Guinea corn, wheat, millet, sorghum prevent cataract, reduce heart failure

Wheat If people can cultivate the habit of eating whole grains cereals regularly, then the prevalence of cataract and heart disease could be reduced writes Seye Adeniyi.

SOME years back, people got 70 percent of their protein from plant foods, but today we get 70 per cent of our protein from animal products that are high in fat and cholesterol. Though God admonishes us in his word to be careful and selective in the kind of food we eat, yet many will not listen. How do you interpret these words of God: “I give you every seed bearing plants on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They would be yours for food and their regular consumption will give you good health and long life” (Genesis 1:29)?
Even with the above admonishing words from God, many people will not heed this injunction. The only few that understand its meaning are benefiting a lot by observing it.

But do you know that you can avoid certain diseases in this life by regularly eating some types of food? Do you also know that certain foods are medicinal and so can “mount” road blocks against some diseases of the heart and eye ? Are you aware that eating a variety of whole plant foods will also furnish you all the fat, protein, fiber, and nutrients the body needs? Do you know that these whole plant foods will also reduce your food budget by half and that it is also ecologically sensitive? If you do not know, the best news for you this week is that this type of dietary lifestyle also helps delay and prevent the onset of most killer diseases that are now common in our society. Eating full-fiber, whole grain foods to not only allow people to eat larger quantities of food without having to worry about weight gain, but can also promote optimum health and energy for a lifetime.

Just as research shows that a healthy lifestyle can hold back the ageing process by as much as 30 years, likewise a recent research has also revealed that consuming at least one serving of whole grains like wheat, millet, sorghum and barley a day could reduce a man’s risk of experiencing heart failure by 30 per cent. One can also reverse heart disease by regularly eating whole grain cereals. Is this not good news for heart disease patients? This is obviously good news for patients with heart problem. Whole grain foods, cereals or products, it should be noted also help to beat diabetes Type II and help stabilises blood sugar. Whole grains are also receiving utmost attention among many human nutritionists all over the world, especially in its ability to reverse many lifestyle diseases like hypertension, diabetes and heart diseases. Not only that, it has been said to be the favourite diet for those who want to control their weight and avoid obesity and its associated problems.

To be precise, whole grain food received considerable attention last year, especially in the United States of America, where FDA permited foods to contain at least 51 per cent whole grains by weight . They were also to be low in total fat, saturated fat and cholesterol, which was linked to a reduced risk of heart disease and certain cancers. The same thing can be said of Nigeria, where many dieticians, nutritionists and other medical experts have been emphasising the need for people to change their dietary habit and lifestyle and avoid foods that can trigger the development of certain diseases of the heart, kidney, liver and pancrease, which are life threatening in most cases.

Medical experts like Dr. Tunde Salako, a nephrologist, Professor Balogun, a heart expert, Professor Isaac Adewole, a consultant obstetrist and gynaeologists, Professor I.O. Akinyele, Professor T. Atimo, Professor Yemisi Keshiro and Mrs. Olufunmilayo Olusola Unuigbe, all human nutrition experts, a dietician Tunde Ajobo, Dr. Eme Owoaje, a community medicine/public health consultant and a host of other experts have at different fora warned people on the need to reduce the intake of salt-rich food, refined/junk foods, and canned foods which they said are often preserve with chemicals and food addictives that are injurious to health.

These specialists have emphasised on the need to consider whole grains as better substitutes to unhealthy diets which many people are used to, but which have been found to have a direct link with the development of several chronic diseases. Another big question is: what is in whole grains that makes the food to be beneficial and to have advantage over other types of foods? The term, whole grain, is considered to be more consumer-friendly than the term fibre in many places in the world, including USA. This made some food manufacturers to favour it in product packaging.

Regular consumption of diets rich in whole grains like millet, barley, wheat, sorghum, rice and corn also reduces the chance of developing cataract or a particular eye disease called macular degeneration. While buttressing this fact, Mr. Tunde Ajobo from the University College Hospital, Ibadan, said though there may be some healthful and beneficial things in whole grains that actually help in preventing heart disease, especially heart failure as recently proven by scientists, however, whole grains still have to be combined with other foods. He said the components that prevent heart failure in whole grains still need to combined with other components present in other types of foods to facilitate good heart function and good health.

For example, iron is needed for blood formation, but vitamin C has to be present and it is highly needed for the proper absorption of iron into the body. Also, too much of iron without regulation by other components that are found in other foods can lead to constipation, indigestion, lack of ability to empty your bowel when required or passing out of hard stool with great stress,” he stated. A United Kingdom-based Professor of Nutrition, W. Philip T. James also said the problem and prevalence of obesity and over weight in many people in Africa and all over the world can be tackled with whole grain diets.

He stated this during an interview with Your Health while in Nigeria sometime ago to enlighten people about the health implication of getting over weight or obese. Some United State scientists in their recent research even buttressed the need for people to make whole grains a compulsory part of their diet, adding that its effect in reducing the risk of developing heart failure should not be over looked or underated. In a study of over 20,000 men which were followed for almost 20 years, and those with a consumption of seven or more servings of whole grain cereal, but not refined cereals , they were found to have significantly lower risk of heart failure than those who did not consume the cereal.

According to Luc Djousse and Michael Graziano from the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in the report which they documented in the Archives of Internal Medicine, “this is the first study to prospectively examine the relation between breakfast cereal consumption and the risk of heart failure in a large cohort.” There are several mechanisms to account for the heart benefit of eating whole grains. These include the high potassium content found in whole grains which could lower blood pressure, while other constituents of whole grains like phytoestrogens could also improve lipid levels.The Northern part of the country is known for massive production of wheat, barley, millet, corn, and sorghum. Their regular consumption will definitely boost the health of Nigerians.