Mariam Yomi, Asaba
A Professor of Microscopic Anatomy, Godwin Isitor, has given insight into how dietary measures and microanatomical perspective could be deployed to cure or effectively manage the challenges associated with three non - communicable diseases - diabetes, Hypertension and obesity, in sufferers.
Diabetes is a global health challenge. It is a chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas fail to produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively utilise the insulin it produces. Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood sugar.
Diabetes is characterized by excessive urination (polyuria), thirst (polydipsia), constant hunger, weight loss, vision changes, and fatigue.
World Health Organisation (WHO) identified diabetes as the seventh leading cause of death in 2016.
According to global health body, the population of people with diabetes has risen from 108 million in 1980 to a worrisome figure of 422 million in 2014.
Also, the global number of sufferers among adults over 18 years of age has risen from 4.7% in 1980 to 8.5% in 2014, affecting both middle and low-income nations.
The health burden of diabetes on individual, organisation and even country is overwhelming.
It has been fingered as a major cause of blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, stroke and lower limb amputation.
It is generally believed that almost half of all deaths traceable to high blood glucose occur before sufferers reach the age of 70 years.
In 2016, an estimated 1.6 million deaths were directly linked to diabetes while another 2.2 million deaths in 2012 were traced to high blood glucose level in victims.
Also, Hypertension and Obesity are increasing health concern. More than 1.5 million cases of obesity are recorded per year in Nigeria. Hypertension and obesity increase organs damage, birth complications during pregnancy and heart related diseases.
However, the good news is that these three conditions - diabetes, Hypertension and obesity and the attendant risks to life and health, could be tackled or eliminated through healthy diet, regular physical activity and maintaining a normal body weight, and thus, cure, prevent or delay their onset according to Prof. Godwin Isitor, the Chairman, Isitor Agromed Technology Ltd, Ekwuoma, Delta State.
Delivering a lecture titled: "Dietary And Microanatomical Perspective For Cure of Diabetes, Hypertension And Obesity," at the 2018 Ekwuoma Peace Conference with the theme: "Moving Forward Together, Leaving Our Past Behind," Prof. Isitor identified three dietary types, digestion enhancement factors, hormonal and anti - inflammatory factor as things when applied separately or in combination with others, could cure or greatly minimize the risks associated with diabetes, hypertension and obesity.
He listed the Dietary types as Paleo(low carbohydrate ketogenic diet), carnivore diet(a diet based on consumption of 100% fatty meat such as beef, lamb, pork, chicken, fish, organs meat - liver, brain and cold water fish) and dash diet( fruits, vegetables, fat - free or low milk, whole grains, poultry, beans seeds and nuts) while identifying apple cider vinegar, coconut vinegar and yogurt as digestion enhancing factors.
The Professor also brought the issue of Glycemic Index(GI) factor which is a measure of speed or ease with which glucose is released into the blood stream following consumption of a given food type as helpful when the knowledge is applied.
According to him, factors that influence GI include: type of starch content, physical form of food in terms of size, degree of ripeness of fruits, amount of cooking and processing, amount of water soluble fibre, type of sugar as well as fat and protein content.
In his submission, he said: "Based on review, Dietary classification ... the ketogenic diet is highly recommended as being quite suitable in terms of therapeutics for three chronic conditions, namely: type 2 diabetes, obesity and hypertension. It can easily be formulated using locally available food items such as eggs, Banga soup, coconut oil, plantain flour, ground nuts, etc bearing in mind that emphasis should be laid on high fat, moderate protein and low carbohydrate content.
"A few drawbacks should however be noted while adopting a pure ketogenic diet. Such include: a diminished muscular mass and density especially when the diet is fully implemented, and possible loss of electrolytes such as potassium and calcium. These drawbacks can be rectified if we fully appreciate the role of other dietary factors, such as Apple cider vinegar, yogurt and Omega 3 fatty acids.
"The ketogenic diet should be supplemented with the above Dietary factors in order to enjoy its full benefits. In addition, we recommend beefing up the protein level to a high level rather than being moderate component of the diet.
"As we age, there is the attendant difficulty of chewing and consuming tough animal meat. We can readily overcome this by increased intake of offals such as kidneys, livers, heart, lungs as well as soft meat like fish and snails that are not only easy to chew, but may also provide much needed fat in line with true ketogenic diet.
"The overall principle behind therapeutic successes of ketogenic diet against the three chronic conditions lies in switching the body to using ketone bodies as the primary source of energy. Thus, insulin resistance that predisposes to obesity and hypertension is eliminated, since ketone bodies are directly absorbed by the cells without the help of insulin...
"The Dash diet is recommended if the problem is mostly limited to Hypertension. Unfortunately, in real life situations, two or all three chronic conditions seem to go together requiring a more holistic therapeutic approach with either ketogenic of carnivore diet rather than only the Dash diet...
"On the overall, dietary choices made from the main diets in the present investigation, specifically the paleo, ketogenic and carnivore types, offer a great promise for complete cure of the three chronic conditions (diabetes, Hypertension and obesity) based on evidence, so far gathered, that are being strongly underscored by epidemiological, anecdotal and few experimental reports."
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