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Tag: foods

  • Top seven foods to avoid at night

    Top seven foods to avoid at night

    It is agreed that food makes a person healthy. Eating the right foods at the right time is essential to the health. Studies show that some foods contribute to some illnesses. As the saying goes, you eat like a king in the morning, you eat like a prince in the afternoon and you eat like a common man in the night. This will promote better and balanced health.

    While there is no specific time to eat at night, medical experts suggest that dinner should be taken by within 2-3 hours before bedtime, which is most likely 8-9p.m. Still, many people compromise this, especially in a society where that’s the period they return home from work.

    Remember, health is wealth.

    Below are the foods to avoid at night:

    1. Junk

    Junk foods such as pastries, snacks, and fries should be avoided at night. Such foods contain lots of sugar and fats which can cause bloating and slow digestion. They also weigh heavily on the stomach because of the oil content.

    2. Heavy meals

    Heavy meals such as Nigerian traditional dishes (swallow) are commonly consumed foods at night. Starchy foods, especially served in large quantities, and heavy foods like eba should be avoided at night. It is high in calories and can cause discomfort while sleeping. Studies show this as one of the causes of abdominal weight gain, e.g. potbelly.

    3. Carbonated drinks

    Carbonated drinks like sodas and minerals are highly carbonated. If consumed at night, they can lead to bloating, discomfort during sleep as a result of the large amount of sugar.

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    4. Caffeine

    Caffeinated drinks such as coffee and energy drinks are commonly consumed by students. It helps to stimulate the brain and keeps you awake into the night. Although it boosts energy, it can still cause sleeplessness. This should be avoided at night as it can later lead to insomnia, which will further affect the concentration and productivity the next day.

    5. Red meats

    Red meats such as beef and pork contain large amounts of protein. It is harder to digest, compared to fish. If eaten at night in heavy portions, red meat might cause slow digestion, restlessness and increase the risk of acid reflux.

    6. Spicy Foods

    Common in many Nigerian dishes, foods that contain a lot of pepper and spices should be limited. It irritates the stomach lining and can cause stomach upset during sleep. This can lead to heartburn and worsening acid reflux. 

    7. Alcohol

    Alcohol contains ethanol, which acts as a depressant on the nervous system. While it may make you feel relaxed or sleepy at first, it actually disrupts deep sleep, dehydrates the body, and increases night-time urination.

  • Ramadan Day Three: 12 foods to eat, avoid during Sahur, Iftar

    Ramadan Day Three: 12 foods to eat, avoid during Sahur, Iftar

    To foster a healthy eating process for the muslims faithfuls during the Ramadan season, it is important to note some key procedures on how to better guide and inform the intakes when breaking each fast per day.

    During Ramadan, Muslims make some changes in their daily routines including their eating and sleeping patterns.

    Due to the developments, their biological system also undergoes a series of changes both physically and mentally, which necessitates eating the right diet at Sahur (dawn) and iftar (dusk).

    Below are the compilation of the types of food recommended for both Sahur and Iftar:

    What to eat during Sahur

    1. Protein-rich food: Foods that are high in protein are especially recommended for Sahur due to their ability to take longer time to digest and therefore help a fasting Muslim stay less hungry.

    Foods such as eggs, beef, lamb, poultry, fish, seafood, milk, etc are high in protein and other nutrients and can be made or cooked in different ways to suit one’s preference.

    2. Fiber-rich food: Fiber is incredibly an important source of nutrition, but what makes it particularly important during Sahur is its ability to leave your stomach undigested for many hours.

    Certain types of fiber may also promote weight loss, lower blood sugar levels, and fight constipation. Examples of fibre-rich foods include: avocados, berries, apples, whole grains (such as wheat bread, whole wheat pasta, brown rice, and oats), green beans and peas, nuts, vegetables, etc.

    3. Calcium and vitamin-rich food: High calcium foods include milk, yoghurt, cheese, leafy greens, beans, and okra. So adding a yoghurt smoothie or a vanilla milkshake to your Sahur meal can’t be a bad idea, as it can help one stay full and hydrated throughout the day.

    What to avoid during Sahur

    4. Simple or refined carbohydrates: These foods such as sugars, white flour, pastries, doughnuts and cereals provide satisfaction for only three to four hours and are low in essential nutrients. So they’re highly discouraged during Sahur.

    5. Salty food: An imbalance of sodium levels in your body makes you very thirsty while fasting, so try to avoid salty or highly seasoned foods, as well as food that contain soya sauce.

    6. Caffeinated drinks: Drinks that have caffeine lead to insomnia and restlessness. Drinks such as coffee, green tea, energy drinks, etc have high caffeine content. They are discouraged during Sahur because they don’t hydrate the body and they can leave a fasting Muslim thirsty the whole day.

    What to eat during Iftar

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    7. Sufficient fluids: Drink as much water or natural fruit juices as possible between iftar and bedtime to avoid dehydration.

    8. Potassium-rich fruits: Potassium is necessary for the proper function of the body system. Some of its key roles include minimizing cramps and maintaining the fluid balance in the body. Foods that are high in potassium include beans, dark leafy greens, potatoes, yogurt, oranges, and bananas. Dates are nutrient powerhouses that are a good source of potassium and an excellent food to break your fast.

    9. Hydrating vegetables: Cucumbers, lettuce and other vegetables are high in fibre and water. They not only help your body feel cool, but are also a great choice for keeping your skin healthy and avoiding constipation during Ramadan.

    What to avoid during iftar

    10. Carbonated drinks: Avoid drinking processed beverages and carbonated drinks (such as Milo, Bournvita, Fanta, Coke, etc) which are usually high in sugar, increasing your risk of overweight and obesity, and can cause bloating and gas, leading to indigestion. Stick to regular water or natural fruit juices to quench your thirst.

    11. High-sugar foods: High-sugar foods such as sweets and chocolates should be avoided as they contain very little nutritional value and are high in calories. They contribute to weight gain and can lead to health issues if consumed every day.

    12. Fried foods: Oily and fried food, such as fried beef, samosas, pastries etc should be avoided or at least minimized as they are loaded with fat and stored in the body as fatty tissue. Eating fatty foods after long hours of fasting causes acidity and indigestion.

  • Seven types of foods people with stomach ulcers must avoid

    Seven types of foods people with stomach ulcers must avoid

    Like everything in life, some things should be avoided.

    Individuals with stomach ulcers – which can be caused by long-term use of certain medications or an infection caused by the bacterium Helicobacter pylori(H. pylori) that requires antibiotics for treatment – often need to avoid foods that can irritate the stomach lining or increase stomach acid production.

