A Registered Dietitian, Selma Gbolonyo-Cass, has urged Ghanaians to pay greater attention to how they balance their everyday meals rather than assuming that healthy eating requires adopting foreign diets.
According to her, many traditional Ghanaian meals already contain nutritious ingredients and can form part of a healthy diet when consumed in the right proportions.
Speaking on The Healthy Living Project on the Citi Breakfast Show on Friday, September 4, Selma said Ghanaians do not necessarily need to spend more money on unfamiliar or imported foods to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
She explained that the key to healthier eating lies largely in portion control and ensuring that meals contain an appropriate combination of vegetables, carbohydrates and protein.
She recommended the healthy plate model as a simple guide that individuals can use when preparing or serving their meals.
“The Ghanaian meals we have are already healthy in their form, and there is no need to go the extra mile to adopt foreign dishes if you can’t afford it, so just stick to the things you already know. One simple theory I usually tell my clients is that they can use the healthy plate model.
“Based on the healthy plate model, you need to make sure that half of your plate contains vegetables; then the other half you divide into 2/4, 1/4 for your carbohydrate, then the other quarter for your protein.
“Let me use Waakye as an example. It is basically rice and beans, and beans are more of a carbohydrate than the protein we all tend to believe. Though it has amino acid traces in there, it is still a legume.
“We have our Waakye occupying a quarter of the plate, then vegetables occupying half of the plate, then protein occupying the other quarter. If it is banku I am going to go in for, banku is going to be a quarter of the plate, then my okro or ayoyo soup is going to occupy half the plate then my protein on the other side.”
The Healthy Living Project is powered by Channel One TV and Citi FM, and it’s proudly sponsored by the National Health Insurance Authority and Synlab.
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