01 May 2019

A Nutritionist at Barleyvine Nutrition and Wellness Services, Ms Olebogang Petrus says lack of diet knowledge is the main cause of the rise of non-communicable diseases.

She was speaking during the first ever “Nutrition Talk show” by Barleyvine Nutrition Wellness Services held in Francistown recently.

The intention of the talk show was to spread nutrition messages across the country as a way to encourage people to re-define their diets and lifestyles for healthier bodies and longevity.

Ms Petrus said she intended to broaden the scope by providing outreach services around Botswana as she realised that there was a big gap in information dissemination relating to nutrition.

She described Francistown as ground breaking, hence the decision to have the first nutrition talk show hosted in the city. 

“My passion for issues concerning nutrition made me realise that most of the people do not know which food groups to take,” she said, adding that people should be aware of the six basic food groups that they adequately have to intake every day. 

On the food guide pyramid, she stressed that people should scrutinise their meals to ensure that they had food from all the six food groups in the food pyramid. The nutritionist noted that healthy eating should entail, six to 11 portions of starch, three-five servings of vegetables, two-four fruits, two-three milk products, two-three meat products and spare usage of fats and oils per day.

For her part, a doctor from Sarai Holistic Clinic, Dr Samba Nyirenda cautioned people to be mindful of their eating patterns, making a special effort to give full attention to what happens in the present moment and food intake. 

She said being mindful to one’s eating patterns would nourish the body in a better way. Dr Nyirenda said that eating patterns were influenced normally by what was dished out in markets, television and shops.

She said in the past, sugar could only be consumed from the sugarcanes and industrialisation brought changes as sugar could now be consumed from other products such as the tomato sauce.

Dr Nyirenda said it was important to read labels of the food packages before intake. 

She gave an example of the monosodium glutamate (MSG) usually found in spices which she said was very bad for the human health as it contributed to cancer. 

She said that some of the mindful strategies were, concentrating on what an individual ate, eating slowly, not eating too early or too late and eating while seated. BOPA