Nutrition
Some natural spices you must use at home
In the midst of the pandemic and other related illnesses one cannot afford to have a weak immune system, eating well balanced food is a sure way to keep the body fit in addition to maintaining and observing safety protocols. Natural spices are enriched with many health benefits and should be constant ingredients in foods to replace artificial spices.
Nutmeg
Nutmeg is a popular spice made from the seeds of Myristicafragrans, a tropical evergreen tree native to Indonesia.
It can be found in whole-seed form but is most often sold as a ground spice.
It has a warm, slightly nutty flavour and is often used in desserts and curries, as well as drinks like mulled wine and chai tea.
Although it’s more commonly used for its flavour than its health benefits, nutmeg contains an impressive array of powerful compounds that may help prevent disease and promote your overall health.
Garlic
Garlic is a plant in the Allium (onion) family. It is closely related to onions, shallots, and leeks.
Each segment of a garlic bulb is called a clove. There are about 10–20 cloves in a single bulb, give or take.
Garlic grows in many parts of the world and is a popular ingredient in cooking, due to its strong smell and delicious taste.
However, throughout ancient history, the main use of garlic was for its health and medicinal properties
Its use was well documented by many major civilisations, including the Egyptians, Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, and Chinese.
Source: www.healthline.com
Kaklo is the common street snack that turns overripe plantain into pure gold.
Kaklo is best eaten fresh off the fire. Crispy outside, soft and sweet inside, with a kick of ginger and pepper.
Mostly, found at bus stop from Accra.
Ingredients
– 4 ripped plantain
– 1 onion finely grated
– 1/2 tablespoonful of grated fresh ginger
– 1 tablespoonful dried powdered pepper
– ½ tablespoonful of fresh scotch bonnet, finely chopped
– Salt to taste
– ¼ cup corn flour
– Oil for deep frying
Preparation
-Peel the overripe plantains and place in a bowl.
– Mash thoroughly with a fork or your fingers until smooth.
– Add grated onion, ginger, pepper, and salt to the mashed plantain. Mix well.
-Sprinkle in the corn flour and stir until the batter holds together (It should be thick and scoopable, not watery. If too soft, add a little more flour).
-Pour oil into a deep pan or skillet to about 2 inches deep. Heat on medium until a small drop of batter sizzles and rises immediately. If using palm oil, don’t let it smoke.
– Using a tablespoon, scoop batter and gently drop into the hot oil. Don’t crowd the pan.
-Fry 2–3 minutes per side until deep golden brown and crisp.
– Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper or in a colander. Serve hot.
Cook’s Notes
– Plantain test: If it’s not sweet and soft enough, your kaklo will taste bland. The skin must be black and the flesh very soft.
– No blender: Traditionally, kaklo is mashed by hand. Blending makes it too smooth and it absorbs more oil.
– Serve with: Fresh ground pepper, shito, or a handful of roasted groundnuts. Perfect with a chilled bottle of sobolo or ice water.
By Theresa Tsetse
When nutrition challenges among Ghanaian women are discussed, anaemia and obesity often dominate the conversation.
These are real and serious concerns. But there are two other deficiencies, folate and vitamin B12, quietly causing harm to women and their unborn children. They are less visible, less talked about, and yet their impact begins early, often before a woman even knows she is pregnant.
Some studies suggest that about 68 per cent of women may have low vitamin B12 levels, folate deficiency affects a significant share of women of childbearing age, and many women do not meet recommended dietary intake levels for these nutrients.
Diet plays a major role. In many households, meals are largely carbohydrate-based, with limited intake of animal-source foods and micronutrient-rich options. Over time, this can lead to multiple nutrient deficiencies including iron, folate, and vitamin B12, occurring together. Low intake of iron, vitamin B12, and folate together puts women at heightened risk of giving birth to low birth weight babies or, in the worst cases, stillbirths.
These gaps often go unnoticed because they do not always show immediate symptoms, but their consequences can be serious.
Folate is essential for the healthy formation of a baby’s neural tube, the structure that develops into the brain and spinal cord, in the very first weeks of pregnancy, often before a woman even knows she is pregnant. When folate levels are insufficient during this critical window, the risk of neural tube defects rises significantly. These are severe birth conditions, many of which are fatal or cause lifelong disability. Vitamin B12 deficiency compounds this risk further, as the two nutrients work together in the body’s most fundamental cell processes.
Despite their importance, folate and vitamin B12 deficiencies receive limited attention in public health messaging and programmes.
Women need to know about these nutrients before they become pregnant, not after. This requires preconception nutrition counselling, targeted supplementation programmes, fortification of staple foods, and education campaigns that reach women in communities, markets, and health facilities.
Ghana has had a mandatory wheat flour fortification policy with iron and folic acid since 2007, but enforcement and coverage remain inconsistent, and the policy does not address vitamin B12. Expanding fortification to include B12 and strengthening compliance monitoring would be important steps forward.
Leaders across health, education, and agriculture must place these ‘hidden’ deficiencies on the national nutrition agenda, because the damage they cause is anything but hidden to the families who experience it.
Feature article by Women, Media and Change under its Nourish Ghana: Advocating for Increased Leadership to Combat Malnutrition project
