Counting Calories In a Typical Nigerian Food

To lose weight effectively and keep it that way, it is important to be conscious of what goes into your body each day. The fact that I know of this doesn’t stop me from eating between meals. Biscuits are my sin and I know you have one too. But seriously though, a good way of being conscious of what goes into your mouth is trying to keep track of it by writing it down in a food journal and count calories.

This may lead you to ask yourself, 'how do I know the number of calories in my food?' It’s simple, but because of lack of knowledge about the amount of energy in Nigerian dishes, it becomes difficult.

I have taken pains to do proper research on Nigerian foods and their energy content and unfortunately, most Nigerian foods are high in calories and cholesterol. But there is always a way out and it so happen that the low calorie food are less palatable. Some of our food contains good fat and they have great nutritional values. So if you are really really serious about losing weight, get counting!

List of Nigerian Foods and Their Calorie Content

Below are the various Nigerian food and the amount of energy it gives but what you need to know first are;

Cholesterol Intake

The normal cholesterol intake per day for an adult should be 300mg but if you have a high cholesterol or a high amount of LDL, your cholesterol intake per day should be 200mg or below.

Serving, How Much Is It?

Contrary to what people believe, a serving is not per plate or per bowl of a particular food but a palm size of your hand. Surprised? Yep! I was too!

CALORIES IN WHOLE DISHES (SOUPS)

Egusi – Nutritional value

This favorite and special soup is very high in fat and carbs. It has 63% fat and 15% carbohydrate. The red oil/palm oil contributes to the percentage of fat it has. An average Nigerian will add an addition of stockfish, few pieces of beef, making the total fat and carbs a whole month’s worth of energy in one pot. Protein 30% while other nutrient takes the rest.

Calories

A serving of the Egusi soup described here will contain a staggering 700 calories in total.

Okra soup – Nutritional value

Okra has about 2.8g of fiber per serving, 3g of fat, 4g of carbs and 11g of protein.

Calorie: A basic serving of okra soup that has two pieces of fish and and minimal amount of palm oil has 105 calories.

Ewedu soup – Nutritional value

Ewedu soup is generally low in calorie. A dish of this has 4g of fat out of which 10% is cholesterol, 300mg of carbohydrate, and 18g of protein.

Calories: 97 cal per serving.

Edikang ikong

A serving per 100g = 152 cal

Stew

Depending on the contents therein = 293 cal

Calorie Content in simple Nigerian Food Items

• Fried plaintain (1 slice) = 68 cal 
 
• Green plantain (a medium tuber) = 181 cal
 
• Snails (an average snail of 100grams) = 90 cal
 
• Wheat flour (A cup has 96g carbs, 12g of protein and 12g of fat) = 455 cal
 
• A large boiled or Roasted Corn of 7-9 inches ( 80% carbs) = 123 cal
 
• Medium Boiled or roasted corn of 6-7 inches = 88 cal
 
• Small Boiled or roasted corn of 5-6 inches = 63 cal
 
• A cup of raw Garri (contains 99% carb) = 360 cal
 
• Pounded yam (a milk tin) = 400 cal 
 
• Boiled yam (1 slice) = 55 cal 
 
• Brown rice (1 cup) = 216 cal 
 
• White rice (1 cup) = 693 cal
 
• Red beans (I cup) = 200 cal
 
• White beans (1 cup) = 378 cal
 
• Vegetable oil (1 table spoon) = 124 cal
 
• Palm oil (1 tablespoon) = 135 cal
 
• Olive oil (1 tablespoon) = 120 cal
 
• Indomie pack small = 350 cal
 
• Indomie super pack = 640 cal
 
• Indomie hungry man size = 1050 cal
 
• Tuwo - white cornmeal (1 cup) = 450 cal
 
• 1 boiled egg = 78 cal
 
• Wheat bread ( a slice) = 128 cal
 
• A wrap of moimoi = 256 cal
 
• Chicken breast = 78 cal
 
• Boiled fish (1 slice) = 101 cal
 
• Sweet potato – medium size = 145 cal
 
• A piece of beef (small) = 138 cal / (large) = 370 cal
 
• Pork chop meat (0.9kg) = 221 cal
 
• A piece of Chicken breast = 142 cal
 
• Catfish pepper soup = 110 cal
 
• Boiled squid = 112 cal
 
• Mackerel = 124 cal
 
• One cooked big crayfish = 97 cal
 
• Herring = 161 cal
 
• A can of sardine = 221 cal

You want to lose weight but still don’t want to give up on sweets and sugar? Sorry to say, but you are not prepared. You need to ask yourself if giving up your favorite heavy dish is worth your peace of mind and good health.