Mountain Brown rice is great for health – Ghanaians told
Ghanaians have been advised to eat locally grown brown rice rather than the regular white polished rice for healthy lives, improved immune systems and strengthened membrane.
The Mountain Brown rice, which is cultivated and produced by ENEDAS Farms in Avetime in the Volta Region, is particularly, said to be both a nutritional food and an efficacious medicine.
Brown rice is incomparably richer in vitamins, minerals, fibre and protein than white polished rice.
It lowers high blood pressure, high cholesterol level, minimises diseases, fights and prevents cancer, strengthens immune system, ease diabetes and kidney problems, especially in the case of kidney stones, fights diarrhea in infants, lowers stress and prolong life span.
At the launch of the Mountain Brown Rice in Accra, Dr Ba-lagi Gregory Lugu-zuri, a Nutritionist and the Medical Director of Natural Healing Centre, said that the mountain brown rice was organic rice as they are free from synthetic pesticides, artificial fertilisers, irradiation, industrial solvents and synthetic food addictives in its processing and preparation.
He said the pigment that gave the mountain rice its red colour was an anthocyanin, which among other things, promoted estrogen activity, lipid peroxidation, decreasing capillary permeability, enzyme inhibition, the regulating of immune responses, and anti inflammatory activity.
He has, therefore, urged the public to change their regular taste and attitudes towards foreign products, some of which did not have any special health benefits to the lives of people.
Ms Dzifa Abla Gomashie, a Deputy Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, who launched the Mountain Brown Red Rice also urged Ghanaians to patronise the local brown rice in a bid to promote made-in-Ghana products.
“When Ghanaians patronise the Mountain Brown Red Rice it will grow the economy since more money will be generated, more jobs will also be created and enhance developmental projects,” she noted.
She encouraged Ghanaians to do well to embrace the brown rice because of its many health benefits saying, we need to mentally change our attitudes and look at what would work better for us.
Miss Peace Enyoman Akosua Baku, the Executive Director of ENEDAS Farms, said she founded the Farms to distribute and market the mountain organic unpolished brand, which sold brown rice, in addition to other rice flour-based products.
She said Enedas Farms in collaboration with the Avetime Women’s Association grow the rice that is known as oryzae glaberima or upland rice, on the slopes and valleys of the Avetime Mountains and through that partnership, their red rice could be found at almost all shopping malls, roadsides and in the market all over Ghana.
Miss Baku said after cultivating and promoting brown rice from 2000 to date, the main challenge had been the difficulty in marketing the rice as most Ghanaians struggled to change their taste of polished perfumed rice.
Osie Adza Tekpor VII, the Paramount Chief of the Avetime Traditional Area, commended Miss Baku for mobilisng the women to promote the brown rice and introducing it in the diet of people in the area and gradually into that of the whole country.
He said now the brown rice festival, called the Amu Rice Festival, had been initiated by the women in Avetime and it was celebrated in November every year to emphasize the importance of brown rice to the health of people, especially, lactating mothers.
Source: GNA