Doris Obinna
Nutrition is a critical part of our development as humans. This could explain why a nutritionist and health expert Adedotun Owolabi declared: “Eating healthy carries a lot of benefits for us including, but not limited to, building a stronger immune system, lowering the risk of non-communicable diseases and improving longevity. One develops a healthy eating habit by ensuring you maintain a healthy diet.”
According to him, a healthy diet is essential for good health and nutrition, providing sufficient nutrients to fuel the body and protect it against many chronic non-communicable diseases such as; heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and cancer. “We can maintain a healthy diet by making sure we eat a balanced diet and consume less salt, sugars and saturated and industrially-produced trans-fat.
“Globally, dairy plays an important nutrition delivery and cultural role in our everyday diets. Dairy and dairy-containing foods contribute many essential nutrients including protein, calcium, vitamin D, vitamin A, vitamin B12, riboflavin, niacin, phosphorus, potassium and magnesium.”
More importantly, several studies have linked higher vitamin D levels to a lower risk of respiratory infections, and less severe symptoms when they develop, a very good example according to Owolabi is peak milk, a leading dairy product in Nigeria. “This product is enriched with essential vitamins A, B1, B6, D3, B2, B12, and keep the body in a good working condition.
“A daily consumption of at least one glass of this milk, particularly during breakfast, will without a doubt, give you a healthy start to your day and support your immune system.
“Many countries recommend milk, cheese and yogurt as core aspects of a healthy diet, and diary ingredients like whey and milk proteins, which support healthy diets can be found in beverages, yogurt, nutrition and energy bars, ready-to-drink beverages, oatmeal, snacks and powder for homemade smoothies and shakes.
“Something else we should take note of is how important it is to invest in good nutrition. When you eat healthy, you can truly worry less about the fragility of your immune system,” he stated.