Nigerian Doctor, Harvey Olufunmilayo Lists Reasons Why Animal Hides And Skin (Ponmo) Consumption Is Dangerous To Your Child’s Health
A Nigerian doctor, who is known for giving medical advice on the popular microblogging platform, Twitter, Harvey Olufunmilayo has advised Nigerians against the consumption of animal hides popularly known as PONMO in local parlance.
According to the doctor, ponmo is medically useless. The doctor took also took his time to list reasons why ponmo is useless medically and reasons why it can sometimes harmful to our health.
He went further to note that Ponmo should not be given to growing children, stating that children need protein and ponmo lacks the nutrients they need to grow and develop their brains. He also revealed that ponmo is not a protein alternative.
According to him, because ponmo is made from cow skin there are many health risks involved. He said ponmo is sometimes burnt before it is sold and to burn it sellers use car tyres, wood, diesel and more just to make the fire burn faster.
However, he noted that if someone does not want to give up on eating ponmo, they should make sure it is washed and boiled properly before eating.
READ ALSO: NAFDAC Once Again Warns On Consumption Of Animal Hides And Skin (Ponmo) As Food
Read more tweets below:
”Sincerely Ponmo is medically useless. Ponmo is medically useless. Ponmo is medically useless. Zero proteins. Zero vitamins. Zero fat/oil. Zero carbs. Zero nutrients. Don’t empty your savings on Agemawo. It’s as good as chewing a nylonbag. Waste of money. Waste of time.
And look at this breakdown: NO Proteins- it can’t build your muscle. NO Carbs/Sugar- it can’t give you energy. NO Fibre- it can’t aid digestion. NO Saturated Fats- it can’t help your heart. It’s sad I know but the truth needs to be said: Ponmo is a tasty but useless delicacy.
And because of the apparent lack of nutrients in Ponmo itself: that means it is NOT advisable to give children. Adults may eat it if they want But children need protein and nutrients to grow and develop their brains normally. Too much Ponmo in a child can make the child dull.
People see Ponmo as a cheap “alternative” to proper protein sources like meat, milk or eggs. But let us be clear on this once and for all: Ponmo has ZERO protein and it is NOT a protein alternative. So if you give kids Ponmo with no other protein, you will destroy that child.
Normal mental development. Normal physical development. Developing immunity to fight infections. Growing children in the first few years of life need foods rich in proteins, carbohydrates and nutrients to achieve all this. Giving children Ponmo alone can lead to stunted growth.
READ ALSO: “Ponmo Consumption Is Dangerous To Health,” says NILEST Boss
Let’s talk a bit more: Are you aware of how Ponmo is made? Ponmo is animal skin- mostly from cows. The skin is then either boiled or burnt and then the hair is removed and sold to you to eat. Have you thought about any risks that may be attached to the process? I will tell you.
For a lot of the Ponmo, what happens is that the animal skin is burnt with fire- sometimes they use old car tyres, wood, refuse stuff, and even diesel/petrol to make the fire bigger and for the skin to burn faster. Now this burning is what gives you the brown soft Ponmo.
And what’s the problem with burning? So why should you care? Because burning animal skin releases something called Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons PAHs. And PAHs are recognised as being a huge risk for different cancer types like bladder, liver, lung, skin and stomach cancer.
Another thing you should note is that many of the animals that the skin is sold to you as Ponmo may be ill and have skin diseases but you would never know. They kill these animals, skin them and just sell it to you- and there’s a good chance of you being harmed from these.
You must never forget that nobody really regulates the Kponmo industry and ensure that what they sell to the public is safe/healthy for consumption. That alone makes it quite a risky thing to eat. Some animals die while being treated by vet doctors- and the owners sell them.
Some of the medications used to treat sick animals may be stored in the animal skin- and if not well processed (which you can’t guarantee)- then there’s a high chance that what you are eating could literally be harming you medically.
So except you can monitor the process of how the Ponmo was done and you can vouch for the person packaging, processing and selling it to you from the point of their production to the end point of you buying it- then there’s a very high chance that what you are buying is potentially dangerous, unsafe and can harm you.”
Sincerely
Ponmo is medically useless.
Ponmo is medically useless.
Ponmo is medically useless.Zero proteins.
Zero vitamins.
Zero fat/oil.
Zero carbs.
Zero nutrients.Don’t empty your savings on Agemawo.
It’s as good as chewing a nylonbag.
Waste of money. Waste of time.Thread/
— #OurFavOnlineDoc ?????? (@DrOlufunmilayo) December 11, 2019