A few months ago, a friend of mine told me about how she had joined one of the big franchise weight loss companies in a quest to drop a few pounds. She ate the foods that were suggested to her, followed the plan as prescribed and before long, the weight began to drop. However, the joys of her new found waistline were soon reversed as she missed the African foods that the weight loss company had asked her to trade in for the "pastas, rice and 'rabbit' food" (salads)that were included in the plan. She reverted to eating the foods she had grown up enjoying and when the weight piled back on, she blamed the cultural diet as the source of the weight.
I have to admit that I am slightly disheartened by the lack of sound nutrition advice that incorporates cultural African foods. Our traditional diets are high in fiber,low in fat, low in sodium and trans-fat free yet when it comes to a diet plan, they are often excluded. As a Registered Dietitian, I have the training to translate the nutritional science information that is available into sound dietary advice and the goal of this blog is to educate my fellow Africans on how to eat well while maintaining the Mafe's, Sadza's, Fufu's and other traditional foods we have always loved. We are cultured around food, and being in the diaspora, it can be easy to lose our identity in the hustle and bustle of our everday lives. Our cultural foods are part of what defines us as a people and we should not have to give them up when they too have their place in a healthy eating plan.
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