Press Release
Vegetarian and non-vegetarian meals, commonly consumed daily in India, do not contain enough vitamins and minerals. To fulfill these, there is a need to increase the quantity of fruits and vegetables in our meals. Lack of vitamins reduces human immunity, which increases the chances of infection. In addition, taking fat-soluble vitamins in excess can be harmful. For this, it is very important to get proper advice from a doctor. This was stated by Dr. Puneet Saxena, Senior Professor and Unit Head, Department of Medicine, SMS Medical College and Hospital, Jaipur. He was addressing a recent live session on Facebook on the topic ‘Know Your Vitamins, Know Your Vitality’.
The year 2020 post-Covid-19 has been declared as the ‘Year of Awareness for Science and Health Communication’ (YASH) under which the Department of Science and Technology, Government of Rajasthan in collaboration with IAS Literary Society is organising a ‘Health Awareness Series’. This was the second edition of live sessions organized under the series. It was conducted by Secretary to the Government, Department of Science and Technology and Literary Secretary, IAS Literary Society, Rajasthan, Ms. Mugdha Sinha. On this occasion, Ms. Sinha said that during the times of Covid epidemic, there is a great need to increase our metabolism and immunity and the role of vitamins in this is very important.
Through the presentation, Dr. Puneet gave information about macronutrients and micronutrients, their importance, source, the proper amount of food and their deficiency symptoms. He said that vitamins and minerals fall under the category of micronutrients. The body supplies most of the vitamins from outside and it is very important to take them in balanced amounts. He also informed that a lack of Vitamin B is often seen in vegetarian food, which can be overcome by nuts and milk products. Similarly, people taking diabetic and high blood pressure medications have reduced the absorption capacity of vitamins, which should be specially taken care of.
At the end of the session, Dr. Puneet also answered the questions asked by the audience.