    However, following a diet or avoiding certain foods and/or drinks can help reduce the pain and irritation associated with these sores on the lining of the stomach, esophagus, or small intestine.

    Here’s a list of foods and drinks that ulcer patients should generally avoid:

    Fizzy drinks

    Like soft drinks, any drink that makes a ‘hissing sound’ when opened is called a fizzy drink and should be avoided by people who have stomach ulcers. 

    A soft drink including canned drinks contains dissolved carbon dioxide and the space above the soft drink is filled with carbon dioxide at more than twice the atmospheric pressure which results in the hissing sound you hear due to the gas escaping into air.

    Fizzy drinks also known as carbonated drinks can lead to bloating and may contribute to acid reflux.

    Spicy food

    Spices such as chilli powder, black pepper and any hot peppers can irritate the lining of the stomach which is why spicy food in general should be avoided.

    3. Citrus fruits

    Citrus fruits like oranges, lemons, and grapefruits are acidic which can make the ulcers worse hence why it should be avoided.

    4. Tomatoes and Tomato-based Products

    Tomatoes are acidic, and foods like tomato sauce and ketchup can be problematic for ulcer patients.

    5. Coffee and Caffeine

    Caffeine can stimulate acid production, so coffee and caffeinated beverages may need to be limited.

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    6. Chocolate

    If you have stomach ulcers, you should avoid chocolates as they contain substances that can relax the lower esophageal sphincter, allowing stomach acid to flow back into the oesophagus.

    7. Alcohol

    Alcohol can irritate the stomach lining and increase the production of stomach acid.

    It’s important to note that individual tolerances of individuals with stomach ulcers can vary and what works for one person may not work for another. It’s always best for individuals with ulcers to develop a personalized plan based on their specific needs and tolerances to know what they can take and what they cannot.

  • ‘Govt, private sector should work to fortify foods’

    ‘Govt, private sector should work to fortify foods’

    The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), eHealth Africa and the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) have called on the Federal Government to partner the private sector to promote food fortification.

    Lead, Input and Distribution Thematic Group, Agriculture and Food Security Policy Commission of the NESG, Mr Dianabasi Akpainyang, made the call during an advocacy visit to Flour Mills Nigeria (FMN) Plc.

    This, he said, could be done by developing and implementing policies that support food fortification, such as mandatory fortification standards and financial incentives for food producers.

    Akpainyang noted that the private sector could do this by investing in food fortification equipment and by producing and marketing fortified foods.

    He however urged Flour Mill to ensure their workers eat fortified meals, noting that consuming food fortified with  nutrients would improve their productivity and prevent micronutrient deficiencies.

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    He further urged the company to promote nutrition among its staff members, adding that a well-nourished workforce was essential for economic growth and development.

     The Senior Programme Officer, CISLAC, Mr Muhammed Murtala, said  establishing a laboratory for testing fortification would help to ensure that Nigerians have access to safe and nutritious food.

    Murtala said fortification is the process of adding vitamins and minerals to food, and it is a public health strategy used to improve a population’s nutritional status and prevent micronutrient deficiencies.

    He said the need for a testing lab was a significant obstacle to the effective implementation of the mandatory food fortification programme in Nigeria.

    Earlier, Manager, Quality Control, FMN, Mrs Jessica Nworgu, urged the government to equip its lab and ensure the workers had the technical know-how to carry out sample testing.

  • How to retain nutrients in foods

    I crave your indulgence to deviate slightly from our regular consumer stories to nutrient retention in foods, due to an abnormality that most consumers are beginning to accept and practice as if it is the correct thing.

    Anytime, I go to the market and see consumers getting their unwashed fresh vegetables shredded in the market, it always brings to my mind that popular verse in the Holy Bible stated in the book of Hosea, chapter 4, verse 6: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge”.

    If they have the knowledge that they are losing almost all the nutrients in the vegetable by washing it after it has been shredded, then they will do it otherwise. The irony is that the main reason of buying/eating that fresh vegetable is because of its dense nutrient content, so after buying it, the same person proceeds again to lose it.

    It is a very regular occurrence in the open markets to see vegetable sellers shredding unwashed vegetable for consumers who then go home to supposedly to wash off the sand and dirt from the vegetables but inadvertently wash off the nutrients too.

    How can we effectively retain nutrients in our food? One may have all the money, eager to eat good food, actually make the money available for the purchases but in the end eat food devoid of nutrients because of the processes it passed through before getting to the dining table.

    Most of the nutrients we are supposed to get from food often get destroyed during the course of processing, post harvesting, preparing, storing and when cooking the foods. In the end, we gulp down chaff believing we have eaten foods rich in nutrients.

    The question then is, how do we destroy food nutrients and how can we retain them in food so as to get all the bodily requirements?

    Unfortunately, the easily destroyed nutrients in food are the vitamins and minerals and these are what we need to consume in high quantity because the body does not make them. The body can only get them externally through the food we eat or food supplements. So when we cannot even get them through what we eat then the body is bereft of them.

    The most sensitive food nutrients again are vitamins and minerals. They can easily be destroyed by water, heat, light, very low temperature. That is why people are advised to handle vegetables and fruits with care if they must get the needed nutrients from the consumption of these products.

    Nutrients can easily be destroyed in fruits by plucking unripe or immature fruit. When a fruit is boiled, soaked in water, covered in carbide or artificially forced to ripe, the fruit is left with just the colour and very minute nutrients.

    People should desist from cutting fruits and leaving them to stand for long before consumption. If you are not ready yet to eat that pawpaw, orange, etcetera, do not cut it open because when it is cut, oxidisation takes place. Heat extracts the nutrients from the cut surface and by the time you are ready, most of the nutrients would have gone.

    As I said earlier, it amazes me when I go to the market and see people asking traders to shred unwashed vegetables for them. Yes, you are saving the energy and time you would have used to do all that at home but you end up losing most of the nutrients in that vegetable. When you wash already shredded vegetable, the nutrients leach into the water. That is why the water turns to green. The soluble nutrients that you are supposed to enjoy are what colours the water, so you are getting empty vegetable devoid of nutrients. Always wash your vegetables before shredding.

    When vegetables are cut and kept for long, oxidisation equally occurs just like in the case of fruits. If you know you will not cook that soup till evening, do not ask them to cut that ‘ugu’ or ‘okoro’ ‘onions’, etcetera, hours before you are ready. If they are cut, unconsciously you end up with food bereft of nutrients.

    Prolonged washing of vegetables should be discouraged. Sometimes we wash bitter leaves so long that we are left with nothing except the fibre.

