Ghana is blessed with a rich cultural heritage of which food forms a major part. Mention a food item and it is almost the same as mentioning a group of people in Ghana. The most beautiful aspect is the fact that you do not have to be at your hometown to have access to your local dish. An Ashanti can get fufu at Tamale and an Ewe indigene from Klefe can have access to akple in Accra. Also, we all eat Ghanaian food, whether it belongs to our ethnic group or not. This makes our culture so rich and fosters unity. Let us uphold this rich culture. In fact, if you have not tasted food from any other ethnic group, it is time to do so.
It is sad however to note that there is growing preference for food that is not Ghanaian in origin. There is nothing really wrong with importing the culture (food) of other countries. When doing so however, bring in only the healthy foods. Stop going after the fried stuff. Stop going after the very sweet drinks and stop making our Ghanaian foods look like they are not good.
Most of our Ghanaian foods are presented as healthy, well balanced meals. There is enough starch (carbohydrate) for energy. There is enough fat and oil, also needed by the body. Protein is always available in our food since we eat meat, fish, egg, beans among others. Vitamins and minerals are also superabundant in our foods.
Everything we need to make up a healthy meal is available to us in this country. The challenge is our inability to make time and prepare our own rich Ghanaian meals. Those who make time also use one or two ingredients in excessive amounts, thus making the dishes unhealthy. For example some people cook with too much salt. This is not good for a good cardiovascular (heart and blood vessels) health and well-being. Many people also cook with too much oil; take a look at a typical palava sauce! It is like drinking oil which is obviously not good for health and well-being.
As Ghanaians, when we cook palm nut soup, we must eat it for five days. On the fifth day, it would have thickened enough to be used as stew and eaten with rice or yam. The palm nut soup is not the problem but how we eat it. It is easy to gain weight after eating such an oil laden soup for so many days in a row. It is safer to eat it just once and wait a long while before going for it again. This means that preparing this soup in large amounts is not a good idea.
We also like cooking for so long, this does not help retain nutrients in some foods. In order for our foods to cook well, give off good flavour and taste great, long cooking time is common among us. Let us note that the more you cook foods like the leafy greens, the more you destroy their nutrients especially vitamins. Steaming and boiling for just few minutes is the way to go.
We often do not manage salt and cubes well when cooking. Note that they both contain sodium, a nutrient necessary for life and maintaining a good blood pressure. Taking excess amounts of this nutrient however leads to the development of high blood pressure. Ideally, if you are using cubes, do not add salt to the stew or soup. On the other hand skip the cubes if salt is being added. We can save a lot of lives by being careful about the use of these spices (salt and cubes). Herbs are better off than these two. We have them in abundance as well; garlic, ginger, whentia, pepre, ahaliwoe, akukor besa, dawadawa, prekese, pepper (all kinds), among others. They can actually make your food tasty even if you do not use salt or cubes.
The reason why you are gaining weight is not because you eat banku, fufu, Kenkey, yam, TZ, etc. The weight is increasing because you eat too much of these foods. And also because you eat them too late at night. You are also not exercising enough because you sit in cars even over a distance that can be covered on foot.
Let us all stop giving our foods a bad name. Let us rather prepare them well, eat them in the right quantities and at the right time. Let us also eat them every day, every week and every month and not only in March which is our independence day month.
Eat well and stay healthy, God bless our homeland Ghana!!!
By Wise Chukwudi Letsa
Dorcas
6 Mar 2018Way to go, Boss. U’ve said it all
Wise Letsa
6 Apr 2018Thanks
Abla
7 Mar 2018Thanks for the great piece. We shall surely stick to our Ghanaian dishes and ensure we prepare them in a healthy way. God bless you… God bless Ghana🙏🏾.
Wise Letsa
6 Apr 2018God bless our Homeland Ghana.
Jamani Dramani
7 Mar 2018What a great Independence Day message. Ghana is endowed and we must promote what we have as you have just done especially if it has to our health. Promoting Ghanaian foods and goods can also take Ghana beyond Aid. Have a great day brother Letsa.
Wise Letsa
6 Apr 2018Thanks Jamani
Millicent Adoboe
7 Mar 2018Thank you so much. This information is solid.
Saviour Komla Sobia deikumah
7 Mar 2018How do I reduce my pot belly to six packs
Wise Letsa
6 Apr 2018Come by my office or fill the “Consult a dietician” form on the home page.
Sammy Ewoade
8 Mar 2018This is the kind of knowledge we need for homes and also for our traditional restaurants (chop bars).
Chop bars have a very wide clientele and this is where all manner of things happen to our meals. Unfortunately, this is one eating place you cannot avoid.
The cubes, the adulteration, the overcooking, means of preservation, etc are just a few of the ills at these eating places. But let me be quick to commend some of these chop bars that specialise in the use traditional spices and herbs. They are well known and heavily patronised. Hope you ever stopped by at Sokode to eat fufu + nukpoelà! Hahaha
Thanks and continue to educate us on nutritional matters.
Kudos!
Rgds,
Sammy Ewoade
Wise Letsa
6 Apr 2018Thanks
nataliestockman
11 Mar 2018Thanks so so much. You are awesome and you rock!quick payday loan
Sarah
14 Mar 2018Very educative and inspiring. I need healthy eating options. Thanks for the info
Wise Letsa
6 Apr 2018Welcome
Viagra
15 Mar 2018Thanks for sharing those delicious links.viagra
Bestcustomessay
22 Mar 2018Only rice ? What of fufu!
Wise Letsa
6 Apr 2018Fufu is good any day
Joshua
6 Apr 2018Nice Article
Wise Letsa
6 Apr 2018Thanks
Jones Senyo Hini
4 Sep 2019Nice one there Doc wise, eating our local meals promote our culture and heritage; as this are the very things we are trying to sell to the rest of the world. Continue the good work and may God bless us all,OUR HOMELAND GHANA, AFRICA and the rest of the world.
Rosemary Amerley Sackey
22 May 2020Hello, this is a gem, very precious as diamonds and good as gold. Is it possible to introduce a restaurant that will take all these issues into consideration, certify their products and processes so people can patronize them?
Please consider this.
Benedicta
11 Jun 2020Well said Lets.