Consensus Dietary Guidelines for Healthy Living and Prevention of Obesity, the Metabolic Syndrome, Diabetes, and Related Disorders in Asian Indians

Abstract

India is undergoing rapid nutritional transition, resulting in excess consumption of calories, saturated fats, trans fatty acids, simple sugars, salt and low intake of fiber. Such dietary transition and a sedentary lifestyle have led to an increase in obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases (type 2 diabetes mellitus [T2DM], cardiovascular disease [CVD], etc.) predominantly in urban, but also in rural areas. In comparison with the previous guidelines, these consensus dietary guidelines include reduction in the intake of carbohydrates, preferential intake of complex carbohydrates and low glycemic index foods, higher intake of fiber, lower intake of saturated fats, optimal ratio of essential fatty acids, reduction in trans fatty acids, slightly higher protein intake, lower intake of salt, and restricted intake of sugar. While these guidelines are applicable to Asian Indians in any geographical setting, they are particularly applicable to those residing in urban and in semi-urban areas. Proper application of these guidelines will help curb the rising "epidemics" of obesity, the metabolic syndrome, hypertension, T2DM, and CVD in Asian Indians.

Efficacy and tolerance of a diabetes specific formula in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: An open label, randomized, crossover study

“…Dietary and lifestyle factors play a central role in the etiology of post-prandial hyperglycemia [19]. International diabetes organizations like American Diabetes Association (ADA) [20], European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) and British Diabetic Association (BDA) highlight the important role of nutrition in diabetes management. They all stress that achieving and maintaining normal or near normal blood glucose, levels and ideal body weight are vital to effective diabetes management and the prevention of diabetes related complications.…”

Effect of Legumes as Part of a Low Glycemic Index Diet on Glycemic Control and Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

“…These data provide support for the use of legumes as a specific food option to lower the dietary GI in type 2 DM and for the recommendations to increase low-GI food consumption by many national diabetes associations. [4][5][6] This is the first study, to our knowledge, to promote the use of legumes specifically as the major focus of a low-GI diet for the treatment of DM and to report the quantities of legumes consumed. A previous metaanalysis of studies that included legumes as part of low-GI or high fiber interventions in type 2 DM demonstrated a 0.48% reduction in HbA 1c values, 8 similar to the 0.5% reduction observed with the low-GI legume diet in the current study.…”

“…[4][5][6] However, few studies have assessed the effect of legumes in DM, 7 even fewer have documented the quantity used to improve glycemic control, and none have reported their effect on cardiovascular risk. 8 Not only are legumes good sources of slowly digested starch, but they are also relatively high in fiber and vegetable protein.…”

Using Persuasive Recommendations in Wellness Applications based upon User Activities

“…It is used to represent knowledge of a particular domain and deduce results on top of it. The knowledge base maintains the required knowledge for the particular domain and is populated from various clinical guidelines for healthcare such as found in both classical and modern findings in research [26][27][28] [29]. If the knowledge base has enough data, rules can be constructed out of it and then the current working knowledge will be evaluated against it by chaining rules together until a conclusion is reached.…”