    There is equally no reason why people should squeeze and wash vegetables like pumpkin leaves. I did my National Youth Service in Calabar, Cross River State, and I observed that habit. They do it so that the vegetable soup will not have excess water. I also observed that a majority of them also boil water leaf and decant the water for the same reason of minimising the liquid in the soup. If the water leaf is not boiled, it’s left to dry a little in the sun all in the bid to minimise the water in the soup. However, if you cherish good and nutritious food, you will never do these. When you decant liquid from fresh vegetables, or squeeze out liquid from fresh vegetables or sun-fresh vegetables, you will only lose all the nutrients and end up with just chaff.

    The longer the cooking time of vegetables, the higher the chances of losing the vitamins and minerals. So, add your fresh vegetables last, when the food would have done. Vegetables should not last more than one minute on fire.

    Whenever possible, it is best to cook root vegetables like yam, potato with their skins intact as the skins contain a lot of valuable nutrients. If you are serving the yam and potato with stew, etcetera, then cook them with their skin intact. Do not peel the skin. Cut to size, wash the skin well to eliminate sand and just cook and enjoy all the valuable nutrients.

    Baking roots in their skin completely inhibits nutrient loss, none of the nutrients is lost in the surrounding water.

    Soaking of already cut yam/ peeled yam is discouraged because most of the nutrients will just seep into the surrounding water. For best results in nutrient retention, all root vegetables should be cooked in moderate amount of boiling water in covered pot.

    Steaming and pressure cooking can also be employed because they have the advantage of conserving nutrients and retaining the shapes of food.

    In as much as possible, limit frying as we lose a lot of nutrients through that method of cooking. For instance, protein is denatured while vitamins and minerals are destroyed when meat or fish is fried, especially very dry.

    Wash meat and fish before cutting them to avoid loss of nutrients. Do not buy spoilt foods or damaged food items; for instance, those cheap tomato and pepper. Most of the nutrients have already gone. Also avoid shrunken and dried out food products as most of their natural nutrients have been lost.

     

  • Foods To Eat And Foods To Avoid To Prevent And Manage Piles And Hemorrhoids

    Foods To Eat And Foods To Avoid To Prevent And Manage Piles And Hemorrhoids

    The condition of piles and hemorrhoids can make life really unbearable. You go to the toilet in pains, and even regular routines, and concentrating, can be quite difficult, because you are wondering what could be wrong with your system, and on the other hand, are torn between seeking help (by discussing the ugly and embarrassing situation with someone) or not to.

    It puts most people in a dilemma, and they live with their piles and hemorrhoids in silence. Obviously, this is the worst approach to managing the condition.

    DON’T MAKE ASSUMPTIONS OR LIVE WITH THIS CONDITION IN SILENCE, CLICK THIS LINK TO DISCOVER ALL THE SYMPTOMS…

    >>> http://ideyhot.com/piles/

    With the help of this article, you are going to learn the simple things you should be doing to prevent your piles and hemorrhoids from escalating to the point when it becomes unmanageable. I want to focus on the food angle. Because the digestive tract plays a significant role in the symptomatic causes of the condition. Thus it is imperative to know what food choices to make, and the ones to avoid if you want to prevent, manage, and even treat piles

    If you are just hearing about piles and hemorrhoids for the first time, or you really don’t understand what they mean, I’ll give you a brief definition.

    Piles and hemorrhoids are one and the same thing and they refer to the swollen and inflamed veins and blood vessels inside and outside the anus. When you go to the toilet to poo, you really feel like pooing, but the feces are too hard and won’t come out. Sometimes you feel severe pains. Sometimes, your anus itches. Sometimes you observe blood on your toilet paper. And some other times, you see a substance that looks foamy that comes out with your poo.

    TO FIND OUT IF YOU HAVE PILES OR HEMORRHOIDS, CLICK THIS LINK TO TAKE THE 5-SECONDS PILES QUIZ…

    >>> http://ideyhot.com/piles/

    These are some of the signs which indicate that you may have piles or hemorrhoids, and one of the causes is when you don’t make the right food choices. Bad diet can  affect the proper functioning of the digestive tract, have an impact on the nature and substance of produced waste (stool), cause constipation and other difficulties while stooling, and cause an inflation of the veins in the veins in the anus (piles). To prevent or manage this condition, you must pay attention to your food choices.

    Foods to Eat

    1. Fibre

    When you have a hard stomach condition (constipation), one of the best foods that will help soften your stool and make them move is fibre. But there are two type of fibre, and we need to take a closer look at them

    1. Soluble fibre

    Means fibre that is soluble, or dissolvable in water. When they mix with water, inside the belly, soluble fibre swells and becomes soft and sticky. This helps to soften stool for easy sliding through the digestive tract and anus. Soluble fibre also boosts the population of good bacteria in the intestines and improves digestion. Plus a lot of other health-enhancing functions. You will get soluble fibre by eating foods like

    * Oats

    * Beans

    * Oranges

    * Apples

    * Sweet potato

    FOR A MORE DETAILED LIST OF FOODS TO EAT AND FOODS TO AVOID FOR THE PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF PILES AND HEMORRHOIDS, CLICK THIS LINK…

    >>> http://ideyhot.com/piles/

    1. Insoluble fibre

    Unlike soluble fibre, insoluble fibre does not dissolve in water. After we eat them, they pass through the digestive tract in (or close to) their original form. An advantage of having this type of fibre is that they act like a sponge, but even better. They soak up both wastes and water in the colon and help to push the unwanted substances through the colon. If your stomach is always hard, and you suffer from constipation, and piles, insoluble fibre is excellent for regularizing the flow of wastes through your system. You will get insoluble fibre by eating more of

    * Cabbage

    * Cucumber

    * Wheat

    * Corn

    * Okro

    In addition to fibres, you want to eat lots of fruits and vegetable. Green leafy vegetables, and whole fruits, like cucumber, and banana, are all good for keeping the colon free from constipation.

    FOR MORE TIPS ON HOW TO KEEP YOUR COLON AND DIGESTIVE TRACT FREE, CLICK THIS LINK TO FIND OUT IF YOU HAVE PILES OR HEMORRHOIDS…

    >>> http://ideyhot.com/piles/

    1. Natural unsaturated fatty foods

    These are basically healthy, natural fats that assist the digestive process and help lubricate the passage of bowel movement. This reduces the strain and friction that are caused by constipation and hemorrhoids. They also have a ton of other benefits to the overall well-being of the body. Some of the best fatty foods to consume to prevent and manage piles and hemorrhoids are

    * Olive oil

    * Avocado

    * Cold water fish

    * Natural peanut butter

    * Almond

    * Walnut

    * Any nut that is eaten raw

    1. Water

    If you are not the water drinking type, I want you to embark on this simple routine. Drink a glass of water first thing in the morning, and last thing before you go to bed. Do this for a period, and you will observe an improvement in your toilet habit, as the constipation, hard stools and straining would be resolved.

