Vitamin Pills in India

rubytuesday

just wondered whether vitamins etc are widely available in India (multivitamins and that sort of thing) or would it be best to stalk up before i go?? am also wondering whether it's wise to take opened bottles of vitamin pills etc in my luggage or would it be better to take ones with their seals still intact??

any help/advice/words of wisdom hugely appreciated***

rubytuesday

sorry guys...that would be 'stock up'...hmmmm stalking vitamin pills - there's a new hobby!!

freemanx

well, in india you´ll get the most delicious fresh fruit juce ever for just a few rupies with all sorts off vitamins in it. no need to take vitamin pills.

i know, i know, don´t kill me anyone.... it´s dangerous, one can get all sorts of belly problems.
anyway, i had my fresh juce in the morning and one a bit later and another one and....

aahh...........! gimme a sweet lime and a pomgranate juce someone!!!
I WANT IT NOW!!!

mira4bai4

Multi-vitamins in all shapes and sizes are a multi million $$$$$ business in India, Millions imported from the US annually.

When I get there and set up I will have a nutrition supplement business so you can get even more then.

GoanCanuck

No need to take vitamin tablets with you when you can get fresh juices and vegetables.

mira4bai4

This may be so when it is really fresh, really wholesome food and also depending on where one is in India and what ones general health status is, however if the food available is not so wholesome and I would be surprised if much of what is available in the 'fresh and raw' category is much good or contains much more than water. Great if one can get good supplies of organic produce but that is pretty thin on the ground at present, though swinging back into vogue after 50 years of heavy chemical pumping over the crops and land. One has to consider that in travelling and higher humidity and temps the body looses its nutritional levels quite quickly and unless travellers had spent time in conditioning themselves for the trip in months of healthy living before going to India then the chances of getting run down quickly are pretty easy especially if we get a touch of belli.

Anyway the vitamins etc are definately available and if one is focused on really excellent food and it is freely available then that's great, if not then to 'supplement' the diet with vitamins and minerals is sound thinking.

edwardseco

Lots of ayurvedic thingees to try also..

cyberhippie

I see what your sayimg Mira but in my experience apart from the overcooking of food the ingredients in India are pretty dam good, you can just taste it, you know, potatoes that taste like potatoes, carrots that are sweet and delicious, cabbage to die for, beetroot like you haven't had for 30 years!!
Fruits the same, actually fruit is quite disconcerting when you first arrive in India, it doesn't look right, under ripened and a bit dry, you think until you bite into it a find that the green skinned manderin is fully ripened tangy and MMmmm.
Our supermarkets are just full of fruit that is all glitz and no taste!
Pulses the same very tasty.
All cooked in mustard/peanut oil which ain't too bad as oils go!
I think the secret is that very little of India's produce is force grown and is grown on a small croft like scale, so whilst it might not be in anyway organic (because of pesticide use) it's grown at it's own pace in good soil and with lots of good healthy life giving sun!!
I eat organic foodstuff here in Holland and I reckon the stuff in India is even tastier though obviuosly not as good for your health!
Like you say though a little top up of vitamin pills won't do you much harm!!
For all your minerals and irons Shilijit is a good way to replenish the system!!

freemanx

you are definitely right with most of the above mira4bai4 and i do not realy disagre with anything you sad.
but having had some experiences with only eating raw frut and vegetables for some time in my life, it´s amazing how much nutricions are still left in our "modern" fruts and vegetables, and how the body is able to get everything out of it what he needs.
i´m not a "fit" person and didn´t condition myself before coming to india. i also didn´t live "healthy" before the trip either. i have to admit, that i´m also a havy smoker and did like the old monk
all i did while in india was drinking lots of fresh fruit juce. nothing else healthy apart from this. i also was sweating a lot and therefore losing lots of nutricions every day. but just drinking another glas of fresh juce and i felt great again after feeling a bit down sometimes, mainly due to too much monk and cigies.
yes i had some belly problems, but who knows what the reason was. could have been lots of things because i was eating nearly everything.

so, what am i trying to say?

if one wants to be on the "safe" side he/she should take his/her tablets and not drink and eat anything from the street maybe. but then again he/she´ll get delhi belly anyway probably

enough rambling.

enjoy your trip rubytuesday.

hoping not having confused you too much

freemanx

exactly!!!
i might have never tryed sweet lime juce because it just doesn´t look sweet from the outside untill someone pointed it out to me. and after the first glass i couldn´t get enough. it´s sooo sweet, yummy yummy yoooohh!!

GoanCanuck

Ditto in Canada. Very bland tasting fruits and vegetables.

mira4bai4

Spending a little time with the farmers that supply the centre where I visit in the Punjab, which normally feeds between 400,000 and 600,000 people per day and while the Punjab is supposed to be the food production area of the country resting is the alluvial soil at the foot of the Himalayas, the soil is close to exhaustion. With so much coming out of it there is very little going back in and the number of crop failures has been on the increase with the switch to GM seed.

There is a huge increase in the incidence of diabetes and heart disease throughout India, diabetes is the main cause of glaucoma and retinopathy and much of this is due to diet and seeing this in the annual eye camps brings it closer to home. Really the Indian diet is not so crash hot and this combined with the low nutritional value in the produce it is not surprising that they are fortifying flour with vitamins and minerals, plus the plan to fortify salt with iodine and iron is not without reason. So when we travel to India and live the lifestyle our nutritional intake is taking a beating and the increase in the fats and sugars is not to be taken to lightly either. Now in the south of India things may be quite different but up in the north it is a bit of a worry. Much of the taste in the potato and carrot is due to the old European varieties compared to the modern longer storage shelf life varieties that we get in the west, the actual nutritional value is not in the taste or the colour, it is more subtle than that.

GoanCanuck

The crops being grown in the Punjab are no longer yielding anything tasty thanks to the heavy penetration of Punjab agriculture by the multinational companies like Cargill. Earlier this year I spent time in both Chandigarh as well as the south of India and I found the fruits and vegetables in the South of India are much better in taste.

mira4bai4

Well that pretty much sums it, the carrots in the Punjab are pretty bad specimens compared to the ones down under.

somnath

If you are advised by the doctor to take vitamin pills, no need to carry; there are hundreds of brands available in India. As usual, prescription is not required .