When it comes to food and nutrition science, the world turns to Africa to learn the science of food combination and proper cooking.
Unfortunately, Africans are busy spending their hard-earned money on exotic foods that end up damaging their health.
They abandon their palm oil for imported groundnut and vegetable oils, they replace their garri (cassava) with wheat, their amala with semolina and their morning boiled yam with bread.
I was at a conference sometime last year when I heard a ‘nutrition expert’ addressed a large crowd of medical personnel about the dangers of eating Yam.
He told them that yam is the major cause of diabetes in society and must be avoided by all people with diabetes and those prone to it.
In other words, if you have diabetes, then you will never eat yam, and your favourite pounded yam again.
The ‘expert’ advised his listeners to replace yam with grains such as wheat, millet and semolina.
The truth, however, is that yam is healthier than wheat, semolina, rice, millet and other grains, and people with diabetes need not avoid yam if they follow the correct instruction on how to cook yam.
Think about it, how is it that food that has served our forefathers and mothers very well for centuries and is a part of our culture suddenly became dangerous and toxic?
And how come the only alternative being recommended are food from other cultures that have to be imported?
Surely, there is a foul play somewhere.
Yam has a lower glycaemic index, about 54% of glucose per 150-gram serving, much lower than the potato, rice and even millet.
The glycaemic index (GI) is a numerical system of measuring how much of a rise in circulating blood sugar a carbohydrate triggers–the higher the number, the greater the blood sugar response.
A low GI food will cause a small increase while a high GI food will trigger a dramatic spike.
The speed at which a carbohydrate is broken down into glucose determines whether it’s “fast” or “slow.”
Fast carbohydrates break down quickly and have a glycaemic index above 70 and a glycaemic load above 20.
The problem is not eating yam; the problem is the way you cook your yam and how you eat it.
Always cook your yam with the peels. Never peel your yam before cooking.
For those old enough to remember, you will recall that this was how our fathers and mothers used to cook their yam and even plantain.
They never peeled the skin until after cooking. If you peel yam before cooking, then the yam is likely to raise your sugar level because of its high carbohydrate and starch content.
But if you cook your yam with the peels, and peel it after cooking, what you have is already a balanced diet.
Yam peels are the most nutrient-rich part of yam.
Do you think it is an accident that goats prefer to eat yam peels to eating the yam? Try it at home.
Keep yam peels on one side and yam on the other side- the goat will always rush to eat the peels.
They instinctively know that the peels are more abundant in micronutrients.
The most essential tool you need when it comes to proper nutrition and a healthy diet is not money; it is knowledge. Knowledge is power!
