Nigeria's Health Minister says eating of delicacies like Suya and Isi-Ewu can be dangerous to a human being.
The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, has warned Nigerians against the consumption of some popular delicacies like Suya (spicy and roasted cow meat) and Isi Ewu, (spicy meat made from goat head) is dangerous to the health.
According to the Minister, other forms of meat including Kilishi (spicy dried cow meat) and Ngwo-Ngwo, (assorted meat pepper soup), also lead to the death of many Nigerians as they cause hypertension leading cardiovascular disease in Nigeria and can result in stroke if untreated.
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Prof. Adewole, while delivering a keynote address during the First Annual Black Tie Gala event organized by the Tristate Heart Foundation (THF), to raise N500 million in support of cardiovascular care in Nigeria, remarked that one in every five Nigerians is hypertensive and at risk of premature death.
The Minister said:
“Sadly, there is widespread low consumption of proteins, fruits and vegetables and increasing patronage of fast food outlets by the population.
There is also a large promotion of sweetened products such as carbonated drinks, pastries, candies and other refined sugars, while excessive intake of salt is promoted by food additives such as monosodium glutamate common in delicacies such as Suya, percent, Isi-percent, Ngwo-ngwo, among others.”
Prof. Adewole added that current estimates show that death rate from stroke is 40-50 per cent within the first three months of diagnosis, while 39 per cent of those who survived stroke after three months die within a year, with 12 percent developing severe disability.
“I can say without fear of contradiction that at least five out of 10 adults seated here tonight have elevated blood pressure and more than half of these are not aware of their situation.
This is frightening because the dire consequence of neglected hypertension is stroke without warning. Unless we take drastic and sustained actions, we will keep counting losses,” he said.
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Many Nigerians, however, do not agree with Prof. Adewole as they see the consumption of such delicacies as a must and most times, they come quite cheap.
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