What plastic products do to your health

Plastic goods come in different shapes, colours and sizes. These days, virtually every household item contains one plastic element or the other. From a baby’s feeding bottle to toys, plates, cups, cutlery, lunch baskets, freezer bags, table mats, buckets and large water containers, plastic wares seem to have taken over in the home.

Ditto the offices, where many portable utilities like water dispenser and waste bins, among others, are handy. In drive-through restaurants, you are served foods in microwavable take-away packs that are plastic.

At social gatherings such as burial ceremonies, chieftaincy celebrations or birthdays, different designs of plastic ware are usually handed out as tokens, and they are mostly monogrammed with the names and pictures of the hosts.

Food packaging and beverage industries also make use of plastic products, especially because of their durability and availability.

Western diet, route to early grave

BY SOLAADE AYO-ADERELE

Western food

What does your breakfast look like?

The answer to this simple question may be as diverse as the ethnic tribes that make up Nigeria, what with our attitude towards food, which borders on consuming large portions.

Among the upwardly mobile, breakfast may consist of corn flakes (which are usually fortified with some so-called vitamins), bacon, fried eggs or omelet, white bread and tea sweetened with white sugar — or other forms of sugars that researchers say are not in the least healthy.

At work, lunch may not be better, as it may be a combination of fried chicken or sautéed fish, with a generous serving of French fries, to be washed down with a large, chilled bottle of sugary beverage.

Dinner is no better, as it may consist of some take-away from the numerous fast food eateries that line major routes. Yet, experts say you eat Western diet to your peril. The unambiguous conclusion among dieticians, nutritionists, physicians and researchers is that Western diet is unhealthy and should not be taken regularly or served at the family table for that matter.

Nutritional benefits of onion

Never mind the tears they provoke, onions help in your fight against diseases. A prized member of the lily family, they lavish you with health benefits while adding taste to your food. A quick glimpse at their incredible health benefits:

• The phytochemicals in onions improve the working of Vitamin C in the body, thus gifting you with improved immunity.

• Onions contain chromium, which assists in regulating blood sugar.

• For centuries, onions have been used to reduce inflammation and heal infections.

• Do you enjoy sliced onions with your food? If yes, rejoice! Raw onion encourages the production of good cholesterol (HDL), thus keeping your heart healthy.

• A powerful compound called quercetin in onions is known to play a significant role in preventing cancer.

• Got bitten by a honeybee? Apply onion juice on the area for immediate relief from the pain and burning sensation.

• Onions and garlic are both pungent in odour and flavour. Linked to this pungency is the fact that both of these vegetables are excellent natural antibacterial agents. By eating a diet that is heavy in (raw or slightly cooked) onions, you can boost your body’s natural protection against bacteria. You’ll be less likely to experience certain types of infections.

• Onions are generally high in iron. Red onions, in particular, have the highest concentrations of iron. This can be helpful for a number of reasons. Onions can prevent anaemia and also boost blood cells in a number of ways as a result of the iron that they contain.

• Folic acid is helpful in regulating body systems. It is typically found in different types of fruits, but onions are unique in that they contain a hefty amount of folic acid.

• Contributed by: Ebuka Ezeji

Source: Punchng.com

Quail Eggs: A Super Healing Food

Quail eggs: A super healing food

By Prince Arinze Onebunne 

Prince Arinze Onebunne the Managing Director, Jovana farms, is a role model to many youth and retirees. This is because of his business of creating mini-livestock millionaires. The industry has thrived in recent years. For people who want to start their own business, Onebunne advises them to try raising quails for health and wealth. Quail need little water and food and lays an egg a day.

The meat is white, tasty and healthy for consumption, however, the eggs by far is the most important product. Onebunne helps people to set up farms for quail, grasscutter, snail, fish, rabbit, e.tc. He has for sale good species of these animals including large quantity of quail eggs

British researchers say that quail egg should be pronounced a super-food, as it has a very good impact on our health and even helps to fight obesity. According to nutritionists the egg as food is one of the richest in good essential ingredients and we all should consume at least two eggs  a day. The researchers emphasize the egg’s important role in general health protection as well as losing and maintaining body weight. Quail egg is simple an elixir of life, we all need it.

Dodo Ikire

Dodo Ikire is a delicacy that originated from South-West Nigeria, in particular, Ikire, in Osun State.

It is a snack enjoyed by people across different ethnic groups, even outside Nigeria.

It is a sure taste thriller made from overripe plantain.

Although the original creators of the delicacy say that is a particular type of plantain is used to prepare it, one can use the regular plantain.

One thing is sure; you will still get that distinctive taste.