    Water, and all kinds of healthy beverage, like tea, natural fruit juice, are excellent for keeping the digestive system running smoothly. The experts recommend a minimum of 2 litres of water daily, or about 8 – 10 glasses of water daily. If you drink more, the better for your digestive system.

    IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO KNOW THE OTHER CAUSES OF PILES THAT ARE NOT FOOD-RELATED AND WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT THEM, CLICK THIS LINK…

    >>> http://ideyhot.com/piles/

    Foods to Avoid

    1. Processed foods

    Processed foods are generally deficient in healthy nutrients, they contain a lot of salt and unhealthy fats. Thus, they contribute to poor digestion and can cause constipation. These foods include packaged and sweetened foods, white bread, white flour products, canned vegetables, canned meat, sausage, mayonnaise snacks, pizza, biscuits, cakes, candy, pies, doughnuts, and other foods that have been altered from their natural state in one way or the other. Frozen foods, fast foods, etc. The list includes oily foods as well.

    1. Too much meat

    Eating too much meat can cause constipation, because of its low fibre composition. So, you want to eat meat in moderation or eat more of lean, non-fatty meats.

    1. Unripe fruits

    Unripe fruit is difficult to digest and can cause constipation. Unripe banana, for example, can actually cause constipation, as it contains a compound that affects healthy digestion. And you must note that most our fruits are sold unripe or forced to ripen. So make sure you insist on naturally ripened fruits.

    Due to the difficulty in getting foods in their natural and whole form, dietary supplementation is the best alternative way to get your body to absorb essential nutrient.

    FOR THE BEST DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS THAT CAN PROVIDE MAXIMUM RELIEF FROM PILES AND HELP TO MAINTAIN THE DIGESTIVE AND OTHER BODY SYSTEMS, CLICK THIS LINK…

    >>> http://ideyhot.com/piles/

    1. Spicy foods

    While spicy foods are actually good for your digestive system, you want to eat less of ginger, pepper, and hot peppers if your piles are swollen and inflamed. At that stage, spicy foods will aggravate the itching, discomfort, and pains. Also avoid eating too much salt, as it makes your body hold on to water, instead of using it to help flush wastes.

    1. Dairy products

    If your system can’t tolerate or digest milk, cheese, and other dairy products properly, you should stay away from them, else they can promote constipation and worsen the condition of piles and hemorrhoids.

    1. Alcohol and coffee

    These substances both have a dehydrating effect, meaning that they can lead to the development of constipation and the condition of piles and hemorrhoids.

    And if you are struggling with piles, or would like to be sure about the symptoms, CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO take the Piles Detection Quiz, and discover the Best Natural Solution…

    >>> http://ideyhot.com/piles/

     

     

  • Why we should stop eating wheat foods

    We will take a brief vacation today from the ongoing running series on CHRONIC INSOMNIA AND TRAINLOAD OF TROUBLES, which has run in two parts. The series is yielding ground to two publications, which have been making the rounds in many chat groups on the social media, including some of the friendship groups to which I belong.

    When I first read about the dangers of eating wheat, I almost responded like a Doubting Thomas. Wheat?, I wondered. We have eaten wheat since goodness knows when! Until the Nigerian bread market became fraudulent, mixing white flour with wheat flour and passing it off as whole wheat flour and bread, I ate wheat bread for breakfast almost everyday. The shocking discovery is that man has now done to wheat what they have done, and are doing, to other food crops, modifying them from the way Mother Nature gave us these food crops and transforming them into states that would make them grow faster, more resistant to infections, keep longer and yield more money in the market. Quite naturally, the transformation alters, also, the natural ratios in which the constituents co-exist, and yield new radiations which the body now has to adapt to.

    The second article, on asparagus, a long-known kidney cleansing herb, is considered for a mention in this column in the state in which it has been lifted from the social media because it may have, as suggested, an important role to play in the cure of cancer and other diseases which plague us today not only in Nigeria but worldwide.

    My apologies go to the authors of these articles and to other original sources, which may have been lost through posting and reposting on the social media. Because of this it is not possible to give them their due credit for the publication. Nevertheless, I thought of republishing them because it is the wish of this authors and sources that this be done because of the health they believe doing so will afford the health of humanity…

    The wheat

    Belly…

    Read this article it will change your life if you remove all the (wheat) bread; roti, cakes, biscuits, pizzas, Samoosa etc from your diet.

    Dr. Tandweer Khan

    Healthaholics

    • Do You Have A “Wheat Belly”?*

    A renowned cardiologist explains how eliminating wheat can shrink your belly…and save your health.

    • Cardiologist William Davis, MD, started his career repairing damaged hearts through surgical angioplasty and stents.
    • That’s what I was trained to do, and at first, that’s what I wanted to do,” he explains. But when his own mother died of a heart attack in 1995, despite receiving the best cardiac care, he was forced to face nagging concerns about his profession.*

    “I realised how silly it was,” he says. “I’d fix a patient’s heart, only to see her come back, and back and back with the same problems. It was just a band-aid, with no effort to identify the cause of the disease.”

    So, he sailed his practice toward highly uncharted medical territory–prevention–and spent the next 15 years examining the causes of heart disease in his own patients.

    The resulting discoveries are revealed in Wheat Belly, his New York Times best-selling book, which attributes many of our nation’s physical problems, including heart disease, diabetes and obesity, to our consumption of wheat.

    He spoke to us this week about how exactly eliminating wheat can “transform our lives.”

    • First of all, what is a “wheat belly”?*

    I make a lot of arguments about the dangers of wheat, one of which is that it raises your blood sugar dramatically. In fact, two slices of wheat bread raise your blood sugar more than a Snickers bar.

    When my patients give up wheat, I see that weight loss is substantial, especially from the abdomen. People can lose several inches in the first month.You make connections in the book between wheat and a host of other health problems.

    How did you come up with this theory?

    Eighty percent of my patients had diabetes or pre-diabetes.

    I knew that wheat spiked blood sugar more than almost anything else, so I started to say, “Let’s remove wheat from your diet and see what happens to your blood sugar.” They’d come back 3 to 6 months later, and their blood sugar would be dramatically reduced.

    But they also had all these other reactions:

    “I removed wheat and I lost 38 pounds.” Or, “my asthma got so much better, I threw away two of my inhalers.” Or “the migraine headaches I’ve had every day for 20 years stopped within three days.” “My acid reflux is now gone.”

