Nutrition
Bitter leaf soup (Ofe Onugbu)
Bitter leaf soup is a savoury Nigerian soup, commonly eaten with fufu. It has a slightly bitter taste. This soup is made with a leafy green, native to parts of Africa, known as bitter leaf. This nutritious African soup is commonly eaten with fufu, eba or pounded yam, but you can eat it also with rice.
Ingredients
- 500 grammes of meat precooked
- 800 grammes of cow/beef foot precooked
- 500 grammes of stock fish precooked
- 1-2 of dry fish
Other ingredients
- 250 grammes of bitter leaves (vegetable)
- 3 Uziza leaves
- 1-½ tablespoonfuls of mkpuru ofo powder
- 2 tablespoonfuls of cameroon pepper
- 2 table spoonfuls of ogiri
- 200 grammes of palmnut paste
- ¼ cup of coarsely ground crayfish
Preparation (bitter leaf)
-Wash the bitter leaf thoroughly with lot of water to remove sand and other particles.
-Boil in large pot for 30 minutes. (leave the pot open while cooking otherwise it would bubble over).
-Turn off heat, pour the bitter leaf into a sieve and run it over with cold water. -rinse a few times.
-Transfer back to pot and add half a tablespoonful of potash or baking soda. Bring to boil again and allow to boil for another 30mins.
-Store or use immediately.
Preparation ( bitter leaf soup)
- Put about eight cups of water in a pot. Add salt and bring to slow boil.
- Add the ground crayfish and ground cameroon pepper.
- Add the precooked meats, Turn down the heat to low. ( Don’t cook meats for too long remember they are already precooked)
- Add in the palmnut paste or palm oil and stir.
- Mix Ogiri with a little water and add to the pot. Then take a cooking spoon of hot liquid from the pot to dissolve the mkpuru ofo powder.
- Pour the dissolved mixture into the soup and stir. Taste for seasoning and adjust accordingly.
- As the soup thickens, add onugbu leaves followed by the uziza leaves.
- Stir properly and allow soup to simmer for about a minute.
- Turn off heat. Do not cover pot immediately
Source: chefspencil.com
Health benefits of bitter leaf
Aids in Weight Loss
The components in bitter leaf juice make it great therapy for burning off that extra fat you have been looking at getting rid of.
Reduces Cancer Risks
Bitter leaf contains numerous anti-cancer properties like andrographolide compound which has been scientifically found to be effective in treating prostate cancers, gastric cancers, and colon.
Lowers high blood pressure
The same bitterness in bitter leaf that makes it unappetising is also one of its strongest best benefits. The bitterness of bitter leaf juice helps to lower your sugar level and controls blood pressure.
Aids in treatment of abdominal issues
Bitter leaf comes in handy in the treatment of abdominal issues like stomach upset, diarrhea, dysentery and other gastrointestinal tract diseases. Drinking a cup of bitter leaf juice twice daily helps bring relief from stomach problems.
Enhances fertility
Bitter leaf is very impressive when it comes to its benefit to the reproductive system of women. Drinking bitter leaf juice can help a woman get pregnant as the chemical compounds present in bitter leaf extracts like edotides promotes hormonal balance and boosts your immune system to help fight against toxification.
Source: guardian.ng/life
Despite RUTF’s proven ability to save lives, access to it in Ghana remains inconsistent. Many caregivers face long travel distances to treatment centres, only to be told that supplies have run out. Others rely on community health workers who do their best but struggle with stock shortages. The core challenge is simple: RUTF in Ghana depends heavily on donors, and when global priorities shift or funding gaps emerge, children suffer.
RUTF’s which stands for Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food is a high-energy, micronutrient-rich food paste designed to treat severe acute malnutrition in children. This raises an important question: why is a life-saving product, essential to child survival, not covered under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS)?
Including RUTF in NHIS would mark a monumental shift in how Ghana approaches child health. Firstly, it would ensure that access to RUTF becomes a national obligation, not an act of charity. Severe acute malnutrition is a medical condition, just like malaria, pneumonia, or diabetes, and must be treated as such. With RUTF included in the NHIS medicines list, families would be guaranteed treatment without depending on unpredictable donor supplies.
Secondly, integrating RUTF into NHIS is cost-effective. Untreated malnutrition leads to complications such as severe infections, developmental delays, and prolonged hospital admissions, all of which are far more expensive for the health system than early intervention. Investing in RUTF through NHIS would reduce long-term healthcare costs while strengthening Ghana’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 2 and SDG 3.
Thirdly, including RUTF in the scheme would help eliminate inequities. Currently, access varies by region. Children in remote or hard-to-reach communities often suffer the most. When RUTF is made universally available, every child is guaranteed treatment when they need it.
Additionally, NHIS coverage of RUTF would help streamline procurement systems, improve supply chain consistency and strengthen accountability mechanisms, a gap that currently undermines national nutrition efforts.
At its core, this is an issue of fairness, governance, and national responsibility. If Ghana truly prioritises child survival, then RUTF must be placed where it belongs, that is, within the NHIS as an essential, guaranteed treatment.
Feature article by Women, Media and Change under its Nourish Ghana: Advocating for Increased Leadership to Combat Malnutrition project
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Ingredients
• 4 tablespoonful of milk powder
• 2 cups of fresh milk
• 1 cup of condensed milk (sweetened)
• 2 tablespoonful of vanilla custard powder
• 1 teaspoonful of vanilla essence
Optional: Sugar (only if you want extra sweetness, since condensed milk is already sweet)
Preparation
- Mix the custard base in a small bowl
- Dissolve the custard powder in ½ cup of cold milk to make a smooth paste
- Cook the custard and heat the remaining milk in a saucepan
- Stir in the Cowbell milk powder until fully dissolved
- Add the custard paste and cook on low heat, stirring continuously until it thickens slightly
- Remove from heat and stir in the condensed milk
- Add vanilla essence for flavour
- Taste and adjust sweetness if needed
- Let the custard mixture cool to room temperature
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 3–4 hours (overnight is best)
- Scoop into bowls or cones and enjoy your homemade custard ice cream
