A nutritionist, Simbiat Oladoja, has said that eating some African food could aid weight loss.
Oladoja told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Abuja, that fruits and food that were in season were cheap and helped one to lose weight.
She said the scope of eating fruits and vegetables in season was a strategy as most fruits and vegetables and even food in season were cheap.
According to her, healthy eating involves eating what nourishes your body, which includes fruits and vegetables.”
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Complex carbohydrates like oats, beans, lean proteins such as fish, chicken, healthy fats and oils from avocado, and olive oil are good.
‘‘Buying locally available food will be cheaper as well, unlike buying foreign fruits and foods, which are usually expensive.
‘There has been a lot of misconception about healthy eating and people tend not to understand the nutrition logic of healthy eating.
“Healthy eating is not about strict restrictive eating or starving yourself to achieve any weight goal.”
Instead of spending a lot of money to get drugs and taking expensive measures in order to lose weight.”
There are African foods that can aid weight loss, these are, Spinach, brown rice also known as Ofada rice, sweet potatoes, water leaf, walnuts, Beans, Avocado, Oats, Unripe plantain.
‘‘Local vegetable soups like bitter leaf soup, Oha soup, efo riro, citrus fruits like lemons, oranges are low in calories but contain plenty of fiber, which aids weight loss.”
Herbal leaves and spices like moringa, ginger, garlic, onions, scent leaves, all aid weight-loss as well,” she said.
She added that the healthiest way to lose weight was to visit a registered dietitian/nutritionist, to get professional advice and a personalised plan that would suit you.
Oladapo said that the nutrition logic to weight-loss does not mean you go hungry, you just need to maintain certain number of calories, adding that the number of calories your body losses leads to weight loss. (NAN)