Protein is a very important nutrient having many functions in maintenance and health of humans at all ages. In young infants and children, it also helps in growth. The various enzymes and hormones have proteins; every tissue and cell have proteins; muscles and various organs are made of proteins and our immunity to various infectious diseases depends on proteins. Thus, for our health we must consume adequate amounts of proteins, roughly 1g of protein per kg body weight per day. Needs may vary depending on age, sex, physical activity as well as physiological condition.
While earlier we used to have regular meals with various groups of foods mostly prepared at home and eaten leisurely, the modern lifestyle has changed many things. We do not have plenty of time for both preparing and consuming meals due to our modern lifestyle. Our family structure has also changed so wives and mothers who were mostly preparing the food, are also working and in nuclear families, there is very little time to prepare meals. Earlier meal preparation was several hours per meal and we used to always have freshly prepared meals. We now have to depend on partially prepared ingredients and at times even fully prepared food products. With changes in lifestyle and availability of food products, we must choose them properly. We can still feed our families adequately with nutritious and healthy foods if we plan meals and foods properly.
Proteins are present in both animal and plant-based foods. Animal proteins have higher quality proteins especially egg and milk due to the proper proportions of essential amino acids. Even meat, fish and poultry have higher quality than most plant-based protein foods such as cereals, pulses, and oil seeds etc. However, mixing of plant proteins e.g. cereals and pulses, elevates the quality. Also, some proteins e.g. soya protein, are almost as good as animal proteins. Thus, it is very important to choose foods to not only get adequate protein but of high quality as well. When choosing our foods depending on our habits, beliefs and tastes, sometimes we may still fall short of protein requirements. Then we can depend on various protein supplements as well as high protein food products to fill the gaps.


At breakfast, we used to prepare idli, dosa, poha, paratha, khakhra, chila and others from fresh ingredients. When we do not have time, we resort to breakfast cereals and milk that provides adequate protein with dietary fibre if we choose whole grain cereals especially with wheat and millets. Some prefer eggs with toast that could also be quick and healthy especially if whole grain bread is used. There are now some food products available that allows quick preparation of some of the traditional items. Idli/dosa batter is now commonly available that is fermented and can be refrigerated. It can be quickly used to prepare the items without giving up traditional tastes and not spending too much time. Even the omelette mixes are available. Some people may simply consume biscuits which contain various micronutrients besides protein. However, these may not be the best options as many may be low in dietary fibre and high in calories.


As most people, including husband, wife and even children, eat large proportions of their lunches outside they may have informal meals instead of formal lunch. Many may take their lunch boxes that may contain sandwiches, sometimes roti and curried vegetables, but a lot of times snack items as they may not have enough time either to prepare the proper lunch items to prepare and/or pack. Many of the remaining may eat something from cafeteria or street foods. All these may be having more calories but less of both proteins and dietary fibre. This again poses problems for health. There needs to be care in selecting food items and snacks that provide enough of proteins and dietary fibre, both of which also help in providing satiety.
Many households still eat home-cooked food for supper. Many women try to use fresh ingredients to prepare the meals. However, most people are tired after the day’s work in office and at home they need to ensure that their kids do homework so again they have very little time to prepare the food from scratch so they start with convenience ingredients that provide precleaned and cut vegetables and other plant or animal ingredients that save them a lot of time and effort.
There are people who just do not bother to cook but order food from restaurants. There are many apps now specializing to deliver restaurant food from a large selection of places. This also can create problems of too many calories but not enough nutrients especially proteins and dietary fibre.
Snacking takes place a lot because people spend a lot of time in front of TV or phone or laptop. This may be because of entertainment or work-related screen-time but along with that snacking takes place. This is difficult to control in kids but at least its quality can be improved with protein. Mindful snacking is being promoted as snacking has become a global phenomenon.
Thus, as our lifestyle changes, our dietary pattern is affected. This further affects our nutrition and health and several key nutrients are found to be deficient in modern diet, protein being an important one. We need to consider these changes and act accordingly to ensure we don’t suffer from any deficiencies so as to remain healthy.
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