Other sports experts, however, said overdependence on non-vegetarian food by sportpersons was a result of various preconceptions held by coaches on the amount of protein needed by their protegees. These experts said putting sportspersons on high-protein diets during the national camps was also a problem because most of them could not maintain a similar diet at home due to its high cost. This creates problems which can be easily solved by maintaining a balanced diet.

Goswami says if the diet history of most players is taken into account, it is revealed that most of them are not taking non-vegetarian diets but said this factor was taken care of through long-term camps of a duration of one year or so. The high cost of the daily diet, which worked out to around Rs 150 to Rs 180 per day, was difficult for many sportspersons to sustain.

According to the latest research findings, even if a person is a vegetarian he can meet all protein requirements in form of milk and milk products , cereals, lentils, pulses and soyabeans. ''Our vegetarian wrestlers are doing just that,'' said Goswami, adding even though their diet needed to be balanced by reducing their fat content. Nutritionists, while upholding the value of vegetarianism, discount the new concept of giving more carbohydrates to sportsmen in western countries. They said there were enough carbohydrates in Indian food and there was no need to supplement them further.

It may take a long time yet to explain all this to sportsmen visiting the NIS for various camps. Most of the sportsmen interviewed regarding their preferences opted for non-vegetarian food saying it was the only way to bolster their strength. Vegetarian may be Indian but non vegetarianism is likely to be the choice of Indian sportspersons for some time to come.