NAN-HG-10
Fat
By Esenvosa Izah
Lagos, Dec. 20, 2016 (NAN) A nutritionist, Dr Ijeoma Anenugu, says the intake of fatty foods is healthy and does not cause cardiovascular disease.
Anenugu made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Tuesday on the sidelines of a seminar organised by Family Health Initiative, an NGO, for a group of catholic women.
She said that recent research had shown that fat was not the problem, but excess carbohydrate.
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“We’ve been talking about increasing the fat in diets, because it was demonised in the past as the cause of ill-health, especially cardiovascular diseases – stroke, heart attacks.
“So, people, even in our environment, have started ditching palm oil, fatty meat and things like that.
“But, recent research has shown that fat is not the problem; it is actually excess of carbohydrates.
“So, because of the nature of carbohydrates and the fact that they are easily digested, and you have rapid increase of sugar in your blood stream, it is removed as rapidly as it gets into your blood stream, so you need to eat more and because carbohydrate is addictive they tend to have cravings.
“But, when you increase the fat in your diet – the good thing about fat is that it increases your level of fullness – you will tend to eat less.
“The message is this; there is nothing bad about fat.’’
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EEI/GOK/LAB/YEE
Edited by Olagoke Olatoye/Lydia Beshel/Emmanuel Yashim
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