Our Traditional Foods Are Perfect For Good Health.

In every culture of the world, people ate traditional foods that had been processed minimally or

through natural processing methods like drying, fermentation and cooking. Nowadays, debilitating illnesses have risen because we have deviated from eating natural foods and naturally processed foods.

In Nigeria, we have a lot of healthy meals but there has been a recent rise in diseases like diabetes, heart and cardiovascular diseases, kidney disease, arthritis and other diseases from inflammation. I believe that it is time for us to look at what we are eating

now.

Most of our swallows or meals are made by grinding, fermenting, drying, boiling or other natural preservation and simple cooking processes which help to preserve the nutrients. Although they have high carbohydrate content, they also come with a lot of micronutrients which add to health. Some examples are:

1. Gari is made `by fermenting grated cassava tubers and then roasting in pans or pots on fire. Though gari has a high amount of carbohydrates, it is also high in fiber. Most of the nutrients in gari are preserved while fermentation adds added benefits. Fufu and white amala are also made from cassava.
2. Eko, agidi, akamu, ogi, corn pap and other cereal grains pap are made by fermenting milled grains for a few days. Fermented foods are beneficial to the body because they provide probiotic organisms to the digestive system.
3. Tuwo refers to grain meals which are made from ground cereal and are made into a paste by mixing with hot water on the fire. Others are ground oats, millets, wheat and sorghum.
4. Pounded swallows are made by pounding boiled tubers like yam, cassava, plantain and cocoyam. Brown amala is made from grinding dried yam pieces or slices.

Our swallows are most often eaten with soups that are rich in palm oil, hot peppers, tomatoes,

crayfish, iru or dawadawa or ogiri, meat sources, fish, vegetables, spices etc. Some of our local soups are made with two or more vegetables. All these ingredients are in their raw natural forms and some flavours have only been fermented or dried.

Foods made from beans like moinmoin, akara, ofuloju etc have only

been processed minimally have most of the nutrients from beans to offer. We also have plantain,other tubers and their products.

The only problems with our traditional meals are:

1. The timing of eating foods with high carbohydrates. Our largest meals should be in the afternoon. Dinner should be before 7pm and should be made up of light and small foods.
2. The quantity eaten at one seating. Eat foods that are high in carbohydras in moderation.
3. The accompanying soup or stew. Even though palm oil is healthy, it is still high in calories, so use in moderation. Eat a lot of the vegetables and cut down on the quantity of meat. 
4. The non-inclusion of fruits to our meals. Fruits provide bulk, fiber and phytonutrients which help to keep us healthy and fight diseases. including can also help in reducing the amounts of starchy foods eaten at a meal.

The main health problems arising from foods are from our increased consumption of refined grains,

added sugars and trans fats. Below are some examples of these foods and why you will need to cut down on, or avoid these foods for health reasons:

1. Refined grains like white rice, white flour and foods made from it such as doughnuts, pastry, cakes, cookies, biscuits, puff puff, buns, etc. Read here why brown or unrefined rice like our local ofada rice should be preferred to white rice and here about bulghur  wheat as a white rice substitute.
2. Foods with added sugars like soft drinks, juices, sweets, candies etc. Read more here about the real carbohydrates to avoid.
3. Foods with trans fats are pastries, cakes, cookies etc. You can read more about why you need to reduce consumption of trans fats and their products here.

We are eating more of the wrong foods and our local foods are being blamed for it, so we run away from our perfectly healthy foods into eating totally worthless foods with no beneficial values for our bodies. 

A lot of researches and studies have shown that all sorts of debilitating diseases usually follow the introduction of white flour other refined grains, added sugar and trans fats into communities. Just compare us to our rural relatives. We consider them emaciated because they look lean and we look bulky. Please they are much healthier because they are eating the right foods and doing the right things which keep them in better health. We are spending millions of naira and so much time on diseases like unnecessary weight gain, inflammation, diabetes etc., which the right foods and lifestyles can prevent.

We need to eat more of the foods our forefathers ate. Its not just the so called junk food that is affecting us but also the ones that we assume are healthy just because of their aesthetic appeal in terms of good looks, taste, texture and feel.

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