Nutrition

Health benefits of ripe plantain

Published

3 years ago

July 15, 2023

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•Ripe plantain

Plantains belong to the same family as bananas but they have to be cooked to be eaten. Plantains are delicious and can be found in many places in the world. Plantains are starchy and rather bland, with a low sugar content.

Here are a few health benefits of plantain:

-Help regulate the digestive system

Fibre has a profound effect on the digestive system and plays a significant role in keeping it regular.

One cup of plantain provides almost a fifth of the fibre recommended daily, which is roughly 25–30 grammes.

As a high-fibre food, plantains add bulk to food intake, which aids digestion. Fibre make you feel full, which can help with weight control.

-Boost the immune system

Plantains contain 36 per cent of your daily recommended amount of vitamin A. As another powerful antioxidant, vitamin A provides a number of benefits to the body.

Along with vitamin C, it helps control your immune response, which keeps illness at bay, and a number of important immune system responses rely on vitamin A to perform correctly.

-Promote healthy brain function

Vitamin B6, also called pyridoxine, generates several important neurotransmitters that carry information from one cell to another.

A serving of plantains can provide up to 24 per cent of your daily amount needed of vitamin B6.

This vitamin in plantains is one of the eight B vitamins that aid in processing food into energy and metabolising fats.

-Great source of magnesium

From helping to regulate blood pressure to preventing osteoporosis, there are many ways magnesium keeps the body healthy.

Magnesium directly affects calcium absorption, which can avert or reverse osteoporosis.

It also lowers the risk of getting type 2 diabetes by controlling blood glucose levels through carbohydrate metabolism and insulin regulation.

Credit: Draxe.com

Nutrition

Can Ghana feed its people well? Building a nutrition-sensitive food system

Published

6 days ago

August 29, 2026

WeeklySpectator

When we talk about nutrition in Ghana, the conversation often focuses on individual choices: eat more vegetables, reduce sugar and salt, drink more water and exercise regularly.

These messages are important, but they tell only part of the story. Good nutrition is not just a personal responsibility; it is also a food-system issue.

What Ghanaians eat is influenced by what farmers produce, what food costs, how it is processed and marketed, what is served in schools, and what information consumers receive.

Ghana has the agricultural capacity to produce a wide variety of nutritious foods, including vegetables, fruits, legumes, fish, eggs, roots and tubers. Yet production alone is not enough. Poor storage, transportation challenges and weak market access mean that an estimated 30 per cent of food in Ghana can spoil before reaching consumers or retailers, according to a 2025 study by the International Growth Centre. The losses are particularly significant for fruits and vegetables, reducing both farmers’ incomes and the availability of nutritious foods. This is where policy becomes important.

Agricultural policies should consider not only how much food Ghana produces, but also whether that food contributes to healthy diets. Greater support for diverse crops, local vegetables, fruits and legumes could strengthen both agriculture and nutrition.

The food-processing industry has a role as well. Processing can reduce food waste, improve convenience and create new markets for local produce. But greater attention should be paid to the nutritional quality of processed foods, particularly those high in salt, added sugar and unhealthy fats.

Public education must also become more practical. Telling people to “eat healthy” is not enough when nutritious foods may be unaffordable or unavailable. Consumers need information, but they also need a food environment that makes healthier choices realistic.

Good nutrition begins on the farm, continues through the market and food industry, reaches the school and household, and ultimately ends on the plate.

What is needed is greater coordination.

A successful nutrition strategy should connect agricultural production with health objectives, school feeding with local agriculture, food processing with nutritional quality, and public education with the realities of household income and food prices.

The ultimate goal is not simply to produce more food.

It is to ensure that Ghanaians have reliable access to safe, affordable and nutritious food throughout their lives.

Feature Article by Women, Media and Change

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