So, when next you are wondering what to do with those overripe fingers of plantain in your kitchen, think Dodo Ikire.

Ingredients

Plantains with black skin

Crushed bell pepper

Palm oil (or a mixture of palm oil and vegetable oil)

Salt

Method

*Heat the oil until hot but not smoking

*Cut plantain into coarse dice

*Mix with crushed bell pepper, salt and form into small balls

*Drop the balls in the hot oil

*Reduce the heat and fry until the balls turn dark brown

*Remove and drain on paper towels

*Serve warm

BY BOSEDE OLUSOLA-OBASA

Homemade fish BBQ for Easter

 BY BOSEDE OLUSOLA-OBASA

Spice up your Easter meals with exciting whole fish BBQ. Here’s a guide to preparing it right in the comfort of your kitchen.

- Light your grill and set it at its highest heat setting. Let it heat up for at least 20 minutes or so

- Check the fish fillets. None should be more than an inch or so thick

- Season the fish well with salt and pepper or your desired dry seasoning

- Make sure that you have all your utensils next to the grill, along with a clean plate or dish to hold the cooked fish

- Oil the grill grate lightly; then repeat

- This coat of oil will prevent the fish from sticking and will promote the formation of grill marks.

- Lay the fish in the centre of the grill directly above the heat source. There should be an audible sizzle •Avoid cooler sections of the grill and indirect heat

- Wait for about two minutes, then slide the prongs of a broiler fork between the bars of the grill grate and slide them under the fish.

- Gently lift up a section of fish to check the cooking and look for the formation of grill marks.

- When grill marks form, use the broiler fork to lift up a corner of the fillet, and slide a spatula under the fish

- Turn the fish over and cook the other side

- Use the broiler fork to flake open a section of one fillet to check if it is cooked. If the interior of the fillet is no longer translucent, the fish is cooked

- Remove the fillets as soon as they’re done

INGREDIENTS

- 1 whole fish (such as red snapper)

- Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

- 6 cloves garlic, minced

- 2 green chili, stemmed, seeded, and minced

- 1/ 2 piece ginger, peeled and minced

- Juice of two limes

- 1 cup canned coconut milk

- 1⁄2 tsp curry powder

- Canola oil, for brushing

- Other seasonings

Feel free to add more to these ingredients.

Additional report from e-How.com

Dietary supplements? Slow down!

 BY KEMI LAWAL

Dietary supplements, slow down

Food supplements, also known as dietary supplements, are meant to improve your diet by providing vitamins, minerals, herbs, amino acids, enzymes, and other beneficial substances. They come in a variety of forms, including capsules, soft gels, gel caps, and tablets.

According to the website www.military.com, they contribute to improved muscular strength, endurance, and overall physical performance.  For this reason, they are commonly taken by athletes to improve their performance. Food supplements can also prevent a variety of diseases and health conditions. For example, pregnant women are advised to take folic acid to prevent birth defects. Other supplements are used in combination with drugs as a method of complementary or alternative treatment for health conditions.

Although supplements are available for every type of vitamin and mineral, most experts advise obtaining nutrients through diet because supplements can’t replicate all of the nutrients and benefits of whole foods. According to www.mayoclinic.com, some vitamin supplements can be dangerous if you ingest too many of them. Too much vitamin A, for example, can cause hair, skin and bone problems, headaches, and irritability. Overuse of vitamin D can cause kidney stones, tiredness, and mental health problems. Vitamin C is an exception in the water-soluble category, as too much of it can cause kidney stones and gastrointestinal problems.

Another problem with vitamin supplements is that they ordinarily do not contain fibre. Replacing nutritious food with vitamin supplements may therefore decrease fibre intake. Fibre is a substance derived from food that helps to clear out and regulate your intestinal tract. It is also filling, which helps decrease appetite, and soluble fibres play a role in lowering blood cholesterol.

Taking vitamins may decrease your natural phytonutrient intake. Phytonutrients are chemical substances in foods that likely protect against certain types of cancer and cardiovascular disease. They are found in a variety of foods including fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes.

In addition, when taking vitamin supplements, you may miss out on the intake of other needed vitamins and minerals. A multivitamin may make up for this deficiency to an extent; however, your risk of vitamin toxicity increases. Eating a balanced diet consisting of a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, protein and dairy is more likely to give you the appropriate balance of all needed nutrients.

