The Health Benefits of Moin Moin and Akara + How you can loose weight

Moi moi and akara balls have all the proteins and energy sustaining power more than many other diets. They are light, refreshing and can be a healthy diet so if you are looking for healthy diet and healthy eating advice, look no further.

Moi moi and akara attract numerous healthy companions like poached eggs, lobster, fish, roasted lamb or goat meat.

Moi moi is often served at parties and cooked in hotels, restaurants, fast food restaurants etc.  The most impressive of all is that Moi moi and akara can be stored in the fridge for up to three days and in the freezer for up to one month without going off or loosing their food values.

The discovery of moi moi as a potential healthy eating diet is incredible! Akara balls and moi moi have always been eaten in Nigeria from time immemorial without anybody paying close attention to their healthy benefits.

Most Nigerians and Africans eat moi moi with rice – jollof, fried, white or ofada. Some people cook moi moi with various fillings like eggs, prawns, fish or corned beef. They are traditionally cooked in many homes in the rural areas as well as in the cities with no sugar and proportional amounts of salt, pepper, tomatoes, palm oil and other condiments.

To completely enjoy its health benefits, it is better and safer to avoid palm oil. For colouring, people generally use fresh tomatoes or tomato puree. However, the ingredients depend on one’s preferences.

Akara balls can be eaten with cucumber, lettuce, mushrooms and broccoli – although I find all these to be rather strange combinations; who am I to judge . Many Nigerians traditionally, eat akara balls with bread, pap – akamu in Ibo and Ogi in Yoruba dialect, or with a special corn meal called (Agidi).

WEIGHTLOSS

Moin Moin is great for weight loss. It is made up of beans and other assorted spices like eggs, or fish which are all great weight loss foods. It is highly proteinous and can easily fill up your stomach.

Eat beans, if you don’t like beans, eat moin moin. Change these key things in your diet and be faithful to it, within my first month I lost 5kg. The trick is: you’re depriving your body of carbohydrates and sugar, so it feeds on the fat already in your body, that way you’ll lose weight even without rigorous exercise.

Should you omit akara from our diet when losing weight? You would find the answer … Protein makes up 45 calories, which is good for weight loss

 

It’s All About Fibre!

Although the hull is the outermost part of the cowpea, it contains disease fighting antioxidants, essential B-vitamins and more importantly, dietary fibre – a nutrient sometimes called “Nature’s Broom” because it removes waste and cleans the colon. Fibre improves stool quality, promotes regularity and decreases constipation. In addition, adequate intakes of fibre promote satiety and have been demonstrated to help prevent obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and various forms of cancer.

The World Health Organization recommends that adults consume approximately 27-40g of fibre every day. Unfortunately, with the rapid influx of affordable highly processed, quick and easy foods, many Nigerians do not even get half of this recommended amount.

We no longer eat fresh fruits and vegetables but instead we consume commercially prepared staples like “fufu-in- a-box” and white rice which are often stripped of fibre long before they reach our supermarket shelves.

The United States Department of Agriculture estimates that 1 cup of raw cowpeas provides 18g of fibre; that is almost half the daily requirement. Unfortunately, the average Nigerian will not reap this benefit from Moin Moin because most of the fibre in the pea is discarded.

What’s a Moin Moin Lover to do?

To reap all the benefits of healthy cowpeas, consider doing some of the following things:

1. Leave some of the hull on the cowpeas and experiment with a variety of toppings. Depending on what other ingredients you add, the look and mouth feel of the hull can be masked.
2. Experiment with different beans or peas, some are softer and grind smoothly.
3. Add vegetables which although not as high as the whole cowpea, are a great source of fibre.
4. Make pea fibre. Rather than throw valuable nutrients in the trash, consider making a batch of healthy pea fibre. Simply dry the hull, pound it, or use a food processor to create a fine powder. Add it to baked goods and boost their fibre content with this rather unexpected ingredient.
5. Serve a side of fresh fruit or vegetables  every time you serve Moin Moin. every day to ensure you get the recommended fibre amounts.

While it may be easy for me to declare that Moin Moin should now be eaten with the hull because the hull is high in fibre, it is not always a practical recommendation. Personal taste preferences definitely should be considered. There is no point in making fibre filled Moin Moin if no one will eat it.