Soaking gari is a very nice way of making instant cereal which most Ghanaians do today. Some also held the view that ‘soaking gari used to blind eyes’. Interestingly, soaking gari can be nutritious as it is an authentic source of energy and there are no scientific studies that have found that gari soaking can blind anyone.
Others also opined that “drinking gari is a sign of poverty”. The debate about whether drinking gari is a sign of poverty or not has been going on for long. You will have a different opinion on this subject after reading this article. Gari is also known as Cassava flakes, Cassava dust, Gali, Gari, etc. Why the motivation to write on gari in this new article?
Recently I wrote on the health benefits of Konkonte made from cassava. The article was based on one study conducted by a team of scientists at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology that found foods processed through solar and sun drying possess a lower glycaemic index, which is healthy for consumption.
The study revealed that consuming traditional staples like ‘Konkonte’ processed through solar or sun drying could reduce your blood sugar levels and lower the risk of heart diseases. In one email I received, the sender advised providing the review on cassava gari. The sender believes that since konkonte and gari are both derived from the same cassava, could gari also have a health impact?
In this article, I provide a review on cassava gari and other foods derived from the same plant such as agbelikakro, etc.
Cassava Gari
Gari, otherwise known as Cassava flakes, is one of the main sources of carbohydrates and a popular staple food in Ghana. It is a local delicacy eaten across Ghana, usually mixed with sugar, milk, etc. and eaten however desired.
But this go-to meal is one whose health benefits are unknown or not paid attention to by its consumers. Though gari is a starchy food, it is low in calories and with high fibre content that will help one stay full for a longer period.
Gari – The science
Low in calories, fat and sugar
To understand the health benefits of Gari and other cassava foods such as Agbelikaklo and others, it is advisable to understand the nature of cassava as the base ingredient. Some are confused due to the fact that cassava is a starchy food. What they forget to understand is that starch in cassava is high in resistant starch, a type of starch that bypasses digestion and has properties similar to those of soluble fibre. For more on this, read wide on resistant starch or my previous articles on cassava Fufu and Konkonte. Thus, eating foods that are high in resistant starch may benefit your health in several ways.
Cassava has less than 120 calories for a quarter-cup serving, making it lower in calories than some other gluten-free flour, such as almond or coconut flour. Overall, it has higher water content, lower fat content, and lower calorie density than other flours, including corn, wheat, plantain, almond, coconut, rice and sorghum flour.
Gari makes a good choice for people with health conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol since it’s extremely low in salt/sodium, sugar and fat, plus it is free from refined carbohydrates and synthetic ingredients. Depending on what other ingredients you use with cassava, it can help you maintain normal blood sugar and provide a good source of energy.
Levy, J(2019) notes that though it is high in carbs and provides a similar amount of carbohydrates as most other grain-based flours which can help support energy levels in people who are active but avoid eating other starches. Because it’s so high in carbohydrates, experts estimate that cassava plants provide the third-highest yield of carbohydrates per person in many parts of the world (after sugarcane and sugar beets).
Its composition is about 60 percent to 65 percent water moisture, 20 percent to 31 percent carbohydrates, and less than 2 percent protein and fat. In some parts of Africa, it provides up to 30 percent of total daily calories!
For a good cassava soaking, it is best to use cassava gari to pair it with other nutrient-dense, complementary foods to boost the fibre, vitamin and mineral content of recipes. For example, you can increase the amount of fibre in recipes by using cassava gari in combination with high-fibre foods like chia seeds or flaxseeds.
Easy to grow
In one article by Levy, J(2019), cassava has been found to assimilate carbon at very high rates under high levels of humidity, withstand high temperatures and solar radiation, and survive in environments whether dry or humid. According to one publication by The ACP-EU Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), 2000: “When we advocate and buy cassava gari and other cassava products, we help support growers who rely on exporting cassava to earn an income, provide employment opportunities, and serve as a reserve food in times of scarcity”.
