5 African foods to avoid late at night

If you have had an extremely busy and long day, and you are finally free to eat at about 11pm, maybe, of course, it makes sense that you would want to gulp down a heavy meal to assuage the persisting hunger no matter how late in the day it is. Eating late at night is not a complete no-no as it is important to eat when you are hungry; you just have to be smart about it. 

Contrary to popular belief, eating late at night does not necessarily make you add weight nor does it have any negative health implications. Eating the wrong foods with the wrong number of calories is what brings on all the extra weight and most times disrupts your sleep. Are you visiting or currently living in Nigeria and you have the habit of eating late at night? Rather than just opting for the nearest, tastiest-looking Nigerian food, take a look at a list of 5 Nigerian foods to avoid late at night. Amala and Ewedu A food famous in the western region of the country, Amala and Ewedu is almost a staple on the menu of most Nigerian restaurants. While the soup is made with vegetable and spices, Amala is made with yam powder. They both form an appetizing combo, however, can be unfavorable to your stomach when consumed late in the night. Although the meal digests very easily, compared to other yam-based meals, it is urine inducing and can bring a lot of interruption discomfort to your sleep. 

Pepper soup 
A favorite Nigerian meal usually served with rice or yam as a side, pepper soup seems to be the perfect meal for times you are hungry at night as it is perceived as a light meal, but you may actually want to step away from it when you are craving something to eat late at night. The pepper soup contains certain spices and peppers that may upset your stomach and chemicals that can also stimulate your senses, making it hard to fall asleep.


Bread This would be easy to buy off of the streets if you getting back late and you know you would not have the energy to cook or microwave any major meal when you get home because it would be too late already. While Agege bread would be satisfying when eaten with tea, mayonnaise or butter late in the night, it contains a lot of carbohydrate and sugar that spikes up your blood sugar levels, causing your energy levels to spike and plummet, disrupting your sleep in the process. There is also a chance that you will likely wake up starving a few hours later or in the morning due to the overproduction of insulin the sugar triggers. 

Fries (yam, potatoes, akara) If you have had dinner by 7 pm and you are still awake by 12pm and you are hungry, you may want to indulge in light finger food. The go to would be fried yam, plantain , potatoes or even akara. While this food may seem like a light meal, they actually are not. They are greasy heavy foods! They weigh on your stomach and take a while to digest, leaving you feeling tired and sluggish in the morning. Also, they do more harm to your sleep than good. You may have to deal with stomach pains, cramps, abdominal bloating, heartburn, and acid reflux, resulting in poor sleep quality. Ewa Agoyin A meal made of beans paired with a spicy sauce made with Palm oil and dried crushed chilies, Ewa agoyin is very tasty but a horrible option for late-night snacking or eating.Not only can it trigger heartburn, as well as upset your stomach, it can totally sabotage a day of good eating and actually keep you from going to sleep.