Nutrition
Overcoming insomnia with diet
Insomnia
Some people with insomnia may fall asleep easily enough but wake up too soon. Otherssimply can’t fall asleep, or they have trouble both falling asleep and staying asleep.
The result is low-quality sleep that doesn’t make you feel refreshed when you wake up. Often, insomnia is a symptom or a side effect of some other problems like:
• Illness, such as heart or lung disease
• Pain, anxiety, or depression
• Drugs that delay or disrupt sleep
• Caffeine, tobacco, alcohol, and other substances that affect sleep
• A poor sleep environment or a change in sleep routine
If the cause of the insomnia is known, then the insomnia should improve once the underlying cause is treated. However, there is a type of insomnia (primary insomnia) which is not as a result of any underlying disease and usually last at least one month.
Nutrition and lifestyle changes go a long way in the battle against insomnia.
Below are some of the foods that may help:
• Melatonin rich foods such as oats, nuts, fish and berries.
• Tryptophan rich foods such as spinach, eggs, and crabs.
• Niacin rich foods such asmushrooms, tuna, turkey, and anchovies.
• Vitamin B6 rich foods such as avocados, carrots, bananas, and organ meat.
Lifestyle changes
• Avoid late night watching of movies, TV shows, social media, etc.
• Have a separate bedroom away from all sorts of destruction
• Change uncomfortable beds, pillows, and sheets
• Avoid late night eating and drinking of water
• Take warm baths in the evening
• Add some forms of exercise to your lifestyle routine
It can be very unsettling dealing with insomnia, especially when we don’t know the cause. But applying the dietary and lifestyle changes mentioned above can not only treat insomnia, but also improve our quality of life in general.
Going to sleep should be a breeze in no time, with sweet dreams just around the corner.
By Dr Bernice Korkor Asare
Kind courtesy of:
Holistic Health Consult
“Your diet your health, your health your wealth”
E-mail: info@holistichealthconsult.org
Nutrition
Health benefits of Star Apple (Alansa)
Known as Alansa in Ghana, the botanical name for the African Star apple is Chrysophyllum albidum.
In recent times, the demand for African star apple is very high because of sweet taste and its benefits.
-It prevents Anemia
-Maintains weight loss
-Anti oxidants rich in vitamin C
-It prevents diabetes
Nutrition
Fufu and Light Soup
Fufu and light soup is a traditional Ghanaian dish; it is delicious food that you won’t want to miss out on when it comes to Ghanaian cuisine.
Light soup is tomato based. Fish, goat, lamb, chicken, beef, or pork can all be used to make this light soup.
Basically, Fufu in Ghana is derived by combining cassava and plantain.
Ingredients
Fresh tomatoes
Beef/Goat meat/ Chicken/ Lamb meat
Fresh fish (tilapia or catfish)
Tomato paste
Chili peppers
2 large onions
3 spoonful of salt
Seasoning
3 teaspoonful of ginger and
garlic
4 fingers of okro
Fufu Ingredients
Fresh cassava
Unripe plantain
How to make Ghana Light Soup
-First of all clean your fish, remove the gills and the innards then rinse in clean water and set aside. Thereafter, wash the meat and equally keep it aside.
-Secondly, blend your ginger, garlic, onion, seasoning cube, salt, and spices, scoop some quantity into the fish and marinate the fish, cover and set aside.
-In a pot containing the meat pour the remaining blended garlic and ginger mixture, add the tomato paste, salt, bay leaf, with more water, cover and cook for about 10 minutes.
-Thirdly, wash your tomatoes, onions, and pepper and remove the stem of pepper, scrap off the onion head.
-Place fresh tomatoes, onions, pepper into a clean pot and pour 1 cup of water into the pot and bring to boil.
-Next is to remove the fresh tomatoes, pepper, and onions from heat and blend. Ensure you don’t discard the boiled water from the tomatoes rather use it to blend the tomatoes; or pour into the meat, add more water.
Finally, bring soup to a simmer over low heat for like 15 minutes then add the fresh fish; clean your okra/ okro and add into the cooking pot, cover and cook to doneness.
Optional: Sieve the soup if you like to get the clear light look of the soup else skip the process.
Light soup is ready.
How to make Ghana Fufu
On the same note, cassava flour can be used in place of fresh cassava tubers.
First of all, peel the skin of your cassava tuber and plantains then boil for about 25-30 minutes to tender.
Secondly, using a mortar and pestle which is the major instrument for local pounding, or use a Yam pounder machine to pound it.
Start with the plantain, thereafter add the cassava, sprinkle some water as you pound for easy pounding until a smooth paste is achieved; Your smooth fufu is ready.
Source: shopafricausa.com
