A nutritionist, Dr Ochuko Erikainure, says the consumption of palm wine can help to maintain and boost male fertility due to its health benefits.
Erukainure, also a senior research officer at the Federal Institute of Industrial Research (FIIRO) Oshodi, Lagos, made the assertion in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Lagos.
He said that palm wine maintained male fertility by exacerbating antioxidant activities in testicular tissues.
“It helps to restore damaged architecture of the testes and sperm producing cells, while suppressing the activities of enzymes linked to testicular toxicity in diabetes.
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“There have been several concerns on the safety and health benefits of palm wine, especially in relation to its sweetness.
“Studies have, however, shown that unfermented palm wine is of great health benefits,” Erukainure said.
Palm wine is rich in antihyperglycemic and antihyperlipidemic which has the ability to reduce blood glucose and lipid level, he said.
He also said that the biological activities in palm wine were important in the management of diabetes and overweight.
“Its antidiabetic activity has also been demonstrated by its ability to promote muscle glucose uptake just like the common antidiabetic drug called metformin.
“It also delays the digestion of carbohydrate by inhibiting the activities of the digestive enzymes, alpha-glucosidase and alpha-amylase,” Erukainure said.
He said that diabetes were mostly characterised by decreased insulin secretion due to damages to the pancreatic beta cells.
“Recent studies have shown palm wine to improve insulin secretion, as well as protect and restore the pancreatic beta cells.
“It also restored the antioxidant activities of pancreatic tissues in experimental diabetic models.
“Recent studies have also demonstrated the ability of palm wine to protect against neurodegeneration.
“It also reduces the brain concentrations of metals such as aluminum that potentiates neuronal damage, while restoring the brain’s architecture.
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“Glucose is the main fuel for the brain and palm wine also promotes brain glucose uptake,” Erukainure said.
He added that palm wine had also been reported to be non-ulcerogenic, thus beneficial in the treatment and management of peptic ulcer.
“These activities have been attributed to the synergistic effects of the nutritional and phytochemical constituents of palm wine.
“It is highly rich in sugars such as sucrose, allose, glucose, xylose, raffinose, d-tagatose, fructose, galactitol, gluconic acid, rhamnose and lactose.
“Most of these sugars are regarded as non-calorie sugars, and their antidiabetic properties have been demonstrated in both basic and clinical studies.
“Palm wine nutritional constituents include ascorbic acid and the B-vitamin complex, potassium, magnesium, calcium, sodium, and phosphorus,” Erikainure said. (NAN)