NUTRITIONAL VALUES – Non Veg Diet

NUTRITIONAL VALUES –

Non Veg Diet

1 Protein of Non-veg. is of higher Quality

Protein is broken in the body into amino acid and there are 22 known types of amino acid, out of which 14 are non-essential, which are manufactured naturally in the body while 8 are essential amino acids, which cannot be manufactured naturally within the body and must be obtained from our food.

Protein of animal origin is biologically complete protein or higher quality protein since they contain all the 8 essential amino acids required by the human bodies.

The protein from vegetable sources is biologically incomplete protein as they lack one or more of the 8 essential amino acids.

However, this deficiency in protein can be controlled even by a pure vegetarian diet but care should be taken that different vegetarian food should be mixed in the correct proportion to fulfill the need of all the amino acid. Many Indians who obtain their proteins from cereals and pulses have deficiency of methionenine (the essential amino acids are leucine, iisoleucine ratine, lysine, tryptophan, threonine, methionine and phenyhalanine.)

2. All Essential Fatty Acids Present in Meat

Similarly there are essential fatty acids i.e. poly unsaturated fatty acids which are not synthesized in the body and have to be provided in the food. Meat contains all the essential fatty acids but no Single Veg source contains all the essential fatty acids. (Essential fatty acids are linoleic acid, linolenic acid and arachidonic acid.)

3 Non-Vegetarian food contains Haem-Iron

There are 2 forms of dietary iron: Haem iron which is present in animal products and Non-Haem iron which is present in foods of animal and plant origin. Haem iron is much better absorbed than the non Haem iron.

4 Vegetarian food is deficient in vitamin B 12

Vegetarian food is deficient in vitamin B 12. Vitamin B 12 deficiency normally is more due to defect of absorption and rarely due to dietary reason. Though dietary deficiency of vitamin B 12 is rare, it is serious and observed mainly in vegetarians.

5 Deficiency of Zinc in Vegetarian Food

Vegetarian food is deficient in Zinc. Meat is an important source of dietary Zinc. However, certain vegetarian food like pumpkin is rich in zinc.

6. Iodine abundant in seafood and negligible in Vegetarian Food.

Iodine, which is important for producing thyroid hormones, is present in abundant quantity in seafood and present in poor to negligible quantity in vegetarian food.

7. Carbohydrates and Vitamin C Not Present In Non-Vegetarian Food'

Carbohydrates and vitamin C are not present in non-vegetarian food but abundant in vegetarian food and fruits which are also eaten by Non-Vegetarians. This, fulfills the requirements of non-vegetarian, since they do not place unnecessary restrictions on their dietary habits

8 Egg is a nutrient - dense food

Eggs have very high nutritive value

I. One large egg provides about 6 grams of proteins about half of which is in the egg white. The white of the egg is an ideal protein - the one by which all others are measured because it contains all the amino acids needed for human nutrition and offers them in the proper balance it.

ii. Eggs are a significant source of iron, riboflavin, foliate and vitamin B12, D and E. Eggs are one of the very few foods that supply vitamin D. Just about the only nutrient not found in an egg is vitamin C.

iii. Eggs are easily digested, making them valuable dietary component for people who are ill or convalescing.

iv. Of the 5 grams of fat in a large egg, more that half is unsaturated that does not raise blood cholesterol level.

v. Eggs don't provide an abundance of any one nutrient but offer substantial amount of a wide variety, thus eggs are called as nutrient-dense food. It means that they provide relatively high proportion of essential nutrients while supplying only a relatively small number of calories that is about 70 calories for a large egg.