There is enough evidence which shows the link between consumption of High Fat, Sugar and Salt (HFSS) foods and an increased risk of lifestyle diseases such as type II diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and certain cancers. HFSS foods also contribute to high levels of obesity both for children and adults. FSSAI’s Eat Healthy Campaign therefore, focuses on reduction of high fat, sugar and salt foods in the diet. In India, levels of obesity and overweight have doubled in last decade.
Here are some facts about the association of HFSS foods with diseases
- 1 out of 4 Indians are at a risk of dying from one of the non-communicable diseases like diabetes, blood pressure, heart disease or cancer.
- Nearly one out of every ten persons aged 18 years and above in India has raised blood glucose, which poses extra financial and service burden on health systems.
- More than two-thirds of the adolescents aged 11-17 years are physically inactive in India as per WHO standards.
- 80 percent of the heart diseases and diabetes can be averted through simple lifestyle modifications and by consuming nutritionally balanced diet.
According to FSSAI’s Report of the Expert Group on Consumption of Fat Sugar and Salt and its Health Effects on the Indian Population the following definitions explain much about diets.
Unhealthy diet is one which is high in sugars, sodium, saturated and trans fats, and low in fibre.
High fat is a highly contentious issue in the present times. The intake of fat above 35% of total energy has been suggested as high fat by some institutions (FAO/WHO 2008; ICMR 2010). However, the ceiling on total fats was recently removed from the USDA guidelines (2015). The majority of fats consumed in the diets should be unsaturated fats. Awareness should be created regarding trans fats in deep fried foods. The Mediterranean diet which is considered one of the healthiest diets contains more than 35% fats.
High sugar is defined as high sugar intake. The intake of sugars above10% (>50 grams of sugar) of total energy intake per day.
Sugar is found in our diets in a variety of ways:
- Naturally built into the structure of foods such as fruits and vegetables.
- Naturally present in milk and milk products.
- “added-sugar” refers to sugars and syrups added to foods and drinks during processing and preparation.
- “free sugars” refers both to added sugars, like sucrose or table sugar, and sugars naturally present sugars in honey, syrups, fruit juices and fruit concentrates. Most free sugars consumed are added to foods and drinks. Free sugars do not include sugar that is naturally built into the structure of foods or sugars naturally present in milk and milk products.
High salt: The intake of salt above 6g/day (>2g/day sodium) is considered as high salt by WHO
Keeping in mind the health risk associated with HFSS foods the FSSAI has recommended that consumers follow the tips given here as part of the Eat Healthy Campaign.
How to reduce salt consumption
Salt is the main source of sodium in our diet. High sodium intake is a risk factor for high blood pressure which predisposes an individual to heart problems. FACT: Average Indian consumes around 10 gram of salt per day which is double the amount of salt recommended (5g/d)
Mend your salty habits
- Do not sprinkle salt on salad, cut fruits, cooked vegetables or curd. Enjoy their natural taste!
- Add less salt than what you are accustomed to, while cooking
- Gradually reduce the salt usage while cooking from lesser to least.
- Sodium is found in many condiments besides ordinary table salt including soy sauce, salad dressings, ketchup, pickles, and papads so, use these foods moderately in your daily diet.
- Baking soda, baking powder, and monosodium glutamate (MSG) also contain high sodium: Avoid using these in your daily cooking.
- Do not add salt in dough for chapati or in rice.
Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables
- Switch from salted namkeens and snacks to fresh fruits and vegetables to cut down on sodium.
- Eat potassium rich fruits and vegetables, they help to neutralize the effect of sodium in the body.
Stay away from hidden sources of sodium
- Avoid consumption of preserved and processed foods such as papads, pickles, sauces, ketchups, salted biscuits, chips, cheese and salted fish are high in sodium.
- Breads, instant soups, cold cuts, cured meats and cheese are high in sodium, so eat them occasionally.
Read Nutrition labels
- Compare labels and choose the product with the lowest amount of sodium (per serving).
Know labelling facts
- Salt/Sodium-Free: means product contains not more than 0.005g of sodium per 100g for solids or 100 ml for liquids.
- Very Low Sodium: means product contains not more than 0.04 g of sodium per 100g for solids or 100ml for liquids.
- Low Sodium: means product contains not more than 0.12 g of sodium per 100 g for solids or 100 ml for liquids.
Be intelligent, while eating out
- If possible, when dining out, ask to have your food prepared with less salt.
- Watch out for foods described using the words pickled, brined, barbecued, cured, smoked or soy sauce. These tend to be high in sodium. Avoid them.
- Foods that are steamed, baked, grilled, poached or roasted may have less sodium.
- Control portion sizes when you cut calories, you usually cut the sodium too.
Keep yourself hydrated
- Drink at least 8-10 glasses of water everyday as it not only helps to flush out the toxins but also excess of sodium from the body.
Ways to reduce sugar consumption
Mend your taste buds
- Take less sugar than what you are accustomed to. Start with half a teaspoon less and then again, after few days a little lesser.
Adapt your recipes
- You can make your favourite recipes less sugary by reducing a little bit at a time, try using little less sugar than the recipe calls for, next time use little lesser, right up until you notice the difference.
- Prefer using naturally sweet ingredients than refined sugars. E.g., in fruit-based desserts add more of fruits for natural sweetness.
