Ghanaians do not need to abandon traditional meals or spend extra money on unfamiliar imported foods in the name of eating healthy, a Registered Dietitian, Selma Gbolonyo-Cass, has said.

According to her, the problem with many everyday Ghanaian meals is not necessarily the food itself, but how much is served and whether the different food groups are properly balanced on the plate.

Selma made the observation while speaking on The Healthy Living Project on the Citi Breakfast Show on Friday, September 4, 2026, where she challenged the perception that a healthy lifestyle must involve expensive foods or foreign diets.

She argued that several traditional Ghanaian meals already contain nutritious ingredients and can form part of a healthy diet when prepared and consumed in appropriate proportions.

The dietitian said Ghanaians should stop assuming that healthier eating automatically means buying imported foods or adopting eating habits that are unfamiliar to them.

For people who may struggle to afford some of the foods promoted as part of modern healthy diets, she said there is no need to abandon familiar Ghanaian dishes.

“The Ghanaian meals we have are already healthy in their form, and there is no need to go the extra mile to adopt foreign dishes if you can’t afford it, so just stick to the things you already know,” she explained.

She stressed that portion control should be at the centre of efforts to improve eating habits.

Rather than completely removing popular local meals from their diets, Ghanaians can make healthier choices by ensuring that their plates contain the right balance of vegetables, carbohydrates and protein.

To simplify the concept, Selma recommended the healthy plate model, which divides a meal into appropriate proportions.

Under the model, she said half of the plate should contain vegetables, while the remaining half should be divided equally between carbohydrates and protein.

That means one-quarter of the plate should consist of carbohydrates, while another quarter should contain protein.

The approach, she said, can be applied to familiar Ghanaian meals without requiring people to completely change what they eat.

Using waakye as an example, Selma explained that the popular combination of rice and beans should not automatically be regarded as a high-protein meal simply because beans contain some protein.

She pointed out that beans are legumes and are considered more significantly within the carbohydrate component of the meal, although they also contain amino acids and provide nutritional value.

Under the healthy plate approach, she suggested having the waakye occupy about a quarter of the plate, with vegetables taking up half of the plate and a separate protein source filling the remaining quarter.

That could allow consumers to continue enjoying one of Ghana’s most popular meals while improving the overall nutritional balance.

The same principle, she explained, can be applied to banku. Instead of filling a plate predominantly with banku and soup, consumers can control the quantity of banku and increase the vegetable component of the meal.