Tip Of The Week: How To Lose Weight With Nigerian Food

I know most people might think it’s impossible to lose weight eating Nigerian food but this is not true, I have done it and so are lots of individuals using the Nigerian foods in their weight loss meal plan.


It is no more a secret that changing your diet can affect the level at which you lose weight. Many of the local foods of Nigeria can be used to encourage weight loss. An academically  study published in "Obesity" in September 2008 showed that the average rural Nigerian woman weighed 25kg  less than the average African-American woman in Chicago, despite the fact that both parties burned approximately the same amount of calories daily. Researchers deduced that this is because most Nigerian foods are made from unprocessed ingredients.

Here are tips that can help you lose inches OFF your body with Nigerian foods (and of course with being active)

Monitor Your Food Caloric Intake

Eating a healthy meal does not assure you that you'll lose weight. You can still gain weight if your healthy meals are high in calories. To avoid this, diet experts advise that people reduce the size of their food servings.

The Nigerian diet is heavy on carbohydrates. High-carb ingredients such as yam, cassava, white rice and plantain are staples of many Nigerian meals such as pounded yam, amala, akpu, tuwo and garri. Avoid eating large meals. Instead eat smaller portions. Also, when you visit a Nigerian restaurant, do not eat everything that is served. Instead eat small and have the rest packed for later.

Avoid High Calorie Snacks (gala sausage roll, yogurt drinks, soda drinks, chin chin, buns, Puff puff, plantain chips, sweet potato chips, potato crisp etc.). The typical Nigeria street snacks contain not less than 225 calories.

Consume Less Palm Oil

Palm oil and palm kernel oil are high in saturated fat and calories. As a result, avoid using palm oil when you don’t have to, and if you must, use little quantity. Also read food label when buying pre-cooked foods (e.g. sweet potato chips, plantain chips), most chip companies fry their chips in palm oil, avoid them as much as possible.

Choose Meat Wisely

It is extremely difficult for Nigerians to ignore red meat (especially cow meat); it is a staple in most soups, stews and sauces. If you must eat red meat, make sure you trim off as much excess fat as possible. The suggested red meat option for weight-watcher is goat meat; goat meat is comparable to beef in protein but contains 50% less calories and significantly less fat.

Eat More Fruits

Fruits like pawpaw (papaya), mango, pineapple, orange, and watermelon are common in Nigeria and are a significant part of the local menu. Adding this to your diet will provide many of the essential vitamins and minerals your body needs. These fruits are also good sources of fibre, which will regulate your digestive system.

Make Healthy Choices

Nigerian foods such as beans, cowpeas,  soya beans, okpa, ukwa (breadfruit), and moi-moi are good choices for weight loss. They contain high amounts of protein and are made entirely from unprocessed ingredients. Other good choices include okoro, ogbono, sweet potatoes vegetables such as ugwu, amaranth ( aka green), ewedu,  utazi, and bitter leaves.

And… without further ado, Here are some foods that helps you burn off fat:

1.      Unripe Plantain.

2.      Lemon (squeeze some of it in water or infuse cut fruit in water to drink daily).

3.      Red and Green Pepper.

4.      Red hot chilli peppers (rodo, shombo etc.).

5.      Water Melon (Juicy!).

6.      Beans.

7.      Soya Beans.

8.      Grapefruit.

9.      Grapes.

10.  Nuts (almonds, Cashew, Peanuts & Walnuts ) Contains Omega 3 healthy fat.

11.  Mushrooms.

12.  Sea foods (e.g. mackerel, sardine, cod, Crabs, shrimp,).

13.  Olive and canola Oils.

14.  Ginger.

15.  Onion & Garlic.

16.  Whole grain based food (e.g. whole-wheat bread, whole bran oat bread, Wheat meal, Oat meal, acha).

17.  Bananas.

18.  African Mango.

19.  Brown or Ofada Rice (healthier than white rice).

Other bonus Foods:

• Egg, plus the yolk

• Avocados (Popularly called Pear in Nigeria)

• Cabbage

• Carrots

• Strawberry (yep! It’s now locally grown in plateau state)

• Broccoli and cauliflower (yes! they are fast becoming popular)

Add these foods in your daily diet. They are readily available for you here in Nigeria and you can source them from the market and supermarket even online.