    “My IBS is better, my ulcerative colitis, my rheumatoid arthritis, my mood, my sleep…” and so on, and so on.

    So what is it about wheat that you think causes all these problems?

    When you look at the makeup of wheat, it’s almost like a group of evil scientists got together and said, how can we create this god-awful destructive food that will ruin health?

    First, amylopectin A, a chemical unique to wheat, is an incredible trigger of small LDL particles in the blood–the number one cause of heart disease on the United States.

    When wheat is removed from the diet, these small LDL levels plummet by 80 and 90 percent.

    We’ve had a situation where the national advice–to cut fat and eat more whole grains–is advocating a diet that causes heart disease.

    You also talk about the “addictive” properties of wheat.

    Wheat contains high levels of gliadin, a protein that actually stimulates appetite. Eating wheat increases the average person’s calorie intake by 400 calories a day.

    Gliadin also has opiate-like properties in the brain, so it’s not surprising that when some people remove wheat from their diets, they literally go through a period of withdrawal where they feel terrible.

    Food scientists have known this for 20 years, and they’ve used it to their advantage. If you go up and down the supermarket shelves, you’re going to see wheat flour in the most improbable places—everywhere from Campbell’s soup to granola bars.

    Is eating a wheat-free diet the same as a gluten-free diet? I know that’s a major trend right now.

    Gluten has negative, inflammatory properties, but it is just one component of wheat.

    In other words, if I took the gluten out of it, wheat will still be terrible for you since it will still have the Gliadin and the amylopectin A, as well as several other undesirable components.

    They’ve come out with all these foods that are gluten free: gluten-free multi-grain bread, gluten-free bagels, etc.

    Those are made with 4 basic ingredients: corn starch, rice starch, tapioca starch or potato starch.

    And those 4 dried, powdered starches are some of the very few foods that raise blood sugar even higher than wheat does!Sounds like all the “fat free” foods that came out 10-15 years ago. People thought “these cookies are good for me because they don’t have fat.”Perfect analogy. Yes, it’s the same kind of blunder.

    What about the the health breads and the sprouted breads?

    No. They still retain too much of the adverse wheat compounds–leptins, amylopectin A, gluten and gliadin. You might reduce the amount of some of the compounds, but they’re still there.

    I encourage people to return to real food: vegetables and nuts, unpasteurized cheese and eggs and meats in all forms, avocados and olives.

    People have been eating it for thousands of years, why is it suddenly such a problem?

    Wheat really changed in the 70s and 80s due to a series of techniques used to increase yield, including hybridization and back crossings. It was bred to be shorter and sturdier and also to have more gliadin, a potent appetite stimulate.

    The wheat we eat today is not the wheat that was eaten 100 years ago. Wheat has also become a much more central part of the American diet.

    What if I remove the wheat, but I’m still eating carbohydrates?

    So, for example, I stop eating my sandwich every day, and I start eating rice with chicken and vegetables. Will I still have the health benefits? Will I still lose weight?Most do, yes. Because rice doesn’t raise blood sugar as high as wheat, and it also doesn’t have the amylopectin A or the gliadin that stimulates appetite. You won’t have the same increase in calorie intake that wheat causes.

    That’s part of the reason why foreign cultures that don’t consume wheat tend to be slenderer and healthier.Does everyone need to stop eating wheat, or are some people more at risk for these problems than others?

    If you ask me, everyone should stop eating wheat. This is the closest I know of to something that will transform your life.

    Does Asparagus hold cancer cure hope?

    When I was in the USN I was stationed in Key West, FL. I worked at the clinic at Naval Air Station on Big Coppitt Key just a few mile north of Key West. The hospital at Key West was for out patient only for retired armed forces personnel that lived in the area. If you needed to be hospitalized you were sent to Homestead AFB Florida. I had the day off and just went inside the hospital(Corpman barracks were next to hospital). There was a retired navy man that worked in the lab and he was very interesting gentleman to talk with. He was a retired biochemist from the USN. he asked me what was going on that day and I  said I had the day off. I wish I was working as the crew on today was taking a sailor to Homestead as he had a very bad kidney infection.

    Now this elderly gent told me the man should have eaten more asparagus and he wouldn’t have that problem. I asked why? I’ll never forget him saying do you eat asparagus and I said yes, I love them.

    He replied you notice how your urine stinks after eating asparagus? I said well I never thought it was what I ate but yes it does have a pungent odour. It is because it is detoxifying your body of harmful chemicals!!!

    This was back in 1986 when I was stationed there and to read this email again I had to share this story…Eat more asparagus my friends.

    Asparagus — Who knew?

    My Mom had been taking the full-stalk canned style asparagus, pureed it and took 4 tablespoons in the morning and 4 tablespoons later in the day. She did this for over a month. She is on chemo pills for Stage 3 lung cancer in the pleural area and her cancer cell count went from 386 down to 125 as of this past week. Her oncologist said she will not need to see him for 3 months.

     

    THE ARTICLE:

    Several  years ago I met a man seeking asparagus for a friend who had cancer. He gave me a copy of an article, entitled “Asparagus For Cancer” printed in the Cancer News Journal, December 1979. I will share it here, just as it was shared with me: I am a biochemist, and have specialised in the relation of diet to health or over 50 years.

    Several years ago, I learned of the discovery of Richard R. Vensal, D.D.S. that asparagus might cure cancer. Since then, I have worked with him on his project. We have accumulated a number of favourable case histories.

    Here are a few examples:

    Case No. 1, A man with an almost hopeless case of Hodgkin’s disease (cancer of the lymph glands) who was completely incapacitated.  Within 1 year of starting the asparagus therapy, his doctors were unable to detect any signs of cancer, and he was back on a schedule of strenuous exercise.

    Case No. 2, A successful businessman, 68 years old, suffered from cancer of the bladder for 16 years. After years of medical treatments, including radiation without improvement, he began taking asparagus. Within 3 months, examinations revealed that his bladder tumour had disappeared and that his kidneys were normal.

    Case No. 3, On March 5th 1971, a man who had lung cancer was put on the operating table where they found lung cancer so widely spread that it was inoperable. The surgeon sewed him up and declared his case hopeless. On April 5th he heard about the Asparagus therapy and immediately started taking it. By August, x-ray pictures revealed that all signs of the cancer had disappeared. He is now back at his regular business routine.

    Case No. 4, A woman had been troubled for a number of years with skin cancer. She developed different skin cancers which were diagnosed by the acting specialist as advanced. Within 3 months after beginning asparagus therapy, the skin specialist said her skin looked fine with no more skin lesions. This woman reported that the asparagus therapy also cured her kidney disease, which had started in 1949. She had over 10 operations for kidney stones, and was receiving government disability payments for an inoperable, terminal, kidney condition. She attributes the cure of this kidney trouble entirely to the asparagus treatment.

