Popular Nigerian Soups and their Nutritional Values

Soups are those special sauces that accompany the major Nigerian food commonly known as Fufu. Fufu is a generic name for food you swallow during the eating process. Fufu is generally tastless and rely on the richness of the soups to make the meal delicious. It is common knowledge that Nigerians especially the Igbos from the eastern part of the country must have at least one fufu meal in a day. This is why soups are very essential to Nigerian food recipes. All Nigerian soups can be served with Eba(Garri), Agidi, Amala, Semolina, Pounded Yam or Cassava Fufu. 

Today, we would analyze egusi soup and its calorie content, and all about egusi soup and weight loss. It has both good and bad sides. The basic Egusi Soup enriched with few chunks of stockfish and two pieces of meat contains a total of roughly 700 calories per serving!!! Imagine eating it with about 3 wraps of Iyan which is about 600 calories……….

The largest food group it contains is Fat. Egusi is very high in fat content. It has about 60% fat. It also has about 11 percent carbohydrate of which 0 percent is fibre which is supposed to be good for weight loss. Proteins make up 30 percent while other elements make up the rest. But that’s not all, Egusi actually has good qualities.

1. The fat in egusi is cholesterol free, meaning it’s not damaging to the heart. You may put on pounds when taking lots of egusi, but you would be sure that it’s not detrimental to your heart directly.

2. It contains certain nutrients which are good for the skin, good for fertility and reproduction.

So in conclusion, egusi has good properties as a food on its own, but for weight watchers and those on low fat diets, I would suggest you stick more to plain okra soups and vegetable soups, and limit your egusi intake.

 

Ogbono is one of our major soups here in Nigeria. It’s a soup we eat regularly. Ogbono is actually good for health, and weight loss, but when used to make soup, what determine the calorie content are actually the additives in the soup, your Palm oil and all that. However, today, we are not talking about the amount of calories in Ogbono soup; Rather, we are going to talk about the medicinal/herbal value of Ogbono Seed. You would be shocked that our very own Ogbono seed is now being sold abroad, as a drug for weight loss.

The scientific name of Ogbono seed is Irvingia gabonensis. They have converted it to powder form and put into capsules, and it is being sold as a weight loss drug!!! A bottle of about 120 capsules is sold for fifty dollars or thereabout. Now how does Ogbono seed work for weight lose? Ogbono seed is said to promote weight loss in various ways. One of the methods by which it does so is via inhibition of the enzyme called amylase. Amylase is responsible for absorption of sugar in the body. By decreasing the level of amylase, less sugar is absorbed by the body.

The second method by which it does this is to increase the level of a hormone known as adiponectin. Ogbono helps weight loss by also increasing the levels of leptin in the body, a hormone that reduces the appetite!

Lastly, Ogbono helps weight loss by inhibiting an enzyme called glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, and by doing this, it reduces the amount of blood sugar converted to fat. Case study done Abroad actually showed that the seeds help to achieve weight loss. Who would have ever guessed that our Ogbono Seed would ever become a weight loss supplement?

Although some types of soup are low in calories, afang soup is calorie-dense, as each cup provides 307 calories, which constitutes more than 15 percent of the daily suggested intake of 2,000 calories. If you are dieting, you may want a lower calorie soup such as chicken noodle, which contains 120 calories per cup. If you want to lose weight, you can burn off the calories in one cup of afang soup through 32 minutes of jogging or 25 minutes of jumping rope.

Afang soup is rich in fat, which contributes to the high calorie content. One cup of this soup provides 7 g of fat, although just 1 g is saturated. Dietary fat can be beneficial because it provides energy for long exercise sessions and promotes absorption of vital nutrients. Eating unsaturated fat may also help you maintain healthy levels of cholesterol.

Afang soup is rich in carbohydrates, with 20 g per cup. Of these carbohydrates, 3 g come from dietary fiber, while 2 g come from sugar. Afang soup may be more filling than other types of soup, as dietary fiber promotes feelings of satiety in addition to aiding in digestive health and controlling blood sugar levels.

