Inspired by the traditional dadimaa ke nuskhe (grandmother’s own medicinal formulations), scientists of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), a research wing of the Union Ministry of Science and Technology, are on a mission to prepare herbs and spice-enriched nutraceutical products to help boost immunity of the country’s citizens.
Besides ensuring healthy drug-free products, the aim of the Mission “Food is Medicine” --to be launched in November --is to provide alternate income generation avenues for regional growers as the demand of nutraceuticals abroad as well as in India is on increase in view of higher incidence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory ailments.
Divided in three phases, the Mission’s aim is to shift the focus of health and wellness from allopathic medicines to the quality of diet and herbal-rich food, said CSIR’s Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (IHBT) Director Sanjay Kumar.
The potential health areas prioritized under the Mission are malnutrition, immunity, bone, liver and heart health, cognition, sleep disorders and non-communicable diseases like diabetes, cancer and respiratory ailments.
Kumar said that various labs of the CSIR have already developed various technologies that can boost immunity as well as check large number of diseases. “For instance, our ayurvedic products such as BGR-34 for curing chronic diabetes is in huge demand while a technology to extract ‘catechin’ from young tea leaves which is a type of disease-fighting flavonoid and antioxidant is all time favourite.”
The senior scientist explained that the Mission’s objective is to provide food items prepared by ayurvedic formulations to cure diseases on its advanced stage. The food items containing spices such as turmeric, pepper, among others would be prepared that help in boosting body’s immunity and save the consumers from getting infected with bacteria or viral diseases.
In the first phase, the CSIR has prepared a list of food items with medicinal efficacy such as what amount of turmeric intake would help in curing how many diseases; which are the herbs that can protect people from certain diseases; the different ways to take eat fruits and food items, etc.
In the second phase, the CSIR would launch the product in the market with the help of private players by providing technical support while in the third phase, the CSIR would chalk out its strategies to make available the foods with medicinal values to poor children at free of cost, Kumar said.