Nutrients

Adequate nourishment is a vital component of a healthier life and wellness, along with physical activity. This study aims to comprehend the special difficulties experienced by para swimmers in terms of their dietary intake, nutrient requirements, and general nutritional well-being through a quantitative methodology with the help of DietCal software.
The study involved 13 para-swimmers ranging in age from 20 to 50 years with different disability categories from S4 to S15. Their existing diet patterns and intake were assessed through a verified food frequency questionnaire and 24-hour diet recall, and the collected data were then interpreted using the software Diet Cal. Later on, both the recommended and received values of macro and micronutrients were compared.
A nutritional profile assessment indicates differences in nutrient intake from recommended levels. It was observed that para-swimmers were deficient in energy and nutrients such as protein, calcium, and iron, while over consuming nutrients like carbohydrates, fat, sodium, and magnesium.
This study concludes that there were nutrients deficient and over consumed in the diet of para-swimmers. Therefore, recommendations were made to adopt a balanced, nutrient-rich diet in addition to astaxanthin supplementation that the athletes were already taking to enhance athletic performance and promote overall well-being.

The Bala-fort tropical dry deciduous forest in the Aravalli ranges is located in Alwar district of Rajasthan (27o4’ to 28o4’ N and 76o7’ to 77o13’ E). It supports a dense layer of herbs and shrubs because of its open forest canopy. Hence, the role of dominant herb and shrubs in the litter dynamics has been evaluated in this forest. The total annual litter of the forest floor was 328 g m-2 out of which more than 32 % was contributed by the selected shrubs of the ground vegetation. The shrub Grewia flavescens contributed from September to March, Capparis sepiaria from March to June whereas Justicia adhatoda throughout the year. It seems from the study that Justicia adhatoda plays greater role whereas the common herb Achyranthes aspera played the lowest role in the litter dynamics of this forest.

Moringa oleifera Lam.is a plant known for its nutrient content and medicinal values. The Miracle Plant, that is specially cultivated world over, has multifarious utility. The pharmaceutical and processed food industries are specially benefited by the usage of different elements of Moringa oleifera Lam, making significant impact in improving the nutraceutical, dietary and medicinal values of the supplements that are either derived or processed from leaves of the plant. When the composition of proximate principles of the dried M. oleifera Lam. leaves, obtained from four different areas of Ajmer, Rajasthan was compared, it gave a clear insight to the objective of the study initiated, showing that the leaves contained 7.51±0.82 gm of moisture (ranged from 6.37±0.01 to 8.22±0.01 gm) , 28.38±0.58 gm of protein (varied between 27.65±0.01 - 28.95±0.03) , 4.52±0.13 gm of fat (ranged from 4.36±0.00to 4.68±0.01gm ) , crude fibre 9.54±0.25 gm (ranged from 9.26±0.02to 9.83±0.03 gm ), 10.62±0.78 gm of ash (ranged from 9.87±0.00 to11.83±0.01gm), 48.77±1.29 gm of carbohydrate (ranged 46.89±0.78 to 49.84±0.13gm) and 351.39±4.65 kcal energy ( ranged from 345.04±0.80 to 357.18±0.71 kcal)respectively. The study also threw a light to the fact which reveals that an appreciable amount of nutrients is existing in dried M. oleifera Lam leaves, supplementing for proteins and fibres, showcasing the nutritional importance of the natural product, enhancing the possibilities of betterment of health care system and general life style of each individual in the country, together with cost effectiveness, in particular. In an overview, it is evident in the analysis, that the therapeutic composition of the leaves of M. oleifera is an undeniably worth the efforts put in assessing the same.