Carbon emission is responsible for the changing
climate and its effect that has resulted in terrible weather condition in the
last quarter of 2012, from hurricane sandy in New York, to crazy freezing
temperature in Russia which reached minus fifty in some poor region in one of
the coldest parts of the earth.
I had a discussion with my cousin in the United
State and was shocked at what she told me. Amaka Okoye a Nigerian, who has
lived in the United States for about four years, and who is hosting me for my duration in this land of opportunities told me ninety percent of
Nigerians living in the United States are sick. She said most Nigerians that
migrated from home to settle in the US have one sickness or the other.
“…they have high blood pressure” These she
attributed to our feeding pattern that has carbohydrate as its backbone. Most
people consume eba, rice, yam, bread which are all staple food but very high in
carbohydrate.
Amaka explained that when you stay in the US, you
have to undergo basic health check. This health check is to help determine your
health status. But back home Nigerians undergo health check when they are sick.
This non-challant and ignorant attitude she observed has led to many premature
deaths in recent time.
‘ … People die anyhow in Nigeria for minor reasons.
Do you know before someone has type ll diabetes in the US, it would have been
detected? Do you know many Americans survive cancer? But at home cancer is a
death sentence’
She expressed anger at how Nigerians accumulate
carbon in their body.
‘We need to check what we eat. Nigerians love carbon.
We are blessed with nutritious fruits and vegetables that are very natural’
In the US some of these fruits are genetically
modified and could be harmful to the body. But in Nigeria, we have very natural
fruits growing. We should include that in our diet. I am coming back home next
year but I have bought almost what I will eat in Nigeria here in the US.
Amaka also talked about our palm oil consumption.
According to her palm oil is very rich in cholesterol. The cholesterol level in
palm oil is very high. For me that was like a shocker because I have heard a
lot of people saying palm oil contain vitamin A, which is good for the eyes. I
remember the different “mama put” kiosk in Lagos and the
amount of palm oil in their pots of soups.
Nigerians do we really love carbon saturated food?
High level carbohydrate in the blood and body, scientist said leads to
diabetes, obesity and other disease conditions. I believe the carbon level in
an average Nigeria meal should be traded in the international carbon market.
How much carbon do you consume? Eat wisely today for
a healthy body.
Yours sincerely,
Tina Armstrong (From America).
ASIDE: You will be reading more from Augustina as a guest columnists on Naijaseer as she travels round the world. She is a freelance reporter, a friend, and she always have a valid opinion on almost everything.
lovely write up and really true. most nigerians prefer to eat akpu and garri rather than eat vegetablec. i know fruits and vegetables is good for thr body but i dont usually eat because i am not used to it. i think one possible solution is if parents imbibe healthy eating habits in their kids. when the grow with it, it will hard to stop doing it.
ReplyDeleteTrue Doyin, the parents have a role to play, but it's only partly
ReplyDelete