CHENNAI: And, now a software to calculate the nutritive value of foodstuffs.

Nutritional Epidemiology (EpiNu) software developed by Madras Diabetes Research Foundation at Dr. Mohan's Diabetes Specialities Centre will provide information at fingertip on the nutritive composition of a range of foods.

Nutritive information can be of use in formulating meal plans for patients in hospital as well as for dietary modification for disease prevention. The research team at MDRF put together the software after nearly four years of effort that involved culling recipes from hotels and households.

EpiNu has classified about 1,000 food varieties by nutritive value.

A break-up of foods into calories, carbohydrates, fat, protein and fibre can be handy for a cross-section of researchers, hospital clinicians as well as dieticians and patients. "The software will have a role in assisting diabetes management, prevention and research," said V. Mohan, chief diabetologist at MDRF.

It could also be useful in dietary planning complementary to management of other disorders.

Customised food supplements (with zero sugar, zero cholesterol) are now available in the market to help patients better manage diabetes. These supplements can also help prevent lifestyle diseases.

Nutritional requirement for diabetics is the same as in adults except that patients with diabetes do not need high proteins.

People with diabetes are at risk of bone loss and osteoporosis therefore they need minerals like calcium and magnesium.

They are also at risk of developing heart diseases and therefore supplementation of vitamins and minerals is essential to the diet plan. The primary version of EpiNu software is scheduled to be formally launched on July 30 though it will take a while longer to reach the open market.

The MRDF team is working on a second and simplified version for benefit of the layman.

The software is slated for launch in October. EpiNu has been successfully used in a multi-centric industry cohort study of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

Launched across five centres, the study profiled employees in various industries for dietary behaviour, diabetes, hypertension and other diseases.

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