'Vegetarian' India is a myth. We love our meat

Incredible India it is. That has never been suspect. But an advert pro-claiming that Indians are vegetarians and polite definitely doesn't hold.

Because whether our politicians like it or not, recent data released by the office of registrar general and census commissioner has put to rest the claim that India is primarily vegetarian. In fact, these numbers clearly reveal that 70 per cent of Indians over the age of 15 years are non-vegetarian.

Wakey! Wakey!

According to this report, there are pockets still where people are primarily vegetarian - Rajasthan, for instance, where more than 70 per cent are vegetarian; Haryana and Punjab follow closely with number of vegetarians ranging from 65 to 70 per cent.

Punjab on this list is a huge surprise as butter chicken is almost considered its state dish; just goes to show how wrong popular perceptions can be.

And Telangana, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala with almost cent percent non-vegetarians are on the other end of the spectrum. Huge diversity our country has - even in terms of what we like to eat!

Moving on from numbers and data, the point to ponder and the important debate to settle is: which way of eating (vegetarian or non-vegetarian) is healthier.

No, there is no correct answer here, as I believe that it's not the way of eating but the way that way of eating is followed that determines how healthy our plate is. Both strict vegetarians and non vegetarians can be super unhealthy eaters. Or otherwise.

Vegetarian conundrum

If you are a vegetarian but are not meeting your protein requirements and also missing out on certain nutrients that only non-vegetarian foods can provide, you are definitely in trouble.

For example, getting enough iron for vegetarians can be troublesome as most of the good sources tend to be non vegetarian.

Also iron from plant foods (non-heme) is not absorbed as well as iron from meats (heme), so you need to consciously consume a lot of good sources: sprouts, beans, seeds (sesame, sunflower and pumpkin), mushrooms and iron fortified cereals, nuts (cashews, almonds and walnuts) and make sure you get enough vitamin C to help boost the absorption of iron from the food.

Omega-3 too can prove a challenge as there are just two vegetarian food sources - flax seeds and walnuts.

So does vitamin B12 as it is found mostly in fish, dairy, meats and eggs, so it is important to have enough dairy and soya, or pop in a supplement.

Similarly, creatine (found only is fish and meat) that helps increase muscle mass and endurance, and carnosine, the amino acid that helps prevent a range of diseases like diabetes, cataracts, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinsons, both need to be hunted and added to diet or alternatives found.

Vitamin K2 (that helps transport calcium into our bones) and Vitamin A can also prove quite elusive in vegetarian diets so these must be factored in somehow.

The non-vegetarian's dilemma

Diets that are primarily non-vegetarian (read go overboard with meats) tend to be higher in calories and steep in saturated fat, trans-fat and cholesterol, all serious priming-up-for-disorder factors.

Also low consumption of vegetables might just pack up our gut because of lack of fibre and enzymes. So this can have lot of challenges too.

The balanced diet

So what does one do? Ideally all food groups should be well repre-sented in our diet, and for me non vegetarian food is part of a balanced diet. So I follow a 70:30 diet (vegetarian: non-vegetarian). But then that's me!

Everyone can/must find their own balance, and eat wisely. That's how I usually like to end this debate.