    I was not surprised at this result as ‘The elements of materia medica’, edited in 1854 by a Professor at the University of Pennsylvania , stated that asparagus was used as a popular remedy for kidney stones. He even referred to experiments, in 1739, on the power of asparagus in dissolving stones. Note the dates!

    We would have other case histories but the medical establishment has interfered with our obtaining some of the records. I am therefore appealing to readers to spread this good news and help us to gather a large number of case histories that will overwhelm the medical skeptics about this unbelievably simple and natural remedy.

    For the treatment, asparagus should be cooked before using. Fresh or canned asparagus can be used. I have corresponded with the two leading canners of asparagus, Giant and Stokely, and I am satisfied that these brands contain no pesticides or preservatives.

    Place the cooked asparagus in a blender and liquefy to make a puree. Store in the refrigerator. Give the patient 4 full tablespoons twice daily, morning and evening.

    Patients usually show some improvement in 2-4 weeks. It can be diluted with water and used as a cold or hot drink.

    This suggested dosage is based on present experience, but certainly larger amounts can do no harm and may be needed in some cases.

    As a biochemist I am convinced of the old saying that ‘what cures can prevent.’ Based on this theory, my wife and I have been using asparagus puree as a beverage with our meals. We take 2 tablespoons diluted in water to suit our taste with breakfast and with dinner. I take mine hot and my wife prefers hers cold.

    For years we have made it a practice to have blood surveys taken as part of our regular checkups. The last blood survey, taken by a medical doctor who specializes in the nutritional approach to health, showed substantial improvements in all categories over the last one, and we can attribute these improvements to nothing but the asparagus drink.

    As a biochemist, I have made an extensive study of all aspects of cancer, and all of the proposed cures. As a result, I am convinced that asparagus fits in better with the latest theories about cancer.

    Asparagus contains a good supply of protein called histones, which are believed to be active in controlling cell growth. For that reason, I believe asparagus can be said to contain a substance that I call cell growth normalizer. That accounts for its action on cancer and in acting as a general body tonic In any event, regardless of theory, asparagus used as we suggest, is a harmless substance. The FDA cannot prevent you from using it and it may do you much good. It has been reported by the US National Cancer Institute, that asparagus is the highest tested food containing glutathione, which is considered one of the body’s most potent anti carcinogens and antioxidants.

    Just a side note…In case you are wondering why this has not been made public, there is no profit in curing cancer!

    Please send this article to everyone in your Address Book. The most unselfish act one can ever do is paying forward all the kin(truncated by WhatsApp)

  • Avoid these risky everyday foods for good health

    These are probably in your kitchen right now, but that doesn’t mean you should eat them. While shopping for food you have probably scratched your head over the long, strange ingredients listed on package labels. Even the most health-conscious shoppers can have a tough time knowing which canned or boxed foods to avoid. That’s why it’s so important to build your diet around whole, fresh foods like fruits and veggies, your diet should also include plenty of nuts and legumes, whole grains, skinless poultry and fish, low fat dairy products

    A healthy diet shouldn’t include any of the following healthy eating pitfalls.

    Mistaking margarine for a healthy fat

    Even though margarine contains less saturated fat, many varieties contain trans-fat, especially hard margarines Proving the myth that margarine is a smart replacement for butter. Trans fat increases LDL, or “bad” cholesterol and decreases HDL, or “good” cholesterol. Most brands are high in salt.

    Avoid bacon

    A diet high in red and processed meats has been linked to higher rates of obesity, heart disease and colon cancer. In fact, eating just two ounces of processed meats like bacon per day may increase your colon cancer risk by up to 17 percent. For a savory breakfast side, opt for fresh vegetables in your morning toast, and add nuts to your oatmeal.

    Stop drinking both regular and diet soda

    Regular soda contains various types of sugar. In fact, a can of soda may actually be up to 60 percent fructose. All that sugar can actually increase your risk of diabetes, promote tooth decay, and increase your waistline. Sugar contains empty calories which mean that it raises your daily calorie intake without providing any real nutrients.

    Choose a new snack

    Microwave popcorn contains high levels of salt and the chemical diacetyl. Diacetyl gives popcorn its butter flavor and it’s just one of almost 50 chemicals that get released into the air when popcorn heats up. While small doses of diacetyl may be harmless, but exposure to large amounts can be dangerous to your health.

    Avoid unregulated energy drinks

    From 2007 to 2011 alone, over 20,000 Americans were sent to the emergency room thanks to energy drinks. Energy drinks may be marketed as “supplements” to avoid FDA regulation. Supplements don’t have to list their ingredients or nutrition facts and get to avoid food regulatory bodies safety testing.

    Avoid canned and instant soups/foods

    The daily recommended limit for salt or sodium is 2,300 mg for healthy adults. Some people, like those with heart disease, should consume less than 1,500 mg a day. But with a can or package of instant soup, it’s possible to consume most or all of that in one sitting.

  • Aflatoxins in Nigerian foods, cancer, HIV…antidotes

    Despite the searing heat, Nigeria farmers are back to the land, preparing their farms for the cultivation of this season’s crops. As I suggested in this column last Thursday, under the title AGRO-DOLLAR RAIN ABOUT TO FALL IN NIGERIA, more rice and maize, in particular, should be produced on the farms this year. This assumption is based on the fact that hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of more farmers will swell the population of farmers as more land is released for farming upcountry and, this time, land clearance, crop cultivation and harvesting will be mechanised. These are all features of the Anchor Borrowers Project mentioned last week.

     

    Aflatoxin

    But as we jubilate that there should be more food on the dining-table at cheaper prices, so should we worry about the risk of eating poisons with these foods, a risk many governments and food researchers in Nigeria have downplayed over the years or deliberately not sufficiently informed Nigerians about. This risk is the AFLATOXIN risk. If we do not care about what we eat or drink here, other people elsewhere in the world do. And that was why, a few years ago, the European Union (EU) banned importation of foods from Nigeria after it was discovered that their aflatoxin and mycotoxin load was too high for the safety of the health of Europeans.