Afang soup is a protein-rich food, as each cup contains 16 g of protein, which is twice the amount in a cup of milk. Protein consumption is important because protein provides your body with amino acids used to build and repair muscle and other vital tissues

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/458106-what-is-the-nutritional-value-of-afang-soup/#ixzz2L4587IZR

In my past posts, i have talked a lot of times about why i think people striving for weight loss should try to avoid Garri, pounded yam, and the likes. Good news for those who have been trying the diet, but are so so missing their soups. Okra soup is a very good soup for people trying to lose weight, but without the pounded yam or Eba oh. Back to Okra soup. You could cook your okra soup with about one or two pieces of meat. Minimal amount of palm oil would be very good, and then eat the okra soup alone. Okra soup alone contains about 105calories only per serving. So imagine how much calories you are saving by taking okra soup!!!It is also high in fiber content; here is a summary of what it contains: Okra has about 2.8g of fiber per serving, 3grams of fat, 4 grams of carbohydrates and 11 grams of protein. So for those trying to lose weight, why not try taking okra soup ALONE as substitute any time you are tempted to eat your pounded yam???

The Nigerian Banga Soup or Ofe Akwu is native to the Niger Delta and the South Eastern parts of Nigeria. In the Niger Delta areas, Banga soup is commonly eaten with various fufu recipes: Starch, Pounded Yam, Semolina, Garri and Cassava Fufu. In the South Eastern parts of Nigeria, Banga Soup is referred to as Ofe Akwu where Ofe means Soup / Stew and Akwu means palm fruit and is used mainly as stew for the white rice recipe. The palm fruit oil extract used in cooking Banga Soup / Stew is quite different from the Palm Oil used in cooking Nigerian food recipes. Palm Oil is pure oil extracted from the palm fruit pulp at high temperatures while the palm fruit oil extract used for the Banga Soup is extracted at a very low temperature and is a mixture of oil and water. Palm fruit oil extracted for Banga Soup contains less saturated fat than palm oils.

Bitter leaf soup is a soup prepared with the freshly squeezed or dried leaves of the ever green plant called Vernonia amygdaline. Bitter leaf soup is popularly eaten by the Igbo speaking people of Eastern Nigeria, and The people of Cameroon. Called Ofé Onugbo by the Igbos, the Cameroonians call it Ndolé. As would be expected, there is regional variation in how this soup is prepared. Like most other African soups, this authentic African food sauce is prepared with fish, meat, snail, either in combination or singly, with added spices and other condiments.

Calories	256	Sodium	0 mg
Total Fat	20 g	Potassium	0 mg
Saturated	0 g	Total Carbs	24 g
Polyunsaturated	0 g	Dietary Fiber	0 g
Monounsaturated	0 g	Sugars	0 g
Trans	0 g	Protein	3 g
Cholesterol	0 mg

 

Efo riro, otherwise known as vegetable or spinach soup, is a soup that is native to the Yoruba people of south-west Nigeria. The Hausas call it miyar alaiyahu while the Etsako people of Edo state call it as omhi-efo. It is prepared with green, leafy vegetables (spinach). The soup is a quick and simple way to prepare and enjoy vegetables. Efo riro is cooked with spinach, assorted meats (beef, goat meat, shaki and chicken), fish (stock fish, dried fish, and crayfish), pepper, tomatoes, onions, palm oil and seasoning. To prepare, thoroughly wash and shred vegetables.

Wash, season and cook meat until tender. Add prepared dried fish and stockfish and cook for another ten minutes. Place another pot on fire and heat up oil. Blend the tomatoes, onions and pepper and fry in oil for about ten minutes stirring frequently. Add cooked meat, fish, crayfish and some more stock, if necessary, and simmer for ten minutes. Lastly, add the vegetables, cook for five minutes and serve.

Efo riro can be eaten with just about anything; boiled rice, eba, pounded yam, amala, tuwo or plantain. Efo riro is a rich soup that is relatively cheap to prepare and its health nutritional benefits cannot be overemphasised. Spinach has a high nutritional value and is extremely rich in antioxidants, especially when fresh or steamed. It is a rich source of vitamins and folic acid.

The high amount of vitamins contained in spinach promotes healthy skin and also maintains the strength and density of our bones. It also aids digestion, prevents constipation, maintains low sugar and curbs overheating.