We Can Prevent Diseases By Eating Local Foods-Expert Tells Nigerians
Prof. Oladapo Ashiru, a Consultant in Reproductive Endocrinology is urging Nigerians to eat more of local foods as this will help prevent diseases.
Nigerian foods
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Ashiru who is the CEO of Mart-Life Detox Clinic, made his observation known in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday, November 13, 2018.
Prof. Oladapo Ashiru spoke with reference to the World Diabetes Day which is celebrated annually on the 14th of November. 2018 theme is ‘The Family and Diabetes’.
He said: “When we were growing up, what were the staple foods? We had garri in the form of `eba` and the ones we made to drink; `ogi`, which is pap; eko, also made from corn.
“There is plantain of different types, beans, okra, ewedu and all these were our staple foods from generations.
“What have we done? We have replaced them with processed foods and junks; most children are now consuming some of these processed foods of which some of them are 100 per cent gluten..
“Most Africans are gluten intolerant; it is of very little nutritional value and danger to our environment.
“Also, we eat wheat products instead of cassava; we can make bread from cassava and tiger nuts; we can do a lot by making tiger nut milk, palm kernel milk, and coconut milk.
“Every single product of our local foods is healthy; we are looking outward instead of inward and those westernised foods are causing several damages to our health.”
The Consultant made it known that research carried out revealed that our local foods contain nutritional values that help fight diseases in our environment.
He said: “Of great use is bitter leaf; it is one of the most powerful medicinal foods we have in Nigeria and possibly Africa.
“It is very good for the inner function of our system.
“People who have problems with kidney disorders, it helps to reduce the creatinine (a product in the blood system that shows kidney function) level.
“In developed countries, they have now processed bitter leaf into capsules. Meanwhile, we do not know in Africa.
“It is nice to eat bitter leaf, even if it is just once in a week.
“Also, `Ogbono soup` which is known to be anti-oxidant-any antioxidant will prevent the buildup of free radicals which can lead to so many disorders, including cancer.
“We also have bitter kola which is good for the gall bladder.”
Prof. Oladapo Ashiru made it known that we can educate people to start maintaining a healthy lifestyle as a disease like Diabetes can be avoided just by eating right diet.
You can also read this: 5 HEALTH RISK OF EATING PROCESSED FOOD
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