Wheat Flour Is A Dangerous Substitute For Garri, Amala And Pounded Yam

I thought wheat meal (flour) was meant for baking purposes only, did not know people in Nigeria used it as a substitute for other gluten free flours especially when eating it like it is Eba. Who brought that idea to Nigeria in the first place and encouraged people to embark on it? 

In the western world, we are warned not to eat wheat because of the very fact that it contains gluten which can be harmful to the body. What happened to corn meal, sorghum millet (ogi baba), pearl millet (gero) yam flour, cassava flour, and rice flour? Why wheat? and don't tell me it is the food rich people eat. You will not use flour for baking bread / buns / puff-puff as an alternative in preparing eba!!! Would you?


Chronicle times reports the hidden dangers in wheat and reported it as thus...

“Wheat is now the preferred swallow meal for many Nigerian families particularly in the urban centres. Sadly too, some rural dwellers have hooked onto the fad that wheat is a “healthy” food.

Early this year, a middle-aged man from Ekiti State came to my office for solution to his health challenges – diabetes and high blood pressure. Upon enquiry on his diet, he said wheat was his major mealdaily. According to him, virtually all the civil servants working at the state and local governments in Ekiti State also eat wheat as their regular meal. In fact, he said those that are not eating wheat particularly in the state capital could not afford it, but not due to knowledge of its harm to health.

Wheat contains oxalates which in turn might cause kidney or gallbladder problems - I know everything should be eaten in moderation. But eating wheat meal as eba is like a westerner spreading palm oil on toast bread!


Read full article here


Image credit: Semovita / Dobbys Signature