Nutrition facts
A quarter-cup serving of cassava flour has about:
- 114 calories
- 2 grams of fibre
- less than 1 gram of fat, protein or sugar
- 28 grams of carbohydrates
- about 17 percent of daily vitamin C
The nutritiondata.self.com states that one cup of raw cassava contains the following which you will also benefits from eating gari:
- 330 calories
- 78.4 grams carbohydrates
- 2.8 grams protein
- 0.6 gram fat
- 3.7 grams fibre
- 42.4 milligrams vitamin C (71 percent DV)
- 0.8 milligram manganese (40 percent DV)
- 558 milligrams potassium (16 percent DV)
- 55.6 micrograms folate (14 percent DV)
- 0.2 milligram thiamine (12 percent DV)
- 43.3 milligrams magnesium (11 percent DV)
- 0.2 milligram copper (10 percent DV)
- 1.8 milligrams niacin (9 percent DV)
- 0.2 milligram vitamin B6 (9 percent DV)
- 0.1 milligram riboflavin (6 percent DV)
- 55.6 milligrams phosphorus (6 percent DV)
- 3.9 micrograms vitamin K (5 percent DV)
- 0.7 milligram zinc (5 percent DV)
Although it’s not very high in fibre, protein, healthy fats or other essential nutrients (aside from vitamin C), cassava is low in calories and allows you to enjoy some of your favourite recipes without the use of processed, bleached, or gluten-containing flours.
Cassava gari loaded with vitamin C
Cassava gari is loaded with vitamin C — a significant antioxidant that prevents cancer and supports eye health and skin health. Though some controversy exists on how much vitamin C is retained during cassava gari’s manufacturing process. This notwithstanding, one study by Montagnac et al.(2009) found that cassava is loaded in vitamin C juxtaposed to other staple crops (and grains), and contains more vitamin C than potatoes, yams, wheat, brown rice, corn, and plantains.
Cassava gari aids digestion and colon health
Two studies (Korczak et al. 2017; Rachman et al. 2020) found that cassava gari is rich in dietary fibre. Dietary fibre aids digestion, faecal frequency, and controls weight. It also reduces the colonic transit time of digested food.
Cassava gari is a resistant starch. As the resistant starch in cassava gari ferments inside the colon, it feeds the healthy bacteria there. During this process, the starches turn into short-chain fatty acids. One of these short-chain fatty acids is butyrate. Butyrate is an important component in the cells of the colon. Magallanes-Cruz et al.(2017) explained that resistant starch is starch that the small intestine does not digest. Nugent, A(2005) explained that resistant starch work in a similar manner to dietary fibre. They pass from the small intestines into the colon where they begin to ferment and finally promote gut health by feeding the beneficial gut bacteria as they ferment(Maier et al.2017).
Zimmerman et al.(2012) found that Butyrate can also reduce the levels of inflammation inside the colon. This can help protect a person against a variety of digestive issues, such as inflammatory colorectal cancer and ulcerative colitis. This means that, in theory, butyrate could also help protect a person from other inflammatory issues in the bowel and colon, including:
Cassava gari loaded with antioxidants
Three studies (Chukwu, 2015; Nilusha et al. 2021; Sen and Chakraborty, 2011) found that cassava gari is loaded with an antioxidant such as phenolics, carotenoids and vitamin C. These antioxidants in cassava help fight skin conditions and organ functions.
Insulin insensitivity
One animal study by Maki et al.(2012) found that resistant starch can increase a person’s insulin sensitivity. In this study, males who were overweight or had obesity ate 15–30 grams (g) of resistant starch each day. These males then showed increased insulin sensitivity in comparison to males who did not eat these resistant starches. By increasing a person’s insulin sensitivity, resistant starches can play a role in preventing disorders such as obesity, diabetes and heart diseases. During the study, female participants did not show the same results. More research is necessary to determine why.
Other foods derived from cassava
Let me state that all cassava-derived foods contain the ingredients in cassava with accompanying benefits if one reviews the science on cassava though different processing methods could affect them. Some of the foods are adumbrated, according to Wikipedia(2022).
Eba is a stiff dough made by soaking garri in hot water and kneading it with a wooden baton until it becomes a smooth doughy staple. It is served as part of a meal with various soups and sauces. Some of these include okra soup, egusi soup, vegetable soup, afang soup, banga soup, and bitter leaf soup.
Kokoro is common Nigerian snack food, especially in southern and southeast Nigeria – especially in Abia state, Rivers state, Anambra state, Enugu state and Imo state. It is made from a paste of maize flour, mixed with garri and sugar, and deep-fried.
