Professor Beatrice Ogunba Angela Onwuzoo Nutrition experts have discredited a popular myth that bothers on the claim that consuming a combination of malt drink and tomato paste will increase blood volume in the body. They said there is no scientific evidence to support the claim that such a mixture boosts blood levels in people suffering from anaemia. Describing it as an unhealthy combination, the experts, who spoke exclusively to PUNCH Healthwise, said the claim was false, stressing that there is no link between tomato paste and iron that the body uses to produce haemoglobin.
According to the World Health Organisation, anaemia is a condition in which the number of red blood cells or the haemoglobin concentration within them is lower than normal. WHO “It mainly affects women and children. Anaemia occurs when there isn’t enough haemoglobin in the body to carry oxygen to the organs and tissues”, WHO states.
Experts say anaemia remains a major public health concern, particularly, in sub-Saharan Africa, where it is one of the causes of maternal death. The most common cause of maternal anaemia is iron deficiency or malnutrition. The Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey 2018 showed that anaemia remained highly prevalent among women of reproductive age in Nigeria.
The survey identified nutritional deficiency and lack of basic housing infrastructure as key drivers for anaemia in Nigerian women. A Professor of Public Health Nutrition at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun.
