It will now be easier for diabetics, heart patients and those who are on diet to figure out how much calories they are consuming while eating Indian food. The Indian Council of Medical Research’s Hyderabad-based National Institute of Nutrition has launched a mobile App that offers comprehensive nutrition-related information on a wide range of Indian food articles.
A major plus point of the App named ‘Nutrify India Now’ is that it is based on authentic and well researched India-specific databases and uses guidelines prescribed by ICMR, the apex medical research body of the country. It also provides information on several parameters such as protein, vitamin, and mineral content of the food items, besides their calorific value.
Among other things, it has a facility to search for food articles and recipes by language or food groups. One can search in as many as 17 languages and six food groups are covered. The users can also search for foods with nutrients, which enables to look up for the foods that are rich in nutrients of their interest.
The App has also the facility to keep track of the energy balance, between calories consumed and expended. It can be downloaded free of cost from both Google Play Store and Apple’s store. NIN, which is a premier research institute on nutrition in the country, has launched it as part of its on-going centenary celebrations. Nutritional information on dietary intake of the user and two sub-users can be retained for seven days.
Secretary, Department of Health Research and Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Dr. Balram Bhargava, launched the app in the presence of NIN Director, Dr. R.Hemalatha.
Congratulating NIN scientists for their efforts to reach out to the common man, Dr. Bhargava said, “The App is very relevant to the people and is going to be an important part of the Prime Minister’s National Nutrition Mission. In addition, it would mark the first step towards ICMR’s renewed focus on combating non-communicable diseases (NCDs).”
Dr. Hemalatha, said “This certainly is one of the biggest outreach efforts for us and an interactive way to make people use the important data we have generated over the years. NIN App will act as the user’s personal nutrition advisor, literally keeping track of what the user is eating and also as a ready reckoner on nutrient information on raw food and recipes”. (India Science Wire)
By Sunderarajan Padmanabhan
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