Watch Your Plate: 7 Nigerian Foods That Can Increase Your Risk of Hypertension
Our Nigerian cuisine is a vibrant, delicious tapestry of flavours, deeply woven into the fabric of our culture and daily lives. But as our lifestyles become more urbanized and convenience-driven, some of our modern dietary habits have begun to contribute to a silent, growing epidemic: Hypertension, or high blood pressure.
Hypertension is a silent saboteur. It often develops without any warning signs, yet it is a leading cause of heart attacks, strokes, and kidney failure. While many factors contribute to high blood pressure, what we eat plays one of the most significant roles.
This is not a list of “forbidden foods.” This is a guide to awareness. It’s about understanding which popular Nigerian foods and ingredients can be major contributors to high blood pressure, so you can enjoy them more mindfully. The first, most critical step in managing your risk is to get a health checkup to know your numbers. Once you have that knowledge, you can use this guide to make smarter, heart-healthy choices.
1. Stock Cubes and Seasoning Powders
This is, without a doubt, the number one culprit in the Nigerian diet. These small cubes are the foundation of flavour in countless stews, soups, and jollof rice, but they are nutritional landmines.
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Why They’re a Risk: The primary ingredient in most stock cubes is sodium (salt), often combined with MSG. A single cube can contain over 1,000mg of sodium—more than half of the recommended daily intake for many adults. When you use multiple cubes in one pot, the sodium content becomes astronomical. This high sodium load forces your body to retain water, increasing blood volume and putting immense pressure on your artery walls.
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Smarter Choices:
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Drastically reduce the number of cubes you use. Start by cutting your usual amount in half.
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Embrace natural, local flavour enhancers like iru (locust beans), crayfish, onions, and garlic.
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Experiment with a wider range of herbs and spices to build flavour without relying on salt.
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2. Instant Noodles
A go-to for a quick, cheap meal, instant noodles are a staple for students and busy professionals alike. But their convenience comes at a steep price for your heart.
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Why They’re a Risk: The noodles themselves are often fried and high in unhealthy fats, but the real villain is the seasoning packet. This small sachet is a super-concentrated dose of sodium, MSG, and artificial flavourings. A single serving can easily contain over 80% of your entire recommended daily sodium intake.
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Smarter Choices:
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If you must eat instant noodles, use only half of the seasoning packet, or discard it entirely.
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Flavour the noodles yourself with a little pepper, garlic, and a sprinkle of crayfish.
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Bulk it up with vegetables like carrots and greens to add nutrients and fiber.
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3. Processed Meats (Sausages, “Hot Dogs,” Corned Beef)
These are popular for breakfast, in stews, and as a quick addition to rice or bread.
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Why They’re a Risk: To preserve these meats and enhance their flavour, they are loaded with sodium and nitrates. Corned beef and canned sausages are particularly high in salt. Regularly consuming these foods contributes significantly to your daily sodium load and can raise your blood pressure over time.
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Smarter Choices:
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Treat processed meats as an occasional indulgence, not a daily staple.
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Opt for fresh, lean protein sources like fish, chicken, or eggs for your breakfast.
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Read labels when you buy them and choose the option with the lowest sodium content.
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4. Suya (Specifically, the Yaji Spice Mix)
Everyone loves suya, but it’s important to be mindful of what makes it so addictively tasty.
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Why It’s a Risk: The grilled meat itself is fine. The danger lies in the yaji—the complex spice mix it’s coated in. While it contains healthy spices like ginger and pepper, it is almost always made with a very large amount of salt and MSG to enhance the flavour and act as a tenderizer.
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Smarter Choices:
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Enjoy suya in moderation.
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When you buy it, ask the mai suya to go easy on the spice mix.
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Consider making your own healthier, low-salt yaji at home.
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5. Deep-Fried Foods and Snacks (Puff Puff, Fried Plantain, Akara)
These delicious, golden-brown treats are everywhere, from street corners to breakfast tables.
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Why They’re a Risk: The risk here is twofold. First, these foods are cooked in large amounts of oil, often oils that are reused multiple times, making them high in unhealthy trans fats and calories. This contributes to weight gain, a primary cause of hypertension. Second, they are almost always heavily salted to make them more palatable. It’s a combination that is particularly tough on your cardiovascular system.
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Smarter Choices:
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Limit your intake of deep-fried foods.
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Explore healthier cooking methods like baking or air-frying for your plantain and akara.
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If you buy them, blot them with a paper towel to remove excess oil.
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6. High-Salt Snacks (Plantain Chips, Chin Chin, Salted Groundnuts)
These are the snacks we often eat mindlessly while in traffic, at work, or watching TV.
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Why It’s a Risk: A single bag of commercially produced plantain chips or a serving of chin chin can have a surprisingly high amount of sodium. Because we eat them without thinking, the salt intake adds up very quickly.
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Smarter Choices:
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Read the nutritional labels on packaged snacks.
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Opt for unsalted or lightly salted nuts.
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Choose fresh fruit as a snack instead.
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7. Canned Foods in Brine (Sardines, Mackerel)
Canned fish is a convenient and nutritious source of protein and omega-3s, but you must choose carefully.
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Why It’s a Risk: When fish (or any other food) is canned “in brine,” it means it is preserved in salt water. This dramatically increases the sodium content.
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Smarter Choices:
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Always choose fish canned in oil (like olive oil) or spring water instead of brine.
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If you can only find fish in brine, rinse the fish thoroughly under running water before eating it to wash away some of the excess salt.
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Knowledge is Your Power
This guide is about empowerment, not deprivation. By being aware of these hidden salt and fat traps, you can make small, conscious adjustments that will have a massive positive impact on your blood pressure.
But your journey must start with data. You cannot manage a risk you haven’t measured. An annual health checkup that includes a blood pressure reading is your essential first step.
At Healthtracka, we make it easy. Our comprehensive health panels provide the critical information you need about your blood pressure, cholesterol, and more. Choose our discreet at-home service or a quick visit to our private walk-in lab.
Our Lab Address: Healthtracka Lab, 35A Furo Ezimora Street, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos, Nigeria.
Take control of your plate, and you take control of your health.
Book Your Comprehensive Health Checkup Today and Know Your Numbers.