Most vitamins are water soluble and will quickly be used or flushed out of your body without building up to toxic levels; however, there are some vitamins that may build up to dangerous levels in the body. The fat-soluble vitamins A, D and E are stored in the body for long periods and unhealthy build-up can cause health issues such as birth defects, nausea, kidney damage and digestive tract disorders. Supplementation can lead to toxicity of these nutrients. Healthy adults should intake no more than 10,000 IU— International Units— of vitamin A; 2,000 IU of vitamin D; and 1,100 IU of vitamin E in supplement form per day to avoid toxic levels of these vitamins.

Vitamins have the potential to interact with drugs or exacerbate certain health problems and it’s recommended that you inform your doctor if you are taking them. Vitamin E is one of the primary nutrients, which has great potential to interact with certain medications. This nutrient may increase risk of blood clotting in people taking anti-clotting drugs, may interact with chemotherapy or radiation therapy and has the capacity to lessen the effectiveness of certain cholesterol-lowering medications.

There is still a lot of research that needs to be done to confirm the effectiveness of certain vitamin supplements. Many people take them with the assumption that they will work just as well as natural nutrients from foods. In reality, supplements are man-made ‘nutrients’ which are not always as effective in improving health as their natural counterparts.

For example, vitamin C ingested from food sources may help reduce risk of certain cancers of the mouth and breast and lower high blood pressure— with the help of blood pressure medication –  while their synthetic counterparts have been shown to have no beneficial effect in reducing certain cancers of the mouth, breast or lowering high blood pressure.

For optimal benefit, consult your doctor about the right dietary supplements for you. Research the supplement ingredients before you purchase the product. Avoid dietary supplements with mega doses of any ingredient, particularly vitamin A, vitamin D, and iron. A mega dose is one that exceeds the recommended dietary intake. Although mega doses can be beneficial for the treatment of certain health conditions, they can also cause toxicity symptoms. Finally, stop taking any supplement if you experience an unpleasant side effect, and never combine supplements with medication or other supplements without your doctor’s recommendation.

Principle of proper food combination

 BY ARINOLA ADENIYI

Food combining health

I am an unrepentant believer in the fact that ‘diets don’t work!’ The best way to go about losing weight is to develop a long lasting healthy lifestyle you can cope with and enjoy. That way, you would avoid the frustrations of unachieved set weight loss goals, giving up virtually everything you love, fluctuating weight, as well as the yo-yo diet trap.

Coming across a programme that allows you to eat everything you already eat and which makes you lose weight in the process by properly combining your food is worth considering.

Proper food combination is an approach to eating which makes it easier for the body to digest food. It is believed that Dr Howard Hay developed the philosophy in 1904 to treat himself of the very familiar “trinity of troubles” ranked as the primary source of death; viz the combination of high blood pressure, kidney disease and a dilated heart. It postulates that our body cannot effectively digest proteins and carbohydrates at the same time because the chemical processes are anti-productive during digestion.

By following Dr Howard Hay’s food combination guidelines, food is more easily digested, providing better absorption of food, which ultimately gives the body more energy.

- Food can be divided into three groups: Proteins, carbohydrates and neutral

Proteins include meat, poultry, fish, cheese, eggs, soya beans, yoghurt, milk and milk products.

Carbohydrates include, bread (whole meal flour), tapioca, rye, wheat, sweet corn, quinoa, oats, nuts, potatoes, sweet potatoes, pastas, rice, sweets, sugar/honey.

Neutral includes most vegetables, all salads, seeds, nuts, herbs, spice, cream, butter, natural and cold pressed oil, egg yolk, avocado, olives.

Tips for proper food combination:

- Proteins and carbohydrates should not be eaten together.

- Neutral foods can be combined with either proteins or carbohydrates.

- Allow four hours between carbohydrate and protein meals.

- Protein, carbohydrate and fats should be eaten in small quantities

- Vegetable, salad and fruits should be a major part of your diet.

- Avoid beans, dried peas and noodles made of eggs because they contain large amounts of protein and carbohydrate.

- Only whole grains and unprocessed starches should be used and all refined and processed foods should be eliminated from your diet.

- Combining foods that are compatible with each other in terms of digestive chemistry is believed to significantly improve our health. Yes, you can have your pounded yam with vegetables minus the ‘orisirisi’(assorted meat); (hopefully there will not be diced beef and dried fish with every mouthful of the vegetable!) Boiled potatoes and vegetables without your chicken? You will acquire the taste and way of eating in no time. You can combine your food properly too when eating out at a restaurant, just always remember the basic guidelines.

Benefits

- It reduces and eliminates indigestion problem

- There is better effective utilisation and assimilation of nutrients.

- It promotes weight loss.

- Helps to jump-start metabolism

- It helps with debilitating diseases

- You feel fuller longer

- It increases overall health and well-being.

 I wish you optimum health and well-being!

