A Licensed and Registered Clinical Dietician, Ama Pokua Afriyie, has admonished Ghanaians to consume foods in the right proportions to avoid lacking important nutrients for their well-being.
Madam Afriyie observed that majority of Ghanaians consume foods without considering the necessary quantity of micro and macro nutrients their body systems need.
Speaking on Citi FM/Citi TV’s Effective Living Series with Bernard Avle, Madam Afriyie, noted that people will have the right proportions of micro and macro nutrients, such as potassium, water, protein, calcium, carbohydrate, fats amongst others in their systems, if they pay attention to what they consume.
She said people just eat to satisfy their hunger without realising the implications associated with their eating habits.
“We all have a fair idea of what we are eating, but people don’t pay attention to what they are eating into their stomachs. Unless someone has a lifestyle disease he/she has been diagnosed of, They don’t care about the percentage of nutrients in the foods, they just eat because they have to satisfy their hunger.
“If people are eating rice or waakye, they don’t care the percentage of nutrients they are consuming. If you become more conscious about it, you will realise that these micro nutrients have roles in the bodies. If you over eat them or under eat them, there are consequences. Ideally, when you are having the micro nutrients in the right proportions, you will automatically satisfy the intake for macro nutrients as well,” she explained.
She advised people to desist from copying diets that have worked for their families or friends, urging Ghanaians to check their health status before going on a diet.
“Before you embark on diet, you have to check your health status to know your blood pressure, sugar level, cholesterol and haemoglobin level, and know how your kidney and liver function. People should not just get up and embark on diet,” the Dietician entreated.
“Set a target before you lose weight, make sure there are no underlying diseases,” Madam Afriyie further advised.
The Licensed and Registered Clinical Dietician observed that the lifestyle diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes are on the rise among the youth between 20 years to 30 years.
“These days we see hypertension and diabetes among the youth between 20 years, 25 years to 30 years on the rise. So these days more Ghanaians are being open about their lifestyle diseases, and are taking nutrition seriously,” she said.