Certified nutritionist Paul Akapanga has said that the notion that only light food – such as tea, porridge, coffee and cocoa drinks, is supposed to be eaten for breakfast is untrue.
He explained that the choice of one’s breakfast is wholly dependent on the activities one intends to carry out during the day.
He noted that activities that demand more physical exertion such as masonry or carpentry work require that one eat heavy food while those that require less energy can be performed effectively when one eats light food.
For him carbohydrate-rich food like fufu, banku and TZ are ideal for breakfast since people require energy to carry out the day’s physically demanding activities.
“Having your fufu, banku, waakye and other heavy meals for breakfast is not bad…Naturally, it is expected that since you are starting the day, you should fill up. You should get enough energy. Get enough of the body-building food because as you are working, there will be some wear and tear, and there will be some cells that will be dying as you are working. So you need to replace them,” he said in an interview with Bolgatanga-based Dreamz FM last Thursday.
He added that eating light food and engaging in energy-sapping work can have dire consequences.
“If you take a cup of tea and you are going to do masonry work, you are punishing yourself.
That’s why some people in the day begin to have abdominal problems. And happens because there is no food and the stomach is turning against itself and robbing against itself, there were sores created.
You don’t have to put yourself through that thing. Eat the heavy food, go and do the heavy work and it will sustain you throughout,” he pointed out.
Mr Akapanga’s comments have been met with surprise by some persons who believe that it is unhealthy to eat heavy food in the morning. It also contradicts the practice of eating heavy food in the evenings rather than in the morning.
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