Samwel Kumba And Billy Muiruri
14 June 2008
Nairobi — Kenyans are spending hundreds of thousands of shillings in fighting lifestyle diseases caused by poor eating habits and lack of exercise.
Health experts say such chronic illnesses as heart disease, cancer, obesity and diabetes are caused by poor diets. And World Health Organisation statistics show the diseases account for nearly 60 per cent of deaths globally.
Long seen as afflictions of old people in the affluent West, WHO now says the diseases are increasingly affecting even young people in middle income and poor countries.
When Wilfred Gichugu went to his doctor complaining of fatigue, stomach upsets and difficulties in breathing, he was shocked by the diagnosis.
"You have accumulated a lot of fat. You could be taking a lot of junk food," the doctor told him. He warned Wilfred that he risked being obese or suffering a heart attack unless he changed his lifestyle.
Coincidentally, his wife Ruth Mwangi also had similar complaints. The couple sought the help of nutritionist Wanjiru Kirima, who took them through a detoxification programme.
During the 10-day treatment period, each had to drink three litres of specially made fruit juices and three litres of water every day.
According Ms Catherine Waigwe, a nutritionist, the kidney is cleaned by juices made from carrot and beetroot in the first two days. Another set of juices cleans the liver for three days.
This is followed by a removal of digested food particles in the colon. The last two days are dedicated to the skin. She says one is not supposed to take meals during this period but only survive on fruits.
The couple went through the process early this year. "I felt more rejuvenated. The fatigue disappeared and I am more active nowadays,"' says Wilfred.
His health records show he weighed 84 kilogrammes while his wife was 70 before the detox. Within 10 days, he had lost 10 kilogrammes while his wife had shed off five.
But for many who undergo similar treatment, the challenge after the detoxification programme is to adopt a healthy eating culture.
According to Ms Kirima, those who benefit from the programme are encouraged to avoid processed "white" foods like rice, wheat and maize flour, animal products, some cooking fats and sugar laced products like sodas and cakes.
Fast foods
"Most people usually check into fast foods near their offices for quick meals. When they go home in the evening, because they are exhausted from the day's work, they still eat 'easy to make' foods," said Ms Grace Nshemire, a manager in charge of food tasting at Unilever East and Southern Africa.
In many cases, lack of options leads people to fast food restaurants. However, Ms Nshemire argues that people could easily fix and carry packed lunch if they cared about their health, but the hustles involved easily put off people, especially the working class.
To counter the danger of diet-related illnesses, experts are increasingly encouraging eating of traditional foods. Various city streets now have numerous restaurants that serve healthy foods like ngwaci (sweet potatoes), nduuma (arrow roots), mianga (cassava) and ikwa (yams).
"Traditional meals are more nutritious, easy to prepare and readily available especially for health-conscious people because it is not interfered with in anyway," says Ms Kirima.
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