Curative power of sugar revealed

Curative power of sugar revealed: Heals wounds, leg ulcers more than anti-biotics

•  

Besides being used as sweetener and preservative, new research shows sugar is more effective than modern medicine.

Innovative University of Wolverhampton senior lecturer, Moses Murandu, is researching the healing effect of sugar on cuts and wounds. He carried out the research into the effect of sugar on patients’ wounds on the vascular ward at Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham, funding the study himself for six months.

Murandu, 43, grew up in Zimbabwe, where he watched his father treating wounds and reducing pain by pouring granulated sugar directly into wounds. But when he moved to the UK, he realised that sugar was not used for this purpose.

“When I was a child, my father used sugar or salt and I grew up without realising that something that works so well is not widely used,” he said.

His research found granulated sugar poured directly on leg ulcers, bed sores, and amputations promotes healing when antibiotics and other modern medicine have failed.

It works because bacteria needs water to grow, so applying sugar to a wound draws the water away and starves the bacteria of water. This prevents the bacteria from multiplying and they die. Moses found that a 25 per cent sugar concentration ensures the microorganisms cannot survive.

Explaining why sugar instead of salt is more effective Murandu, said:

“While salt is painful, sugar is not and reduces the pain drastically. The patients we have tested it on in the pilot study have said that they never knew such a simple method could make such a difference to their quality of life.”

One of the patients who received sugar treatment on a wound as part of the research was 62-year-old Alan Bayliss from Birmingham.

“I was a little sceptical at first but once I saw the sugar in operation, I was impressed,” he said.

Bayliss had undergone an above-the knee amputation on his right leg at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham and, as part of the surgery, a vein was removed from his left leg leaving a wound which would not heal properly.

Murandu, who is studying for a doctorate at Birmingham University, was contacted and asked to treat the wound with sugar and the outcome was impressive.

“It has been revolutionary. The actual wound was very deep - it was almost as big as my finger,” said Bayliss.

“When Moses first did the dressing he almost used the whole pot of sugar, but two weeks later he only needed to use four or five teaspoons.

“I am very pleased indeed. I feel that it has speeded up my recovery a lot, and it has been a positive step forward. I was a little sceptical at first but once I saw the sugar in operation and how much it was drawing the wound out, I was impressed.”

The randomised control trial at three West Midlands hospitals is only half way through. So far, 35 patients have been treated with sugar treatment.

Murandu, and his research team are pleased by the results so far.

“I believe in sugar and the nurses and doctors who see the effects are beginning to believe in it too.”

Staff nurse Jonathan Janneman commented on the effect the treatment is having on the patients:

“He could see the cavity in his leg as well as having been unwell and through operations. But the sugar has given him something to hold on to.

“It is amazing that something as simple as sugar has given him a morale boost.”

Sugar has also featured in both folk and traditional South Asia medicine. It has been used to treat ailment ranging from coughs to constipation. The roots and stems of sugar cane are used in Ayurvedic medicine (one of the world’s oldest medicine originated in India).

They treat skin and urinary tract infections, bronchitis, heart conditions, loss of milk production, cough, anaemia, constipation as well as general debility. They also lower blood pressure and use to cure hiccups.

Though eating sugar cane either as juice or as raw cane, can lead to tooth decay, some compounds in the juice may protect teeth from the worst effects of sugar.

• Written by  Victory Oyeleke  
• Tribune

Ewedu: Good for everyone

BY BOSEDE OLUSOLA-OBASA

Ewedu leaves make a highly nutritional soup. It is a traditional soup mostly eaten by the Yoruba of South-West Nigeria. But, like many other meals its acceptance has exceeded its original roots over the years. It belongs to a class of leaves called Jute. The leaves are available year round. Mothers usually rely on slimy ewedu soup when introducing solid meals to their toddlers.

There are different ways of preparing Ewedu. It may be prepared as abula (when combined with Gbegiri – beans soup); it can also be prepared with Okoro mostly eaten by the Yoruba but it is increasingly being appreciated by people from other ethnic groups.

Ewedu soup is mostly served with solids such as amala, Semo vita, eba and so on.

 Ingredients

Ewedu leaves

Teaspoon of potash (optional)

A pinch of salt

Seasoning

Ground crayfish

Stew

Method

•Pick the leaves

•Wash properly with a lot of water to remove sand

•Cook the ewedu leaves in a pot for about 15 mins

•Add potash to soften it

•Add a pinch of salt, seasoning and crayfish

•When it is soft, you can use the local broom to whisk it or blend

•Serve with stew or gbegiri and amala (yam flour)

BY BOSEDE OLUSOLA-OBASA

Punch