    The website https//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aflatoxin says of aflatoxins:

    “Aflatoxins are poisonous and cancer-causing chemicals that are produced by certain molds (Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus) which grow in soil, decaying vegetation, hay and greens. They are regularly found in improperly stored staple commodities such as cassava, chili peppers, corn, cotton seed, millet, peanuts, rice, sesame seeds, sorghum, sunflower seeds, tree nuts, wheat, and a variety of spices. When contaminated food is processed, aflatoxins enter the general food supply where they have been found in both pet and human food as well as in feedstocks for agricultural animals. Animals fed with contaminated food can pass aflatoxin transformation products into eggs, milk products and meat. For example, contaminated poultry feed is suspected in the findings of high percentages of samples of aflatoxin-contaminated chicken meat and eggs in Pakistan. Children are particularly affected by aflatoxin exposure, which leads to stunted growth, delayed development, liver damaged and liver cancer. Adults have a higher tolerance to exposure but are also at risk. No animal specie is immune. Aflatoxins are among the most carcinogenic substances known. After entering the body, aflatoxins may be metabolised by the liver to a reactive epoxide intermediate or hydroxylated to become the less harmful aflatoxin M1.

    “Aflatoxins are most commonly ingested, but the most toxic form of Aflatoxin B1 can permeate through the skin.

    “The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) action level for aflatoxin present in food or feed is 20-300ppb. The FDA has had occasion to declare both human and pet food recalls as a precautionary measure to prevent exposure.

    “The term “Aflatoxin” is derived from the names of one of the molds that produce it, Aspergillus flavus. It was coined around 1960 after its discovery as the source of “Turkey X disease”. Aflatoxins form one of the major groupings of mycotoxins.

     

    Nigeria’s Problems

    Nigeria produces bumper harvests in the farms, but loses a quantum of them during storage or transportation. Yam and potatoes, for example, are thereby fungi-infected and loaded with aflatoxins in the cooking pot and dining table. In many road-side eating places, soups and stews are made from rotten pepper which the Yorubas call ata esa. Many people buy and eat “injured” or “wounded” banana, unknown to them that the rot areas on the banana are the handiwork of a fungus or fungi. Fungi denature oils. For this reason, care should be taken in consuming oil-rich foods. Groundnuts (peanuts) are oil-rich. In a region of the United States (US)celebrated as the biggest peanut grower in that country, cancer of the pancreas is reported to be a common occurrence. So, when peanut is off colour or off-taste, I do not touch it. I have learned to also avoid peanut butter for this reason. Melon is another stuff to be careful about. To make a delicious pot of melon soup, our mothers peeled melon from the shell, roasted it and then ground it. In other words, the soup was made with fresh melon just removed from its protective shell. These days, melon is sold to the lazy woman already ground and wrapped in cellophane. Not only would the acids in melon have reacted with the cellophane, picking petroleum residue for the pot of soup it is intended for, the melon may have over time become oxidised by oxygen, thereby stocking free radicals for the soup, and, additionally, bring along aflatoxins, being a ready prey for fungi attack.

    Even maize is not free from fungi infection because of its oil and high moisture content. Vegetables are worse. They get rotten easily. I have learned, too, that onions and limes are not safe from fungi infection. If you watch a pack of ripening limes carefully, you may notice some that are becoming rotten. The market woman does not wish to lose money by throwing them away. So, she developed the idea of squeezing such limes in a bottle and selling them off to her careless or unsuspecting customer as lime juice. Back home in the kitchen, the lime is used to cure snails, fish, wash vegetables et.c. Unknown to the chef, aflatoxins have been introduced into a delicious meal. When I notice that onions are getting rotten,  I do not remove the affected peels and use the remainder. I throw away the bulb. During the mango season many people eat mangoes with spots on the skin.

    Dr J.H. Williams of the University of Georgia, United States, carried out a study of local African markets and reported that about 40 per cent of the commodities found the “exceeded permissible aflatoxin levels (in excess of the international standards of 10-20ppb) and that an estimated 4.5billion people in developing countries are at risk of uncontrolled or poorly controlled exposure to aflatoxins, and up to 40 percent of commodities in local African markets exceed allowable levels of aflatoxins in foods.”

    In the website www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/705839, he reports:

    “It is known that high aflatoxin levels in the bloodstream depresses the immune system, thereby facilitating cancer, HIV, and stunting the growth of children. A cross-sectional study conducted in Ghana and cited by Dr. Williams shows that immune systems of recently HIV-infected people are significantly modified even they have above median levels of natural exposure to aflatoxin.

    Referring to another study, Dr. Williams notes:

    “People with a high aflatoxin biomarker status in The Gambia and Ghana were more likely to have active malaria.”

    The website quotes Dr Oladele Dokun, a veterinary doctor at Nigeria’s Animal Care Laboratory as saying:

    “Research has shown aflatoxin causes infertility, abortions and delayed onset of egg production in birds as well as sudden losses in egg production in actively laying birds. Furthermore, loss of appetite, skin discoloration or even yellowish pigmentation on skin can be observed in fish.”

     

    The Euro ban

    A few years ago the EU banned the importation of Nigerian cocoa after a high Gamalin-20 (a pesticide) was found in chocolates and ovaltine. Later, another import ban covered beans, sesame seeds, melon seeds, dried fish and meat, peanut chips and palm oil. If you wonder what palm oil is doing on the list, as we say here, I would share my experience. I was told I could obtain fresh and pure palm kernel oil from a particular region of the country. So, I paid for 20 liters of palm oil which I hope to enjoy for months. But I was shocked one day to find a white film over the oil right inside the plastic keg. It was fungi! So, I threw the keg and, its contents away and proceeded with the detoxification of my system. This sort of thing can make one ill, and an inexperienced doctor would merely provide drugs to suppress symptoms he observes and not uproot the cause(s). If you shrug your shoulders in disbelief, saying our grandparents ate this things and live to ripe, old age, you may not have looked at the other side of the equation. That other side was their diet. Did they consume sugar the way we do today? Did they eat junk foods? Were they stressed up the way we are? Did they not sleep longer and more restfuly than we do? Their bodies were not as weaken as ours, and probably didn’t collapse as easily as our do under aflatoxin bombardment.

    The European Food Safety Authority said the Nigerian food crops were banned because their pesticide levels were too high. The pesticide level of the banned Nigeria beans was between 0.03mg per kg to 4.6mg per kg of Dichlorvos pesticide against an acceptable residue limit 0.01mg/kg.

    Director-General Paul Orhyi, of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) blamed the ban on the “failure” of exporters to comply with regulatory requirements. I wondered them if it would not have been better to admit that NAFDAC’s hands were too full and that it required more men and funds to enforce compliance, as Nigerians were beginning to show interest in food exports as a way of diversifying their country’s revenue base. Or, if NAFDAC had enough policing capacity, did its officers look the other way while the food cargoes were loaded in ships? It is embarrassing, to say the least, to find ship loads of exported foodstuff returned to the country. Fearsome is the thought that we all at home may be consuming poisons whenever we eat beans in any form, fish and peanuts. To be fair to NAFDAC, it has embarked on a national campaign to enlighten the public about the contamination of Nigerian foods. But many Nigerians are not paying enough attention.

