Kenyanising dietary advice, Deciphering diet Mambo Jambo into something you can eat

Let’s face it, a lot of the nutrition advice online and in books is from authors abroad. The advice might be sound, but some of the foods cannot be found locally and those that can are so ridiculously expensive that having them habitually on our plates will definitely break the bank. (Try buying salmon in Nairobi and you’ll understand what I mean)

Food is supposed to be a pleasure. Thinking about it should bring about pleasant sensations not feelings of dread and nightmares of empty wallets. In leading a healthy lifestyle, the relationship we have with our food is most of the journey, the little else we do just complements what we put into our mouths. So how do we, with confidence use local foods to our advantage? 

1. Educate yourself...It helps that there are people out there who have decided to let us know that omena is also known as silver cyprinid fish...get to know what ‘terere’ or ‘managu’ or ‘kamongo’ are in English. You will be surprised at just how nutritious foods that are readily available are and in the correct combinations can be used even as a substitute for expensive protein shakes as post workout snacks. Before all these expensive protein shakes, there were body builders. How did they do it? With the same foods that are available today. Let me give you some examples:Did you know that omena “Silver cyprinid” is a very good source of protein and essential oils? It is recommended for children with protein deficiency? It is delicious if you learn to cook it well and is available almost everywhere in the country. Because it is a dried fish, it also has a long shelf life. I have read that 60% of its weight is protein, so everyone who is building muscle, this little fish is one that should be given more thought. 
2. All types of Beans. Beans are considered a cheaper source of protein. Save for soya, they are incomplete proteins. However, if combined with other foods, the proteins are then made “whole”. How do you think vegetarians survive? Or vegans for that matter? Beans are an important part of their diet. Combining beans with brown rice, or corn will make them “whole”. You can also combine beans with seeds, beans with nuts and beans with grains. You don’t even need to eat them at the same meal (there’s a simple reason of carbs overload addressed below), you can spread the food combination over the day. 

There are simple ways to make the protein in beans more “available” for your body, that is, easily absorbed. 

1. By soaking it in liquid whey (the by product of making your greek yoghurt which I’m assuming you’re already making at home). 
2. By sprouting the beans, a process which I haven’t blogged about BUT there is a lot of information online. Sprouting also makes available various beans for salads with different textures that make food more interesting. It can be done by anyone, anywhere. 

You have to be careful with beans though because they also carry a lot of carbohydrates in them. For example, one cup of mung beans...what are those? Dengu  which is 207g contains 130g of carbohydrates. Yes, more than half. Which means you should take this into account when choosing what to accompany your bean, cutting the starch on your plate from a quarter to an eighth for example. 

1. “Supplements” - Okay, so Mr. Shaun T. Keeps on talking about results and recovery formula, even Challean has mentioned it once or twice. Arnold once said what matters in body building is vitamins and diet...or something close to that, but for sure he mentioned vitamins...so you go to Healthy U, or that other shop at Hilton, or your local Pharmacy and find that 900 grams of Whey isolate costs the same as the total food budget for a small family for a month....and you think you can’t achieve your goals....I am here to tell you that you are very wrong. You can achieve your goals. For example:

• Moringa Olifera - This is a tree whose leaves are so nutritious if you were to live on it you would need little else. I know it in the form of the dried leaf powder which means no other processing has been done to it. It is widely available, and you don’t have to go to a health store to get it. If you’re not sure where to get it, please drop me a line and I will give you a phone number of a distributor. How do you use it? Add it to your after workout smoothie or sprinkle it on any meal. It contains Vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B6, B7, C, D, E and K. It contains all essential amino acids (there goes your whey isolate) and non essential amino acids. 
• Spirulina - This is an algae...yes I said it, an algae. It used to be that if you eat oysters you can eat anything...I know, I can be naughty sometimes ;-) but I change it to if you can eat spirulina you can eat anything. Without going into much detail, it is also widely available and is 60 -70% protein with over 80% bio availability (can be absorbed). It also contains Vitamin B12, Omega 3 and 6 essential Fatty Acids, antioxidants, more vitamins, even more good stuff that I cannot type out here.  

I cannot cover all that is locally available but I think beginners especially are getting an idea that they can use what is easily available and friendlier to their pockets to achieve the same results manufactured products claim to produce. 

There is just a few more things I have to mention, there are some combinations of food that are counter productive. Whereas you may think you are providing your body with adequate nutrition, what they actually do is cancel out the benefits.

For example:-

• Being a tea drinker I didn’t like discovering that our black tea contains tannins which prevent absorption of iron if taken with half an hour of eating. Coffee and Cocoa also contain “stuff” that prevents iron absorption.  Also useful to mention that adding milk to tea cancels out any antioxidants it has. Yap, black tea is more healthy but not just before or after a meal. 
• Foods are are high sources of calcium also inhibit iron absorption e.g. milk, yoghurt, broccoli
• Adding vitamin C to your foods will increase iron absorption. 

Phew! That was a long blog, and hasn’t exhausted the subject, not even covered an iota of it. 

Have an active, nutrient filled day!