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Saturday 8 February 2014

Of Vitamins and Diet Plans

Hey friends,

I have had trysts with some health issues quite early in life. The foremost Rx most doctors prescribed was "LOSE WEIGHT". Ahh! Lose weight! Now that's only 10 letters but each weighed like 10 tonnes on me. Since I've never been a loser, weight loss was even more difficult for me. But after consecutive ultimatums, I had to get losing....er..going.

So the long trek to gyms and dietitians began, a long trek with no end in sight. Most dietitians kept emphasizing on two things that my diet needed to be: low-sugar, low-fat. Of course, it made sense. So most of my diet plans consisted of skimmed milk with less than 0.3 % fat, and egg whites. Every dietitian I saw, and believe me I saw quite a few in 4-5 years, and anywhere I saw, in hospitals, gyms, online sites etc., were very particular about avoiding egg yolks and fatty milk and milk products. So far so good.

So after 5 years of 99.7% fat-free milk (which tasted bad enough) and no egg yolks, I began experiencing leg cramps and frequent dizzy spells. This continued for about 5-6 months. Then, after many consultations and tests, I was diagnosed with anemia. I was shocked. I had never been anemic ever before. My physician immediately prescribed some iron supplements which I started taking pronto. However, we also did tests of Vitamins B12 and D3. Vitamin B12 is vital to the absorption of iron by the body, and Vitamin D3 for the absorption of calcium. There was no surprise. Both levels were low.

So I did some quick research. My research yielded two things of lasting significance for me, and may be for those of you out there who have had similar problems. Most of the essential vitamins like B12 and D3 are found in the fat and fatty matter present in milk, and in the yolk of the egg. So, it was possible that my anemia was caused by inadequate absorption of iron by my body, which in turn was because of insufficient amount of Vitamin B12 in my body. And the cramping because of loss of bone and muscle mass, typical symptoms of Vitamin D3 deficiency. And it wouldn't be too much assumption to say that the absence of egg yolks in my diet over a period of 4-5 years could be responsible for both the conditions.

Of course, there are alternate sources of Vitamins B12 and D3, but milk fat and egg yolks are the most easily available sources in India, and also form a natural part of our diet, unlike beef, clams and organ meats. So friends, be careful when choosing your diet. All advice you get may not be "Expert Advice", including this blog post !!!!!!!!!! 

Disclaimer: This is a post about my personal experience, and in no way replaces your health professional's, physician's, nutritionist's or dietitian's advice. It is not a medical or scientific article based on any kind of formal research.

2 comments:

  1. Very well said,,Shubhrata.I had organised a camp in my clinic in which we investigated for serum Calcium and D3 levels in different age groups of females and to my utter surprise,nobody( including ladies from affluent families) had near to normal levels....there was insufficiency of both and since then,I keep on advising D3 to them.....and believe me,there are several complaints which we attribute to ageing are due to low levels of these.

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    1. Thanks, Rinky! It could be possible bcoz of some nutritional deficiency in their diet which they may not even be aware of.

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