You should keep checking your creatine, bun, uric acid level periodically to make sure you kidney function is normal and to avoid any side effects of excess protein. Also you are recommened to have adeqate fluid intake when on whey protein supplement.

Rashmi:  Hi..I am 24 years old. I am in a profession which demands to be on field throughout the day. Please advice the right diet.

Hiteshi:  A right diet would be the one in which you incorporate cereals, pulses, fruits, vegetables, low fat milk and milk products, lean meat, few nuts throughout the day. Since you are on the field let me give you an example of a plan. Your morning can start with 1 glass of milk with a cup of wheat flakes or museli, mid morning - 1 fruit, lunch - 2 nos paneer wraps or 2 pulses based wrap with vegetable as a salad or added in the wrap, snack - 1 cup sprouts or plain curd/yogurt. Dinner if you are home - 2 roti or 1 1/2 cup brown rice, 1 cup dal, 2 cup vegetables. During the day if you feel hungry between the meals you snack on bhuna chana or carrots, oats / rice flakes chivda, apricots or 4-5 almonds or walnuts. Moderation is the key here if you want to maintain your weight. 2-3 litres of water is essential however it should be distributed well throughout the day.

Sani:  Hi, I workout at 6.30 in the morning ,so please let me know a good pre workout meal?

Hiteshi:  Your pre workout meal has to be taken 30 minutes before your workout. A combination of complex carbohydrate and protein is adivsed example toast with egg white omlette, paneer paratha with less or no oil, oats milkshake ( oats, milk, 3-4 almonds, 1 -2 dates or apricots for sweetness, no sugar). The reason you should take it 30 mins prior to exercise is that the body can metabolise the food and the energy is available to you during exercise. So you dont get tired very soon during your workout.

sani:  How to distribute four serving of fruits throughout the day, like at what time?

Hiteshi:  4 servings of fruits in a day can be distributed as 1 serving in breakfast, 1 serving in midmorning, 2 servings as snack in between meals. However I feel 4 servings of fruit is a lot of quantity as it might increase your carb intake during the day. It is better to cut down your fruit servings to 2 servings per day and increase your vegetable servings to 4 cups per day. So you can have 1 serving during mid-morning (between breakfast and lunch) and 1 serving as snack in the evening.

Satish:  Mam I am a student, 20 years old living in delhi, weight-64 kg ; height - 5'8" . Mam I want to increase my weight by some means as I feel myself to be lean. My overall body fat is still ok but fat on my face is very less due to which It looks very lean.
Could you please suggest me a diet or any kind of protein shakes that could help me gaining some fat on my face so that it can look healthy.

Hiteshi:  Satish, your BMI is normal. If you want to gain weight then you can start with low or medium intensity weight training with adequate amount of protein, carbohydrates and fat intake to build muscle mass to look healthy. You should not target on increasing weight by putting on excess body fat as it can create health issues. Also you cannot target increasing fat in particular areas as it is governed by genetic make up of your body. So there is no specific way or diet to increase fat on face. There are somethings that we have naturally gifted by nature.

Sushma:  Hi I am Sushma and I am 50 years and have maintained my looks however I have put on a a lot of weight in about 6 months time. I am slightly diabetic and also has hypertension. I take Glycipharge PG2 for diabeties and stamelobeta + Aldectone for my BP once a day. People say when u suffer from diabetes u loose weight but I seem tobe putting on weight. What should I do to loose weight ?

Hiteshi:  Sushma, as one grows older our energy requirement decreases and that for micronutrient increases. There could be reasons for your recent weight gain- food intake, lack of exercise, sedentary lifestyle, menopause, hypothyroidism. Is will be better if you get checked with your doctor for hypothyroidism. secondly for your diet, keeping in mind your health status, incorporate 4 - 5 servings of food rich in nachni, bajra, jowar, whole wheat, brown or red rice, barley as they are high in fibre and will help control your blood sugar and also aid in weight loss. Besides this include all variety of dals in diet, 4 - 5 servings of skimmed milk or its products, since besides giving protein they also provide good calclium which is required especially for women above 40 years, 1 fruit especailly sweetlime(mosambi), strawberrry, kiwi, oranges, as they are good sources of potassium, which will help regulate your blood pressure. Fruits can be taken with 2-3 almonds and 2-3 walnuts, cut your sugar intake, limit your oil intake to 3-4 tsp per day per person. This should control your blood sugar, hypertension and help in weight loss.