Eat more Fish, Less Meat-- Experts

High cholesterol affects millions of Nigerians.
Experts warn that high consumption of
meat leads to this malaise, writes
MOTUNRAYO JOEL
A restaurant owner at Agege, Lagos State,
Mrs. Ireti Lawal, receives a lot of patronage
on a daily basis. In the afternoon, there is a
long queue of people waiting to have a taste
of her African dishes which are spiced with
vegetable soup and fried fish.
But what attracts people to her food? A
customer in his late forties who simply
identified himself as Kunle said he likes the
way she fries her fish.
He said "I've been eating at the kitchen since
I started working in the area. Her food
tastes so nice. Her vegetable soup is sweet,
including her fried fish."
There are many other people who, like
Kunle, enjoy eating processed and fried
food.
However, what they may not be aware of is
that continuous consumption of processed
and fried food could trigger diseases such
as diabetes, cancer and heart related
diseases.
There are several reports of persons who
slumped and died from heart-related
diseases.
Speaking to SUNDAY PUNCH, a nutritionist
from Mart Life Detox Clinic, Lagos, Mrs.
Idowu Ashiru, urged Nigerians to be more
conscious of their eating habits.
She said, "Nigerians consume high amount
of bad oil, that is, oil that has not been
properly processed. Frying your oil for too
long is bad. A large percentage of cooking
oil sold in the market is not well processed.
As you continually consume badly processed
oil, it gets into your arteries and clogs up the
arteries. This could lead to diabetes, heart
attack and cancer.
"I always advise women to be careful about
the way they fry their palm and groundnut
oil. This type of oil should not be over
heated because it becomes toxic to the
body. Even when you want to cook with oil,
a table spoon is good enough. Anything
more than a table spoon is not good. In
Nigeria, we are fond of frying our food but
there are other ways to prepare dishes. You
can either grill or bake your meals. These
methods are better," Ashiru said.
The nutritionist added that consumption of
processed food is harmful to the body.
"Despite our love for processed food just
because they are quick to prepare, these
types of food are harmful. Natural food is
always better. Some people may be allergic
to processed food and they won't know.
Rather than consuming processed foods,
make your pounded yam the natural way. It
may be time consuming, but it saves one's
life," she said.
Also speaking on the subject, a doctor at the
Federal Medical Centre, Idi-Aba, Abeokuta,
Ogun State, Gbenga Alaba, explains what
cholesterol is and how it travels in the body
system.
"It is important for us to educate ourselves
on cholesterol. Cholesterol is a type of lipid
(fat) that is produced by the liver and can be
got from the food we eat. It circulates in our
blood system to play an important role for
normal body functions and it is also a
source of energy during a prolonged period
without food. Cholesterol cannot travel in
the blood system without the help of some
proteins, so the combination of cholesterol
and these proteins are known as
'lipoproteins,' in which Low Density
Lipoprotein and High Density Lipoprotein
are part of. This is responsible for the
transportation of cholesterol from the liver
where it is produced to the peripheral cells
in the body. Some people regard LDL as bad
cholesterol because if the activity of LDL
goes on unchecked, it can lead to heart
diseases like myocardial infarction and brain
disease like cerebrovascular accident (infarct
stroke)," he said.
Alaba stated that some activities could
trigger high cholesterol.
"Taking meals that contain saturated fats
have an increasing effect on the body LDL
cholesterol level. This is the reason why red
meat is discouraged because of its high
content in saturated fats. Cooking oil that
gets solidified under room temperature (the
one most people regard as sleeping oil)
should also be discouraged because of its
high content of saturated fats. Also, smoking
is another bad habit. Not exercising, just
sitting or lying down does harm to the body.
Studies have shown that people that are
obese have higher LDL level compared to
those that are not obese," he said.
Nutrition expert, Mr. Okunola Oladimeji,
advised that fish instead of red meat should
be frquently consumed.
Oladimeji said, "We should imbibe the habit
of eating food like fish. Nigeria has different
types of fishes including locally harvested
and imported such as Mackerel, catfish,
shrimps, prawns; tuna, salmon; cods and
other sea foods. We should endeavour to
eat more fishes than meat because fishes
are beneficial to the body. Fish protein is
high in quality and contains sufficient
amount of all essential amino acids the body
requires for growth and maintenance of
lean muscle tissues. The oil in fishes like
mackerels is wonderful. It can equally enrich,
as well as nourish our brains and skins."
He also noted that diets with more fibre and
protein help protect the body against
diseases, hence, it is an ideal diet for every
human being.
"Vegetables are high in fibre contents. Fibre
can be called roughages and the diets that
contain them are highly recommended as
strong health eating diets," he said.

Source: punch