Medical Doctor List “20 Unhealthy Nigerian Foods” Stirring Discourse Online.

A medical doctor on X has stirred up conversations online and also incited the ire of Nigerians after listing 20 Nigerian foods he deemed unhealthy.

The doctor, unprovoked took to his X (Twitter) page to list 20 Nigerian food which he had classified as unhealthy. Many of the foods he listed were not native to Nigeria and some were quite vague like “snacks, sugars and biscuits“, as he did not specify which types or brands were unhealthy but generalized them as all bad for consumption.

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The 20 foods he listed include;

“1. Shawarma
2. Pizza
3. Hot dogs
4. Noodles
5. Bread
6. Foreign rice
7. Spaghetti
8. Snacks
9. Butter
10. Sardines
11. Canned food
12. Sugars
13 Soft drinks
14. Energy drinks
15. Semo
16. Ofe akwu (banga soup) Eat but in moderation. The red oil in that soup is to much…
17. Biscuits
18. Ice cream
19. Imported fruits
Eat our local fruits.
20. Hydrogenated oils are Poison.”

Many Nigerians were ticked off by his list, which some would say is justified as ‘online doctors’ have been known to demonize certain Nigerian foods, without giving a concrete reason as to why they should be avoided or offering cheaper and healthier alternatives that could be turned too.

After receiving a wave of backlash for his initial post, the doctor offered a list of 20 healthier Nigerian foods, which are;

“1. Plantain
2. Garri
3. Yam cooked with feel
4. Coco yam.
5. Water yam
6. Afang soup
7. Oha soup
8. Vegetable soup
9. Okro (moderate for men)
10. Local rice
11. Beans
12. Irish and sweet potato
13. bitter leaf soup
14. Akpu prepared by you
15. Ewedu
16. Fish
17. Red meat
Good source of iron which helps activate the red blood cells, but once you are up to 15 yrs, eat moderately…. Red meat is high in Estrogen which can trigger fibroid growth or abnormal breast growth in female children.
18. Eggs
highly rich in Healthy fat and also unhealthy fat. Because of the choline and calcium it has which we need for healthy bones and Organs, we will be needing it (dont take more than 2 in a week)
19. Green leafs vegetables such as Ugu, spinach, kale, broccoli and scent leaf.
20. Fibre rich vegetables and fruit such as
cabbage, carrots, cucumber, garden eggs and cauliflower”