Briefly discuss the dietary modifications/preservative measures for: a) Diabetes Mellitus b) Iron Deficiency Anaemia

a) Dietary notifications in diabetes mellitus:

Dietary modifications in diabetes mellitus are as follows-

1. Regulations of the meals consumed in the essential. Diabetic individuals should be encouraged to have meals at intervals.
2. All the main meals consumed should provide a fair amount of calories.
3. Care should be taken to include foods from all three basic good groups. Suitable modifications are needed within each group to ensure control. These modifications are-

(A) Energy-giving group:
i) Cereals: Use of whole grain cereals like whole wheat flour is recommended. Use of refined cereal products like maida, suji etc. should be restricted.

ii) Sugar: Sweeteners like table sugar, honey, glucose, jams etc & concentrated sweets like chocolates, gulab jamuns etc should be avoided.

iii) Fat: Unsaturated fat like soya oil, groundnut oil, corn oil etc. should be used in moderation. Saturated fats should be avoided.

(B) Body-building group:
i) Milk: Milk should be taken literally. Use of milk products like curd, panner, khoya etc. should be encouraged.

ii) Pulses: Use of whole pulses should be encouraged. This is because whole pulses are not only rich in protein but also fibre.

iii) Eggs: Eggs should be consumed in moderation. The white portion of an egg is taken & discard the yolk portion.

iv) Flesh foods: Organ meats (liver, kidney etc) are sources of cholesterol, hence they should be avoided.

(C) Protective group:
i) Vegetables: Increase the intake of vegetables especially fibrous vegetables (like leafy vegetables, lotus stem, brinjal, beans etc.)

ii) Fruits: Fruits need to be taken with caution as they are sweet. Very sweet fruits (mango, sugarcane, grapes, banana, all canned foods etc.) should be taken with caution. If one wants one can just have a piece of it occasionally. Other like guava, oranges, mausambi etc. can be taken in moderation.

b)Preventive measures for Iron Deficiency Anaemia:

The following preventive measures can help to prevent Anaemias:

(A) Dietary measures:
The most rational method of prevention of Anaemia is to ensure consumption of diet adequate in iron by the population. The women particularly living in villages & urban slums should be adequately educated about the importance of prevention of anaemia & should be encouraged to consume iron-rich foods regularly. In expensive sources of iron are green leafy vegetables, rice, ground nuts. If these foods are consumed as sources of iron, care should be taken that enough vitamin C rich & protein-rich foods are consumed along with them. Meat & liver are preferably good dietary sources if one likes & can afford them.

(B) Fortification of foods:
One of the methods of ensuring adequate consumption of iron through diets is to add iron to a food item that is consumed by one & all daily. The method by which the nutritive value of diets is improved by the addition of one or more nutrients to a food item is known as fortification of food. The food selected for this should be consumed by all, particularly the needy poorer segments of the populations with very little daily variation in the quantities consumed. Common salt is consumed by the rich & poor daily in our country. It has been identified as the vehicle for fortification with iron.

(c) Distribution of iron & folic acid tablets:
With the help of iron tablets, the haemoglobin levels in the blood can be raised. Iron tablets contain iron (60mg) & folic acid (500mg) women pregnant & lacing family planning acceptors intrauterine contraceptive device. The govt. of India has been implementing a programme called National Nutritional Anaemia control programme in 1970.