Fruits Better Than Carbohydrate Foods.

Some people do not recognise the role that
plants and fruits play in overall nutrition.
For example, in recent years, two trends have become increasingly
popular: the low-carbohydrate trend and
the high-protein trend.
A group of fat-loss enthusiasts believes that
eliminating carbohydrates from the diet is
the key to rapid and lasting fat loss. But the
other group of fitness recognize the crucial
role that protein plays in helping to elevate
overall metabolism and improve the body’s
ability to synthesize muscle tissue.
Nonetheless, what one eats determines so
many things, including being obese.
Certainly, many individuals fighting excess
weight would probably have been told to
avoid simple carbohydrates and embrace
complex carbohydrates. Although this
advice may seem logical and was in
popular a few decades ago, science has
since demonstrated that there is more to
the equation.
Professor Macdona Idu, a Professor of
Phytomedicine in the second annual lecture
series of the Faculty of Basic and Applied of
Benson Idahosa University, Benin City, Edo
State, said central to overall nutrition were
plants and fruits.
Professor Idu stressed that the
consumption of plants and fruits would
provide incredible amount of nutrients such
as vitamins and minerals which are needed
by the body for recovery, to fight diseases,
to repair tissues and to perform many other
functions.
“Consumption of fruits will help to reduce
the risk of cancer, stroke and other related
diseases. Many Nigerians had erroneous
belief that consumption of fruits would
make them to grow fat and as a result, had
deliberately removed fruits from their
diets,” he stated.
No doubt, traditional wisdom dictates that
simple sugars are rapidly absorbed, while
complex carbohydrates are digested slowly,
over time. Consequently, the advice “avoid
simple sugars and “embrace complex
carbohydrates” was embraced by many
people.
Unfortunately, Professor Ida stated, “the
advice, “avoid simple sugars” and “embrace
complex carbohydrates” has caused people
to take some extreme measures, such as
avoiding fruits altogether because they are
composed mainly of simple sugars while
embracing such fare as breads, pasta, and
potatoes, because they are complex
carbohydrates.”
Is this approach to classifying what is bad
or good for overall nutritional needs of the
body not oversimplified? Although many
fruits such as apples and oranges contain a
high quantity of fructose, the notions that
they digest rapidly or that they spike blood
sugar and raise insulin are not true.
According to Professor Ida, “Fructose is not
readily used by the body. Although the liver
preferentially stores fructose in order to
maintain blood sugar levels throughout the
day, the rest of the body utilizes glucose.
Therefore, in order to be used by the body,
fructose must undergo conversion.”
“This means the impact on blood sugar is
very gradual, making fruit a fantastic choice
for a food that will provide energy for a
prolonged period of time. On the other
hand, the baked potato and bread, both
touted as complex carbohydrates, act more
like sugars in the body. The body contains
enzymes that rapidly absorb the starches in
baked potato, causing a rapid rise in blood
sugar levels if baked potatoes are
consumed alone.
“Bread is highly processed: the constituent
grains are broken down (ground into flour),
diminishing the need for the stomach to
digest them. Therefore, the starches are
again rapidly absorbed and quickly released
as glucose into the blood stream.
Definitely, understanding what makes good
food is important since plants are
medicines. According to Professor Ida,
“between 25 and 60 per cent of the drugs
currently in use today were developed from
plants. Aspirin, the commonly used drug,
was developed by isolating a chemical
compound from a plant that has been
widely used in herbalism; White Willow
bark. Dioscorea, which is commonly
referred to as yam, is the source for some
contraceptives and progesterone creams.”
Beyond doubt, Professor Ida declared,
many plants support good health in many
ways. “Neem (Dongoyaro in Yoruba) is used
for skin conditions such as eczema,
ringworm and athletes’ foot as well as for
treating head lice. In addition, it is used in
treatment of malaria and insect repellent,”
he stated.
In addition, he remarked that Aloe vera
when taken internally, has a cleansing effect
on the body, by virtue of its action on the
digestive tract. “This makes it useful for a
number of skin conditions, especially
psoriasis, where the process of internal
detoxification is deemed by naturopaths to
be important,” he declared.
Scientific use of Aloe in wound healing was
first documented in 1935. Since then, there
have been a number of studies showing its
effectiveness as a treatment for minor
burns and other wounds.
The use of cooking spices such as garlic and
ginger dates back into ages in many African
communities.
“Garlic helps with the control of high
cholesterol and high blood pressure. It is
acts as a worm expeller.
However, people taking anticoagulant
medication such as aspirin or warfarin
should check with their medical doctor
before taking garlic, “he said.
Ginger reduces nausea and vomiting as well
as helps in inflammatory conditions such as
arthritis.
According to him, ginger works by
improving the efficiency of the digestive
processes, allowing faster transportation of
substances through the digestive tract,
lessening the irritation in the intestines,
reducing flatulence and intestinal spasms.
Papaya helps with problems of indigestion,
poor protein digestion and intestinal
parasites such as Tread worms. The expert
explained that the leaf and fruit of the
Papaya tree contain protein-digesting
enzymes (papain and chymopapain), which
help to break down proteins, carbohydrates
and fats.
Similarly, consumption of bananas, being
rich in iron, can stimulate the production of
blood and prevent constipation. Being
extremely high in potassium but low in salt
makes bananas the perfect food for helping
to beat blood pressure.
Interestly, Professor Ida stated that bananas
can also help people trying to give up
smoking because of its high levels of
Vitamin C, A1, B6, B12 as well as the
potassium and magnesium found in them,
which help the body to recover from the
effects of nicotine withdrawal.
He warned that people should consult their
physicians before embarking on the usage
of any herbal plant for treatment of any
ailment and the usage should be based on
prescription.