    In the website www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov we are advised:

    “Aflatoxin, one of the most widespread of the known carcinogens, is present at a high level in most common foods stored poorly for long periods in Nigeria. It may work synergistically with other carcinogens to produce the high incidence of primary liver cancer seen in young men at the age of 40. In the northern Nigeria Savannah areas, cereals, especially sorghum and millet, as well as groundnut products are the high risk foods. In the Southern forest areas, dried fish, groundnut and all palm products often carry unwholesome quantities of aflatoxin.”

     

    Symptoms

    Aflatoxic poisoning is also known as aflatoxicosis. It may present as nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, convulsion, collection of fluid in the lungs (pulmonary edema), collection of fluid in the brain (cerebral edema), abnormalities of the blood, including blood cancer even in children, bleeding, liver damage and cancer,  kidney and heart damage and even death.

    Consumption of a large dosage of aflatoxin may produce the symptoms described above. Accumulations over a long period of time may not hurt severely immediately, but may ultimately result in, say liver damage or cancer. Lung cancer may come from the inhalation of mold dust, especially in the cases of people who inhale mold dust from affected crops.

     

    Natural aflatoxin remedies

    Since mold and aflatoxins are known to cause all sorts of cancer, the first line of defence against them would seem to be (1) immune boosting (2) detoxification (3) anti-cancer foods and herbs (4) oxygenation (5) anti-inflammatories (6) anti-fungal herbs. Some of the well known anti-mold herbs are (a) Garlic, (b) Pau d’Arco (c) Thyme and (d) Cloves. To this group belongs, also, Golden Seal Root.

    When it comes to immune boosting, attention has to be paid to the liver. It breaks down poisons into simpler, non-poisonous ones or into less toxic toxins. Where the liver is healthy and functioning optimally, no cancer can erupt in any part of the body, as science is now discovering through autopsy reports which implicate liver weakness in the evolution and development of cancers.

    To prevent the liver itself from becoming cancerous, not only is it necessary to equip it to detoxify all toxins which the bloodstream brings to it to pulverise, it is important as well to prevent it from being overloaded with more poisons than it can get rid of and to protect it against them. Accordingly, liver-clearance herbs such as Carqueja are important as decongestants while herbs such as Milk thistle, Jerusalem artichoke and False Daisy (eclipta alba) are hepaprotectives. An hepaprotective is a liver protecting agent. Hepaprotectives obtain their recognition as such from their protection of the liver against carbontetrachloride. This is a chemical which easily damages and destroys the liver. When animals were fed carbontetrachloride, they died of liver damage. Only a few of them died when they ate Milk thistle, for example, simultaneously with the poison. Hardly did any die when fed Milk thistle a few days before ingestions of Carbontetrachloride. Protecting the liver enables it produce enough bile salts to mop toxins for excretion. One teaspoonful of Tumeric powder enables the gall bladder to empty half of its bile contents at once. But such a dosage is contraindicated in people with gall bladder stones or kidney stones, as a gall bladder stone blockage of the bile ducts may block bile passage and cause congestion in the bladder and liver, and, in the kidneys of susceptible people, the oxalic acid in Tumeric may combine with free or excess calcium salts to form calcium-oxalate stones.

    Liver health boosts immunity. We can boost immunity further by consuming herbs, which help to lower bacterial, viral and fungi load so that the immune system, freed of a heavy load of combatants against it, can act with more vigour. Echinacea, which sometimes is sold along with Golden Seal Root, is an immune booster. A product named Echinacea Supreme combines Echinacea, Golden Seal Root and Grape Seed Extract, another great name in the immune supporting therapy. Here is one secret I will share later: pawpaw leaf juice.

    If the brain has been affected, because some molds cause cerebral allergy and nervous system damage, brain-health herbs are called for. Ginkgo biloba is well known. It promotes blood circulation to, and in the brain, enhances memory and cognition. Lion’s mane mushroom repairs damaged nerves and supports their regeneration. Omega-3 fatty acids prevents inflammation of brain cells and is a mood enhancer and anti-depressant. Some sources of Omega-3 oil are flax seed oil and evening primerose oil. But fish oil is the best. Noni juice is also good. If behaviour and mood are disturbed, a proprietary product named BEHAVIOUR BALANCE or MOOD SUPPORT are suggested.

    For general well-being in a state of aflatoxin overload, orange peel powder can be terrific. It is anti-toxin, anti-inflammatory, a lung decongestant and blood purifier.

    Adaptogenics, too, are indispensable. From low gear or high gear, they bring the body to normal gear. One of the most well-known among their ranks is Siberian Ginseng. We should not forget about greens…Wheatgrass, Chlorella, Kale, Spirulina and Liquid Chlorophyll taken alone or together. They detoxify the blood and lymph. They also recompose and oxygenate the blood. We should not relegate Stinging Nettle as well.

    The new farmers are pouring into the farms in hundreds of thousands, if not millions nationwide to ignite Nigeria’s real green revolution. IITA (international institute for tropical Agriculture) and NAFDAC are helping out with aflasafe on the farms and in storages. But they may not capture all the mold and aflatoxin in the net. So, when we eat, we should be reminded that aflatoxins may be present in the food. Therefore, our meals should not be without protection. You may have been reading in this column that I sometimes eat groundnuts and banana with pawpaw leaves (papaya). This leaf is an antioxidant and offers digestive protection. So are Bitter leaf and Basil leaf (Efinrin in Yoruba). Ditto garlic and tumeric.

  • Fed Govt denies increasing tariffs on foods, luxury goods

    Fed Govt denies increasing tariffs on foods, luxury goods

    The federal government has denied carrying out any upward review of tariffs and import duties on food items and luxury goods.

    A statement from the federal ministry of finance issued yesterday and signed by Salisu Na’Inna Dambatta, Director of information of the ministry noted that “the correct position is that, the 2016 Fiscal Policy Measures (FPM) did not involve any upward review of tariff on the affected food items and luxury goods.”

    On the contrary, Salisu Na’Inna Dambatta stated that “tariffs for those items remained at their 2015 levels, while duties for some other items were actually reduced.”

     With regards to the 20 per cent duty on pharmaceutical products in the 2016 Fiscal Policy Measures, the federal ministry of finance noted “that pharmaceutical products were already in the import prohibition list.”

     This the ministry added “is in support of Government’s intention to give further encouragement and  desirable protection to local manufacturers of Pharmaceutical products and ensure that those who, despite the prohibition, import such products under special permission, pay the required duties.”