IPMAT Indore 2026 · Quantitative Ability · Question 39

IPMAT Indore 2026 previous year question on Tables, with the answer and a step-by-step solution.

TablesData InterpretationMultiple choiceMedium

Set 2: Nutritionist’s diet plan – Calcium, Iron and Protein — this question belongs to a set. Read the full set with all 5 questions →

A nutritionist is designing a daily diet plan of a person using five food items: Milk, Spinach, Almonds, Oats, and Rice. The Minimum Daily Requirement (MDR) of the nutrients Calcium, Iron and Protein should be 1100 mg, 15 mg, and 40 g, respectively. The following table gives nutrient content per serving of each food item:

Food item	Calcium (mg)	Iron (mg)	Protein (g)
Milk	300	0	8
Spinach	90	6	3
Almonds	210	4	6
Oats	120	3	5
Rice	50	1	4

Each serving provides a certain percentage of the MDR. For example, one serving of milk satisfies 20% of MDR of Protein. Further, the number of servings of any food item should be a whole number.

The food item(s) that can satisfy at least half of the MDR for all the three nutrients using up to seven servings of that single item alone is

A
Only Almonds, and Oats
B
Only Almonds, Spinach, and Oats
C
Only Almonds
D
Only Almonds, and Spinach

Pick an option, then check.

Answer & solution

Answer: Option B

Step 1 — half the MDR.

\text{Calcium}550, \text{Iron}7.5, \text{Protein}20

Step 2 — multiply each item by the maximum 7 servings and test all three.

Item × 7	Calcium	Iron	Protein	All three?
Milk	2100 ✓	0 ✗	56 ✓	✗
Spinach	630 ✓	42 ✓	21 ✓	✓
Almonds	1470 ✓	28 ✓	42 ✓	✓
Oats	840 ✓	21 ✓	35 ✓	✓
Rice	350 ✗	7 ✗	28 ✓	✗

Step 3 — read off. Spinach, Almonds and Oats all manage it.

Milk fails only on iron (it has none), and Rice fails on calcium and iron.

Answer: Option 2 — Only Almonds, Spinach, and Oats

Shortcut. Test the weakest nutrient of each item first and you can reject fast: milk dies on iron (zero), rice on calcium (7\times 50=350<550). Spinach looks weak on protein but 7\times 3=21 just clears 20 — that near-miss is the question’s trap.

IPMAT Indore 2026 · Quantitative Ability · Question 39

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