Heart health and hardship: simple food choices that can keep you alive longer
Heart health and hardship: simple food choices that can keep you alive longer
Poverty and bad economy should not mean a bad heart. Many of the foods that protect the heart are actually our own local, cheap and available foods. You don't need imported foods to eat healthy.
The problem today is that many people are eating more salt, more seasoning cubes, more fried foods, more soft drinks, and less of our natural foods because of stress, fast life and rising cost of food.
Here is how to take care of your heart daily without breaking the bank:
Affordable heart friendly foods you already have around you
- Beans and lentils: Very cheap, full of fibre that lowers bad cholesterol. Eat beans at least three times a week instead of meat.
- Whole grains: Instead of white bread and white rice every day, go for ofada rice, local brown rice, millet (gero), sorghum (dawa), maize, and unripe plantain. They control blood pressure and sugar.
- Vegetables - ugwu, bitter leaf, scent leaf, waterleaf, okra, ewedu: These are the cheapest superfoods. Eat them daily. They clean the blood vessels. Don't overcook with too much palm oil.
- Fruits in season: Don't wait for apple. Pawpaw, orange, banana, watermelon, mango, guava, garden egg are affordable when in season. One fruit a day keeps the heart strong.
- Groundnuts and egusi in small quantity: Good fats for the heart, but eat small quantity, not fried with too much salt.
- Fish - especially small local fish: Titus (mackerel), sardine, catfish, and dried fish are cheaper than red meat and have omega-3 that protects the heart. Eat fish two to three times a week.
- Palm oil - use wisely: We don't need to remove it, but use small quantity. One or two cooking spoons is enough for a pot of soup for family. Avoid re-using fried oil.
Foods and habits to reduce to save your heart and your money
- Reduce salt: Too much salt raises blood pressure. Reduce seasoning cubes to half cube per cooking, avoid adding extra salt on table.
- Reduce fried foods: Puff-puff, fried yam, fried plantain daily is dangerous. Boil, roast or grill more.
- Reduce sugary drinks and alcohol: Soft drinks and excessive alcohol increase heart risk. Drink water, zobo without too much sugar, and kunnu.
- Reduce red meat and fatty meat: Cow meat with plenty fat, ram, suya every day is heavy for the heart. Use it as occasional, not daily.
- Avoid re-using oil: That black oil used to fry many times is poison for the heart.
Sample daily heart healthy menu for a low-income family
- Morning: Pap (ogi) made from millet with groundnuts and one orange, or boiled unripe plantain with vegetable sauce.
- Afternoon: Beans with small palm oil and ugwu, or brown rice with okra soup and small fish.
- Evening: Swallow made from wheat or millet with bitter leaf or ewedu soup, with little meat or fish.
- Water: Drink six to eight glasses of water daily. Carry water, not soft drink.
Other free ways to protect your heart
- Walk daily for 30 minutes - to market, to farm, to work.
- Reduce stress and have enough sleep.
- Check your blood pressure at least once a month in any PHC - many centres do it free.
- Stop smoking and avoid second-hand smoke.
The bottom line is simple: A heart healthy diet in Africa is not about expensive foods. It is about going back to our natural foods - more beans, more local grains, more vegetables, more fruits in season, more fish, less salt, less fried foods, less sugar. Eat what your grandparents ate, move your body like they did, and your heart will thank you.
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