The body needs nourishment, medication, care, exercise and love. One of the best ways to show your body love is to give it good food. Good food has been a subject of debate recently because people are thinking of better or alternative ways of being more healthy, sustaining the environment by eating natural products (organic), raw and home cooked meals. We have heard about Trans-fat, effects of Sodium, Phosphoric acid, Tartrazine and other chemicals put in processed foods to add colour, flavour or just preserve them.
Science has proved that excess exposure to such elements make our body's weak and we in turn lose precious minerals in our system through ingesting them, for example, I read an article that says if you take too much soda your body loses zinc, calcium and magnesium every time you urinate, causing health hazards such as bone deterioration (osteoporosis).
So what is good food? In Africa it is both easy and difficult to say what is good and bad. We have good soils and vegetation that allows crops with high nutritional value to grow, but because of Politics, we are often using the land to grow cash crops that are not so necessary to sustenance, for example, instead of growing a lot of cassava, millet, sorghum we instead grow coffee, sugar cane, roses for export and very little crop for our families.
Characteristics of good food is clean food, free of disease, free of pesticides, well cooked, well preserved (no artificial preservatives/colourants) or stored and nutritious(sufficient calories needed for optimal growth and development of the body).
Zambia is a poor country, so it appropriate for us to follow Diets and eating plans of wealthy nations that have a larger variety of food than us? The answer is no. We should be realistic in our goals for health and taking care of the body. Whatever is readily available in our country is extremely sufficient and most people in the West admire our diet or types of foods because they are so natural and filled with fiber and very little of it is processed.
Scientific evidence links fiber intake to a plethora of health benefits, including treating and preventing constipation, hemorrhoids, and diverticulosis; decreasing blood cholesterol levels, which protects against certain forms of cancer; and increasing satiety to help control weight.
Examples of Fiber rich food are Maize, wild Rice, Wheat, Beans, Millet, Peanuts, Cashews, Pumpkin seeds, Sunflower seeds, Zucchini, Cauliflower, Sweet Potato,Banana, Figs,Orange,Guava, Avocado and Soya. All these are cheaply produced in our country but even myself have fallen victim to thinking they are exotic and buying them very expensively from our local supermarkets. Most of these Fiber rich foods can be planted in our back yard, Sweet potato, pumpkins, Zucchini, beans, peanuts, cauliflower, in fact the only thing a bit exotic or difficult to find are the cashews. But cashew nuts and a variety types of nuts are easily found at Soweto Market in Lusaka at much more affordable prices than fancy supermarkets.
Good food needs effort, I guess that is why people opt for a quick snack at the nearest Take away joint. Please understand that am not totally discouraging people from eating from convenient places, its just that fast food joints are more concerned with profit and appearance that the food is sometimes fried in used or excessive oil or just re-used and storage facilities have been found lacking, thus inviting problems like food poisoning, unwarranted fat intake and dirt. |
| My own little garden, to be improved with the addition of organic Chicken rearing, it's going to be fun |
And one last tip....try to have more home cooked meals together with loved ones, although it opens up cans of worms sometimes, its good for your heart.
Good Luck
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