It is a widely known fact that cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide.
In 2020 alone cancer was the cause of about 10 million deaths worldwide, while it is the cause of 72,000 deaths in Nigeria yearly. Apart from Cancer, Diabetes is another deadly disease that Nigeria and the world at large is battling with.
According to statistics, there are currently 537 million adults between the ages of 20-79 years old living with diabetes across the globe. In Nigeria alone there are about 11.2 million Nigerians are currently living with Diabetes, according to the National Institutes of Health.
One of the most important ways that these deadly diseases can be avoided is through eating an adequate diet and also living a healthy lifestyle. This was made known by Mrs Ifeloluwa Akinyinka, a Clinical Nutritionist at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, on Monday during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria which took place in Lagos state.
She said, “Lifestyle, including diet, could precipitate cancer. Women especially can prevent cancer by eating an adequate diet.
“It is easy to eat an adequate diet. All that is required is to pick at least one food item from the different food groups in adequate proportion in a meal.
“The food groups are roots, tubers and legumes, vegetables, fruits and meat, fish, poultry, milk, fats and oil. We should include vegetables and fruits in our daily diets to increase our nutrients, ”
“High fibre fruits, vegetables and legumes (leafy green vegetables, beans, cucumber, garden egg and apple, among others) are very important.
“Insoluble fibre helps blood sugar levels by bulking up foods without adding extra fat, sugar, protein or calories.
“This allows the body to feel full on foods that do not release too much glucose, thus keeping diabetes under control.
“Foods rich in soluble fibre help in controlling diabetes because insoluble fibre turns into a gel in the intestine and that slows the absorption of sugars in the blood.”
Speaking further, she stated that, “People that have diabetes should eat foods with complex carbohydrates like white oats, brown rice and whole wheat.
“The foods take time to be converted into glucose in the body, causing a steadier release than simpler refined carbohydrates, which spike blood sugar levels.
“Similarly, the intake of fat should be limited because it causes insulin resistance.”
