If you are living in Nigeria and have ever had to lose weight, then you would know how hard it is to find the right type of foods to help you lose weight. Even when you are lucky enough to get a good diet plan that you think you can easily stick to, finding the necessary ingredients/foods can be a very frustrating experience.

But the good news is that you don’t necessarily need to pull some fancy ‘oyinbosih’ diet plan from the Internet before you can achieve great and permanent weight loss in Nigeria. The country is blessed with so many natural foods that are very effective for weight loss.

For instance, did you know that the popular ‘Ogbono’ seeds known as African Mango seeds are now being packaged and sold as a very expensive weight loss supplement in the United States of America? Ogbono is a very good weight loss aid, and if you’ve not been eating it before, now is the time to start considering it as a major part of your diet. But remember to go easy on the oil as adding too much oil to your Ogbono soup may sabotage your weight loss efforts.

Here are other Nigerian foods that can help promote weight loss.

1. Beans

Beans contain a lot of protein and fiber, which help you to stay fuller. When you stay full, the amount of food you are able to consume is reduced, and so is the number of calories consumed. This helps to aid weight loss. In addition, the protein content of beans help to build more muscles, making you look more trimmed.

2. Garlic

Well, if you don’t mind the strong odour, garlic is also one very helpful weight loss food. Garlic is a very strong anti-oxidant and helps purge your intestine and body of toxins. Also, eating a few cloves of raw garlic every day can help you get a flat tummy. You could also use it in cooking your meals. If you cannot stand the smell, go for some raw garlic supplements, which are odourless.

3. Brown rice

The first tip you are most likely to get when you are trying to lose weight is to stay away from carbohydrates like white rice, yam, white bread, etc. But the average Nigerian can hardly do without consuming such foods. However, the good thing is that you can still lose weight. All you have to do is to switch from consuming white rice to consuming brown rice or Ofada rice, which contains complex carbohydrates and is rich in protein. It helps to speed up metabolism.

4. Peanuts

Snacking is a challenge for the average Nigerian trying to lose weight, as there are not so many healthy snacks to around. Peanuts are however a good option for snacking, as they contain a healthy amount of protein and fiber, as well as Vitamin E, which is very good for the skin.

5. Watermelon

Watermelon has fat reducing properties and is especially good for reducing belly fat. And because it contains very few calories per slice, it is very suitable as a snack.