Garri comes in various consistencies, which can roughly be categorised into rough, medium, and smooth. Each type is used for a particular food.
As a snack, cereal, or light meal, garri can be soaked in cold water (in which case it settles to the bottom), mixed with sugar or honey, and sometimes roasted peanuts or groundnut, with evaporated milk sometimes added. Garri can also be eaten dry without water, but with sugar and roasted peanut added.
Dry Gari flour
In its dry form, gari is used as an accompaniment for soft cooked beans and palm oil. This food mix is called yoo ke gari or gari Foto in the Ga language in Ghana. Gari Foto is the combination of moistened gari and stew, while yoo ke garri is garri with beans, a combination that is typically eaten as lunch. It is also eaten with bean cake in Nigeria.
For a full meal, gari is usually cooked by adding it to hot water, then kneading it into a dough. This is eaten with different types of thick, leafy vegetable stews, melon seed stews, peanut stews or beans.
Smooth gari (known as lebu to the Yoruba) can be mixed with pepper and other spicy ingredients. A small amount of warm water and palm oil is added and mixed with the hand to soften up. This type of gari is served with fried fish. It is served with frejon on Good Friday.
Warnings
Two studies(Nwabueze and Odunsi, 2007; Alitubeera et al. 2019) reported that raw cassava contains the cyanogenic glycosides linamarin and lotaustralin. The researchers explained that Linamarin produces the toxic compound hydrogen cyanide (HCN). It can cause dizziness, vomiting, tachypnea (abnormally rapid breathing), syncope (fainting), and tachycardia (fast heart rate).
However, Alitubeera et al. (2019) assured us that we should not be afraid of the hazardous nature of cassava. This is because cultivated cassava has a much lower cyanogenic content than wild cultivars. Moreover, peeling the tubers, soaking them in water for 4 to 6 days, and sun-drying or roasting them reduces the levels of these compounds to acceptable amounts.
One study by Santos et al.(2011) reported some allergic reactions when some consume cassava such as urticaria (hives) and angioedema (painless swelling under the skin). Others reported life-threatening anaphylactic reactions.
Take home
Cassava gari and other cassava-derived foods support our health in many diverse ways due to the numerous ingredients in cassava. Cassava gari is gluten-free and rich in carbohydrates. Dietary fibres, vitamin C, vitamin B and vitamin A are abundant in cassava gari. While the presence of cyanogenic glycosides in cassava gari may pose a risk, proper processing significantly reduces these levels. Always do remember that the starch content in cassava products is a resistant starch and they are beneficial to our health, especially gut health. From the review on scientific studies, is drinking gari soaking food for the poor? Let the debate start!
>>>The writer is a Professor of Naturopathic Healthcare, President, Nyarkotey College of Holistic Medicine & Technology (NUCHMT)/African Naturopathic Foundation. E-mail: [email protected].
References
- Maki KC, Pelkman CL, Finocchiaro ET, Kelley KM, Lawless AL, Schild AL, Rains TM. Resistant starch from high-amylose maize increases insulin sensitivity in overweight and obese men. J Nutr. 2012 Apr;142(4):717-23. DOI: 10.3945/jn.111.152975. Epub 2012 Feb 22. PMID: 22357745; PMCID: PMC3301990.
- Maier TV, Lucio M, Lee LH, VerBerkmoes NC, Brislawn CJ, Bernhardt J, Lamendella R, McDermott JE, Bergeron N, Heinzmann SS, Morton JT, González A, Ackermann G, Knight R, Riedel K, Krauss RM, Schmitt-Kopplin P, Jansson JK. Impact of Dietary Resistant Starch on the Human Gut Microbiome, Metaproteome, and Metabolome. mBio. 2017 Oct 17;8(5):e01343-17. doi: 10.1128/mBio.01343-17. PMID: 29042495; PMCID: PMC5646248.
- Magallanes-Cruz PA, Flores-Silva PC, Bello-Perez LA. Starch Structure Influences Its Digestibility: A Review. J Food Sci. 2017 Sep;82(9):2016-2023. doi: 10.1111/1750-3841.13809. Epub 2017 Jul 28. PMID: 28753728.
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