Eating Ogbono Soup During Pregnancy: The Health Benefits And Side Effects You Should Know.

Pregnancy is a period in which you're careful about a lot of things. This is because you're not just thinking about yourself but also about the unborn baby inside your body. You will always be conscious of the kind of food you consume, the medications you take, and the general well-being of your body. Many women in Nigeria eat a lot of soups including Ogbono soup during pregnancy because of the natural ingredients used to prepare them. But the question a lot of women ask during pregnancy is; is ogbono soup good for a pregnant woman?

Is ogbono soup good for a pregnant woman?

Ogbono is a popular soup in Nigeria. Ogbono soup is highly nutritious and has numerous health benefits.

When properly cooked, your ogbono soup comes out drawy, hence it's popularly called "draw soup" and when eaten with any swallow, it makes the lump slide down the throat and oesophagus without difficulty because of its slimy nature... Ogbono can be cooked with Ugu leaves, Bitterleaf or Uziza leaves.

Ogbono soup is a soup prepared from ogbono seeds, assorted meats, fish, palm oil, and traditional spices. Ogbono soup seed is derived from a wild mango whose botanical name is Irvingia Gabonensis.

ogbono seed is first ground and then combined with other spices to make a nutrient-packed delicious meal.

The choice of meat could be Shaki, Goat meat, or beef. Most of the spices are traditional flavours, contributing to the soup’s unique taste.

Recipes

• ground Ogbono seed
• bitter leaves or pumpkin leaves
• palm oil
• locust bean(iru)
• stockfish
• dry fish
• beef or any meat
• crayfish
• Ponmo (optional)
• salt to taste
• Maggi cubes
• black pepper

How To Prepare Ogbono Soup

Before you cook Ogbono Soup

1. Grind the Ogbono with a dry mill.
2. Cut the frozen spinach when it is not completely defrosted. It is easier that way. Then when completely defrosted, squeeze out the excess water.
3. Cook the assorted meat with the stock cubes and onion. If you will use Shaki, remember to start cooking that first, then add beef when almost done.
4. Grind crayfish and pepper.
5. Boil some water and set aside.

Cooking Directions for Ogbono Soup

1. Pour the palm oil into a clean dry stainless steel or aluminium pot. Set on the stove and melt the oil at low heat. Remember, only melt the oil, do not allow it to heat up.
2. Once melted, turn off the heat and add the ground Ogbono.
3. Use your cooking spoon to dissolve the Ogbono in the oil.
4. When all the Ogbono powder has completely mixed with the oil, add the meat/fish stock (water from cooking the assorted meat and fish). Set the heat of your cooker to low and start stirring. You will notice the Ogbono start to thicken and draw.
5. Keep stirring till the Ogbono has completely absorbed the meat stock.
6. Add a small quantity of the hot water and stir till the Ogbono has absorbed all the water. Repeat this process till you get a consistency that is shown in the video below.
7. Making sure that your heat is set to low, cover the pot, and start cooking. Once it starts to simmer, stir every 2-3 minutes for 20 minutes.
8. So what you'll do is every 3 minutes or so, open the pot, stir every well, scraping the Ogbono that sticks to the base of the pot, cover the pot and cook for another 3 minutes.
9. After 20 minutes, the Ogbono should be well cooked and you will begin to perceive its nice flavour and aroma.
10. Add the assorted meat and fish, ground crayfish, salt, and pepper to taste. The Ogbono may have become thicker from the cooking. If so, add a little bit more water and stir very well. Cover and cook till the contents of the pot is well heated up.
11. If you prefer your Ogbono Soup without vegetables, turn off the heat and serve but if you like to add a vegetable then keep reading.

That is all you need to know about the preparation of ogbono soup.

Ogbono soup is rich in protein, calcium, dietary fibre, and other nutrients that are highly essential for the body.

Let go back to the question: Can a pregnant woman eat ogbono soup? It's a big YES!

Can a nursing mother eat ogbono soup? YES!

We all can eat ogbono soup cooked using seeds from ogbono nuts. Ogbono soup has so many nutritional benefits for everyone.

Ogbono soup nutrition facts and nutritional significance

Ogbono soup is known to contain about 20 amino acids with a good number of nutrients, calories, proteins, low cholesterol, low carbs, vitamins, and minerals such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, phosphorus, and iron.

Health Benefits of ogbono soup during pregnancy

1. Weight loss
2. Ogbono soup helps with pregnancy Weight management. The soup when eating increases the level of leptin in the body, a hormone that reduces appetite and promotes weight loss.
3. It contains essential nutrients that are good for the growth and development of your unborn baby.
4. Ogbono soup is rich in proteins, which is good for bodybuilding, for the unborn baby.
5. It prevents diabetes as ogbono soup has no sugar content.

Side effects of ogbono soup during pregnancy

ogbono soup can cause flatulence, vomiting in some people (no enough pepper), headaches, and poor sleep. Asides from that ogbono soup no serious side effects.

Conclusion

Ogbono soup is a very appetizing dish when prepared the right way. Apart from being delicious, the ingredients that constitute the delicacy are excellent sources of nutrients your body needs.

Thanks for reading up to this point.

If you have any questions concerning this topic, kindly drop in the comment section.

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