Accra, Oct. 30, GNA - About fifty vegetarians across the country on Saturday congregated in Accra for a national seminar on "Vegetarianism; Disease and Prevention," which is aimed at promoting health consciousness in Ghana.

The seminar, the second in a series was organized by the Vegetarian Association of Ghana International (VAGI) also seeks to promote healthy lifestyle, project the importance of regular exercising, inject the protection of the environment and sensitizes Ghanaians on cultivating proper eating habits.

Dr Ofei Agyeman of the New Life Clinic, a naturopathic centre called for adherence of healthy natural practices, as most of the diseases are man-made ones.

"Man must understand the operations of the human body, identify what is relevant to its proper functioning and eat in accordance to ones body natural requirement," he stated.

The Reverend Dr Samuel Sasu of the Centre for Spiritual Awareness, debunked the notion that vegetarianism is a religion, saying, "it is more about healthy natural (vegetable) dietary practices for healthy living."

Dr Sasu explained that diseases starts from the digestive system, whatever we eat determines our healthy status; influences the facial appearances and produces the scent of ones breathe.

He therefore advised people to first find-out what type of food requirements of the body and "not just to eat any food because others are eating it...we must check what is good for the system". Dr Sasu also warned against excessive water taking, "too much or too little water is dangerous to the body, the stomach requires 16 handful of water."

Mr Sar Yadiel Ben Israel Minister of Agriculture, African/Hebrew Community of North-East Africa established the Biblical basis for eating fruits and herbs and encouraged people to eat them, adding that there are identifiable 90,000 species.