The Ghana Health Service has hinted that the daily consumption of eggs could provide not just proteins but other key nutrition which could boost one’s immune system to be better poised to handle the COVID-19 infection.
Scientists and health experts around the world have suggested that a resilient immune system can provide an advantage in the body’s resistance against the COVID-19 virus.
As a result, many individuals have resorted to the purchase of immune booster health supplements to protect themselves against the virus which has affected more than 3million persons worldwide.
According to nutritionists, an egg has 75 calories but 7 grams of high-quality protein, 5 grams of fat, and 1.6 grams of saturated fat, along with iron, vitamins, minerals, and carotenoids. The egg has also been described as a powerhouse of disease-fighting nutrients like lutein and zeaxanthin.
According to Deputy Director in charge of Nutrition at the Ghana Health Service, Esi Foriwa Amoaful, eggs provide the body with the nutrients needed to stay healthy, and therefore it is recommended for consumption daily.
She made the comments while accepting a donation of some 1,000 crates of eggs by the Ghana National Association of Poultry Farmers, aimed at providing nutrition to frontline health workers in the fight against COVID-19.
According to Foriwa Amoaful, though scientists have not yet come up with food items that could help the body fight against COVID-19, everyday science shows that good nutrition is a good foundation for boosting the body’s immunity and egg consumption falls in that category.
“I want to take this opportunity and ask the general populace that they should make sure that they are eating nutritionally adequate meals and eggs provide a very good source of protein and other key nutrients that the body needs so they should make eggs part of their daily diets and it’s healthy to eat eggs and add it to your daily meals
“As the numbers of positive cases go up, we are keeping a large number of people in a number of isolation centres and they are given meals throughout the day. As in all disease situations, even though today we don’t have data on foods that can reduce your risk of COVID-19 infection, we do know by science that good nutrition is a foundation of good health and most importantly for boosting your immunity and what better time would you want your immunity to be high than a time like this so we believe that this will go a long way to improve the quality of the meals that are being provided at the various treatment and isolation centres,” she stated.
Donating the items, National Vice Chairman of the Ghana National Association of Poultry Farmers, Napolean Agyeman Oduro said the Association is shoring up its production to meet the demands in eggs that is expected after this recommendation.
