A radical, down to earth and a highly scientific lecture ”Engineering Principles and Concepts on the Role of Edible Fat in the Body” was presented by Ing. Dr. Kaku Kyiamah, a Fellow of the Ghana Institution of Engineers at the Engineer’s Centre.

Ing. Dr. Kyiamah used what he calls logic and practical scientific evidence backed by verifiable references to show that the high rate of increases of non-communicable diseases can be stopped and reversed if we return to the diet formulation of our ancestors.

He also used WHO releases and other records to accuse the international community led by the WHO as the source of the global epidemic of the metabolic diseases and super-bugs.

The presentation showed how the cell uses fatty acids and other nutrients to carry out the maintenance of the organs in a similar manner as the engineer maintains a well-organized community.

He pointed out that the engineer’s selection of maintenance materials was based on well-defined specifications.

The specifications and characteristics of the suitable fatty acids for the proper performance of a cell were clearly spelt out by Ing. Dr. Kyiamah. He used scientifically proven and accepted guidelines and data to develop the specifications.

Ing. Dr. Kyiamah further described how a biochemist George Oswald Burr (1896 – 1990) and his wife, Mildred meticulously proved in 1930 that edible fat is vital for good health and the complete absence of oil in the diet causes life-threatening diseases, which medical drugs and vitamin had no answer. According to him, the Burrs proved that only a few drops of edible oil cured the life-threatening diseases.

Photo caption: Dr. Kaku Kyiamah (middle) posed with a few of the participants, including Professors Lade Wosornu, Ivan Addare Mensah and Agyeman Badu Akosa and the Executive Secretary of the Ghana Institution of Engineers after the presentation.

Using well documented practical research studies and avoiding statistical projections as references, Ing. Dr. Kyiamah grouped fatty acids into three. Groups 1 and 2 have fatty acids, which the cell can produce naturally in the body and group 3 has fatty acids the cell cannot produce.

He provided the theoretical and practical evidence to show that group 1 fatty acids can prevent and even heal most common ailments such as headaches, menstrual pains, colds, white, etc., and diseases attributed to various microorganisms and metabolic diseases. He also showed that group 2 fatty acids can prevent the non-communicable ailments and diseases; but group 3 fatty acids, though can alleviate fat deficiency diseases, they are also associated with many different kinds of non-communicable ailments and diseases. He backed the evidence on the roles of the fatty acids with real-life engineering examples.

Ing. Dr. Kyiamah finally asked, “Should we as a people change to our traditional diets and oils, which have mainly groups 1 and 2 fatty acids or do we continue to follow the ‘International Community’ by consuming diets with high levels of group 3 fatty acids?”

A number of prominent Ghanaian professionals attended the presentation. Professor Jerome Djangmah, a former Director General of the Ghana Education Service, advised that the scientific depth of the lecture requires a very serious attention by the universities and the Ghana Education Service. Mr. Tony Oteng Gyasi, an economist and a former President of the AGI, claimed that the scientific evidence should be the basis for a review of the national policy on edible oils, using our God-given tropical saturated oils as the pivot. Professor Agyeman Badu Akosa, an eminent Pathologist, was concerned about the types of questionable edible oils on the Ghanaian market and their contribution to the high rates of increases of diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, etc., in the country. Mrs. Wilhelmina Okwabi, a former head of the Nutrition Section of the Ghana Health Service found the information provided very useful, hence she proposed that it should be presented in a suitable manner for the general public.

The Chairman for the function Prof. Ladé Wosornu, a surgeon and poet of international repute, summed up with ‘the highly logical scientific evidence presented on edible oils should be used as the basis for a SANKOFA programme on the food we eat.’