Eating for Training on a Family Budget: What India's Own Guidelines Say

“Most athletes can get the recommended amount of protein through food alone, without the use of supplements. Protein powders are not required.”

That is not a slogan from a food blog. It is from the Dietary Guidelines for Indians, issued in 2024 by the Indian Council of Medical Research and its National Institute of Nutrition (ICMR-NIN). One of its 17 guidelines is titled, in part, “avoid protein supplements to build muscle mass”.

For a family paying academy fees, this is good news. The expensive tub is the part the national guidance says you can leave on the shelf.

What the guideline says about protein powders

Four statements from the protein chapter are worth knowing word for word or close to it.

Protein requirements “are not as high as commonly perceived”. The recommended allowance for a healthy adult is given as 0.83g of protein per kg of body weight a day.

Protein powders “may also contain added sugars, non-caloric sweeteners and additives”, and are “not advisable to be consumed on a regular basis”.

Prolonged intake of a large amount of protein “is associated with potential dangers, such as bone mineral loss and kidney damage”.

And the summary box: “Protein powders are unnecessary and can cause harm.”

There is one more risk for a competing athlete that the guideline does not cover: a supplement can contain a substance banned in sport. That is a reason to ask a qualified sports nutritionist or the federation before a competing child takes anything.

Protein alone does not build muscle

The same chapter answers a question families ask directly: will just eating more protein build muscle?

Its answer is no. Protein is not used well without enough energy from carbohydrates and fats, and it is unlikely to be used for muscle at all without physical activity and strength exercise.

In plain terms: the rice, roti and oil on the plate are not the enemy of the dal. The body needs them to use it.

Where the protein comes from in an Indian kitchen

The guidelines are specific here, and the answer is cheap.

Cereals with pulses, three to one. Combining cereals and pulses in a ratio of 3:1 by raw weight improves the quality of protein in a meal, because each supplies the amino acids the other is short of. Rice and dal, roti and chana, idli and sambar are all this combination.

Pulses are the economical source. The guidelines list lentils, green gram, horse gram, black gram, chickpeas, kidney beans, cowpeas, soyabean and green peas as rich in protein, and note that protein from pulses is less expensive than protein from meat, eggs or milk.

Vegetarians are not at a disadvantage. The guidelines state that the essential amino acids “can be easily met if one consumes a healthy balanced diet, whether vegetarian or non-vegetarian”.

Eggs, milk, fish and meat are described as good sources of quality protein for those who eat them.

Nuts and seeds are also listed as containing substantial protein.

The plate

ICMR-NIN’s “My Plate for the Day” draws energy from at least 10 food groups. Vegetables, fruits, green leafy vegetables, roots and tubers make up about half of the day’s recommended foods. At least half the cereals should be whole grains such as millets.

Two lines printed with the suggested diets for children are easy to remember: every meal should be accompanied by dal and vegetables, and added sugar should be kept under 5% of the day’s energy.

A training teenager needs more food, not different food

The guidelines include suggested balanced diets for physically active adolescents aged 16 to 18: about 2,490 kcal a day for a girl weighing 56kg and about 3,300 kcal for a boy weighing 64kg. They add that energy needs depend on body weight and physical activity.

Those figures are examples for specific body weights, not targets for your child. The point they make is about scale. An active teenager eats a lot, and the extra should come from the same plate in larger amounts.

This matters most in sports with weight classes, where the pull is toward eating less. Making weight under a deadline covers what that pressure does.

What this article does not do

It does not give your child a diet chart. Amounts depend on age, weight, sport and training load, and a growing child with a medical condition or an eating problem needs a doctor or a qualified dietitian.

The guidelines themselves run to well over a hundred pages and include suggested diets by age. Read the chapter for your child’s age group.

If cost is the main worry, When you can’t afford sports training looks at the wider picture.