Choose foods wisely
- Foods such as cakes, pastries, confectionery and sweets often have high amounts of fat, sugar, or salt, prepared with refined cereals and thus should be consumed in restricted amounts.
- Limit the consumption of foods and drinks containing high amounts of sugars (e.g. sugar-sweetened beverages, sugary snacks, etc).
- A glass of juice is usually equal to the calories provided by three whole fruits. Instead of drinking fruit juice, eat a piece of fresh fruit. It provides fibre also which gives a feeling of fullness.
Eat fresh
- Eat fresh fruits and raw vegetables as snacks instead of sugary snacks.
- Do not overindulge in sugar-preserved foods like jams, jellies and marmalades.
Protect Children
- Children overindulging in chocolates and candies are prone to dental carries.
- Preference for sweet taste during childhood if not amended may lead to over consumption of sugary foods and as adults put them at risk of obesity and other non-communicable diseases.
How to Reduce FAT
Change how you cook
- While cooking, prefer to boil, steam, roast, grill or bake foods rather than frying.
- Measure cooking oil with a spoon rather than pouring freely from the bottle, or use spray for oil.
Change your cooking oil regularly:
- Make sure that you change your cooking oil every three months and prefer to use two different types of oils at a time. You can choose from following combinations:
- Groundnut / Sesame / Rice bran / Cottonseed + Mustard/ Rapeseed
- Groundnut /Sesame / Rice bran / Cottonseed + Canola
- Groundnut / Sesame / Rice bran / Cottonseed + Soyabean
- Safflower / Sunflower + Palm oil/Palmolein + Mustard/ Rapeseed
- Sunflower / Safflower + Palmolein / Palm oil / Olive
- Safflower / Sunflower + Groundnut / Sesame / Rice bran / cottonseed
Limit the consumption of saturated fats
- High intake of saturated fats is a risk factor for heart disease. Make sure that you restrict the use of butter and ghee.
- If you are a non-vegetarian prefer eating lean meat sources like chicken or fish over red meat or organ meat.
- Restrict your intake of bakery foods or processed foods.
Use fats and oils in moderation
- In your routine cooking, use fats and oils in moderation and consume varieties of foods to get good proportion of all fatty acids for optimal health benefits.
Chose low fat dairy products
- Opt for low-fat dairy products, such as semi-skimmed or skimmed milk, low-fat cheese or curd made at home with low fat milk.
Avoid trans fats
- Trans fats are bad fats which should not be consumed as part of our diet. They are present in Vanaspati, bakery shortenings, margarine and re-heated oils, so avoid these.
- In prepared foods, trans fats are found in bakery products and fried foods, minimize their consumption.
- Do not repeatedly re-heat the oil or re-use the same oil for frying.
About Trans fats
Trans fats are present in large quantities in partially hydrogenated vegetable fats (Vanaspati, Margarine, bakery shortenings). In prepared foods, trans fats are found in:
- Bakery products: Biscuit, bun, rusk, cake, etc.
- Fried foods: Bhatura, poori, pakora, bhujiya, fried savoury mixtures (namkeens) etc
- Re-heated oils: Small amounts of trans fats are also formed when the same cooking oil is used for repeated frying; not only at commercial outlets but even at household levels.
When cooking
- Avoid using “Vanaspati” ghee for any kind of cooking.
- When deep frying the foods (Poori/pakora etc.), do not heat the oil for a very long time before and during cooking. Prefer to not leave the food in the oil for a very long time.
- Do not reheat the oil or re-use the same oil for frying. The oil which has once been used for frying can be used for the preparation of vegetables, curries, dals etc.
- Use smaller vessel (kadhai, etc.) at home for deep frying. This will allow you to do frying using a lesser amount of oil/fat.
- Limit the consumption of baked/processed foods like biscuit/fan, cake, chips, fried savoury mixtures (namkeens, etc.).
- Tips & Warnings: Small amount of trans fat occurs naturally in meat and dairy products, so choose lean cuts of meat and low dairy products.
When doing shopping
- Check the nutrition display panel on packaged food items for TFA content, if it mentions TFA content more than 0.2 gram per serving then avoid the product and search for some healthy substitute.
- Sometimes the nutrition fact panel on the food product, does not mention the word Trans fatty acid/Trans fats, in such cases always check the ingredient list on the packaged food for the words like “shortening” or “partially hydrogenated vegetable oil”, these contain high amount of trans fats. If it is mentioned then avoid the product and choose a healthier alternative.
- Tips & Warnings: Small amount of trans fat occurs naturally in meat and dairy products, so choose lean cuts of meat and low dairy products.
When eating out/ordering food from outside
It might be easy to control what you cook in your home to eat, but when eating at a restaurant try controlling the TFA intake by doing the following:
- Ask the owner/server regarding the type of fat/oil being used for preparing the food.
- Avoid foods that are prepared/ fried in vanaspati or margarine.
- Avoid consuming commercial fried foods like fried aloo chaat, French-fries, samosa, bhatura etc. prepared in Vanaspati. They are also high in fat.
- Avoid baked/processed foods like cookies, chips, cake’s and patty.
- Tips & Warnings: Small amount of trans fat occurs naturally in meat and dairy products, so choose lean cuts of meat and low dairy products.
Sources:
https://eatrightindia.gov.in/hfss.jsp
FSSAI’s archive.fssai.gov.in › Note_Report_HFSS_08_05_2017
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