Bengaluru 08th July 2024: Happiest Health’s Knowledge Business hosted the second edition of The Edge of Nutrition 2024 summit today, bringing together nutritionists, doctors, engineers, students, and health-conscious individuals from various health and wellness backgrounds. The successful day-long event catered to a broad audience of over 300+ attendees, allowing diverse individuals to network and benefit from detailed sessions and panel discussions on several current topics. These topics covered technologies and innovations in nutrition, food trends, alternative diets for better lifestyles, lesser-known nutrition tips, mindful eating, and more. Experts across the country explored breakthroughs in the field and provided practical knowledge on healthy eating and living.
With people’s focus on nutrition and its benefits becoming more significant in recent years, The Edge of Nutrition summit 2024, was launched to foster a community dedicated to understanding new-age nutrition and the significance of eating well, besides promoting a holistic approach to overall well-being. In addition to the various discussions, the summit featured an interactive game show with quizzes and visuals.
Anindya Chowdhury, CEO & President, Knowledge, Happiest Health said, “Nutrition is one of Happiest Health’s core focus areas. We watch the space keenly to bring people modern, more exciting ways of looking after how they eat and what they eat. We were able to do that and more with The Edge of Nutrition summit last year. And we are happy to bring more advances in Food & Nutrition to them again this year. We hope it’s given people better, clearer insights into how to take care of their health.”
Director of the National Institute of Nutrition (ICMR), Dr Hemalatha R, delivered the keynote address on revolutionising nutrition and spoke about the way forward for the country’s ambitions. She said, “We must promote and incentivise the production, marketing, and sale of healthier food options by incentivising or giving subsidies for wholesome foods. Create partnerships with supermarkets to display prominently and promote healthier alternatives. Support local and sustainable food systems and encourage local food production and distribution networks to increase the availability of fresh foods. Then, provide financial and logistical support to small-scale farmers and local food businesses. Foods that celebrate local and regional flavours will also help maintain cultural heritage and culinary traditions.”
She also touched upon carbohydrate and sugar intake, saying, “The total calories from carbohydrates are restricted to 50 to 55 per cent of total energy per day. Free sugar should be less than five per cent of total calories per day, which works out to twenty to twenty-five grams of sugar per day for a two thousand kilocal diet.”
Dr Rebecca Raj, professor and head of the Division of Nutrition at St John’s Research Institute, Bengaluru, said in her session on nutrition hacks for busy professionals, “Plan your meals. Don’t plan extravagant meals since it’s not that good for your health. So plan compact meals. If you’re very busy, set reminders. And snack healthily while at work.”
She further remarked on the need for breaks to undertake physical activity, highlighting the dangers of inactivity, “Data suggests that physical inactivity is the fourth largest killer. Sitting is almost as bad as smoking. Unless we are athletes, we seem to have sedentary lifestyles, which impacts us in several ways. For example—decreased metabolism. We tend to have reduced cognitive function and decreased flexibility and mobility.”
A panel discussion on new trends and innovations in nutrition took place between nutritionist and author, Dr Nandita Iyer and Nutritionist and health & food coach Anupama Menon. The session spanned talks around AI uses in nutrition, plant-powered food, and the development of vegan food.
Celebrity Nutritionist, Ryan Fernando led a session on Nutrition in the digital age. He said, “In the world of preventive health, I believe the opportunity for each and every Indian to have a job is massive. If you are looking to build your career, AI and technology are going to help you become great. But you must have the human quotient to practice with empathy and passion.”
Happiest Health hosts knowledge summits to generate awareness across the health and wellness landscape for health-minded individuals. In line with this objective, the Edge of Nutrition summit delivered insights aimed at transforming people’s health outcomes while inspiring them to act over their health and lifestyles.