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 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 "Ive 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 wont know. Rather than
consuming processed foods, make your pounded yam the
natural way. It may be time consuming, but it saves ones
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.