Federal Government yesterday cautioned Nigerians on the consumption of margarine as well as smoking of shisha, stating that margarine has trans fat content and shisha is more dangerous than tobacco and cigarette smoking.
The Director of Family Health at the Federal Ministry of Health, Dr Salma Anas Ibrahim who gave the warning at a press briefing on the Update of COVID-19 in Abuja, attributed the increasing rate of heart problems in the country to the consumption of unhealthy fats.
“Trans fat or trans-fatty acids are unsaturated fatty acids that come from either natural or industrial sources”.
According to her, “Margarine is the common form of trans fat. Nigerian should avoid it as much as they can. The common one is margarine which is so common. Nigerians like margarine, they will even ask you to send it to them even when they are abroad and they will tell you they want the Nigerian margarine, that Nigerian margarine is trans fat, we should avoid it as much as we can”.
She warned Nigerians to be mindful of what they consume, emphasising that most people who are into the food business, especially bread making, cakes and other snacks use trans fat and that is what is causing heart problems.
“Unfortunately, a lot of unhealthy fats have infiltrated our markets and we are working with NAFDAC to ensure that we avoid these fats.
“Our fats are hydrogenated, this is very common to make them solid so that they don’t burn off when you burn them in the frying pan but unfortunately, most businesses, especially those that are in the business of food, they use the trans fat and this is what is mostly used today in bread making, in our cakes and several other snacks that we consume every day.”
“So we are urging Nigerians to be very careful and that transfat is very dangerous to our health. This is what goes and cause a lot of problems to our circulation and we end up having a lot of heart problems.
“Nigeria have one the highest cases of heart problem in the world and it’s all as a result of consumption of unhealthy fats. Most of the fats have dangerous cholesterol which is the bad fat”.
The Director also cautioned Nigerians about the danger of shisha smoking as she said it is more dangerous than cigarettes and tobacco.
“Some people will even go extreme by adding some perfume to shisha before smoking it and this is the most causes of so many health challenges we we have in the country,” She added.
“Nigerians should desist from taking dangerous substances because health is wealth and if you are alive and healthy is when you will be able to go about your businesses to earn a living”.
