African Heritage Diets Have Similar Health Benefits To Mediterranean Diets, Says Study

A new study has found that African heritage diets may promote many of the same health benefits as the Mediterranean diet, including the reduction of chronic inflammation.

The study is the first to comprehensively map the health effects of traditional African diets. It found that swapping Western foods for indigenous ones had a positive impact in just two weeks. Conversely, adopting a Western diet had a measurably negative impact.

As noted by the study’s authors, chronic inflammation is a key driver of many common non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease, the latter of which is the current leading cause of death worldwide.

Like the Mediterranean diet, African heritage diets tend to emphasize plant-based whole foods, including greens, fermented fruit, legumes, plantains, whole grains, roots, and tubers. These plants are rich in micro and macronutrients, fiber, and anti-inflammatory compounds like polyphenols, and overall promote “favorable” gut microbiome composition.

In contrast, the study also found that swapping traditional foods for a Western-style diet high in refined carbohydrates, fats, sugars, and animal-based proteins resulted in increased inflammation, weakened immune responses, and disrupted metabolic pathways.

The study focused on 77 healthy men around 25.6 years old, all of whom reside in the Kilimanjaro region of Northern Tanzania. Participants kept food diaries, and researchers took blood samples at the start of the study, two weeks in, and four weeks after it ended.

Twenty-three rural men who typically followed a traditional diet switched to a Western diet, 22 urban men used to a Western diet switched to a traditional diet, and 22 men who typically followed a Western diet added Mbege, a fermented banana and millet drink, for one week. Those who drank Mbege alongside their Western diet also saw improvements relative to those without it.

The new study was published in the scientific journal Nature at the start of April. Authors from Radboudumc and KCMC University collaborated with international partners to complete the work. They highlighted how traditional African diets are notably under-researched compared to those from well-publicized “blue zones” like Italy, Japan, and Costa Rica.

Traditional African diets include ‘plenty of vegetables, fruits, beans, whole grains, and fermented foods’

Photo shows a colorful array of fruit and veg at a market, including plantain and cassava — Adobe Stock Plant foods like root vegetables, greens, and fruit are rich in nutrients as well as fiber

The researchers noted that “even brief dietary interventions can have prolonged effects” on the immune and metabolic systems, both positively and negatively, underscoring “the importance of preserving indigenous dietary practices” for disease mitigation in Africa.

“The African diet includes plenty of vegetables, fruits, beans, whole grains, and fermented foods,” said lead author Quirijn de Mast in a statement. “Our study highlights the benefits of these traditional food products for inflammation and metabolic processes in the body. At the same time, we show how harmful an unhealthy Western diet can be.”

According to the authors, replacing traditional, nutritious whole foods with Western-style ingredients and meals is now a growing trend in many urban African households. A growing body of evidence links plant-based diets with decreased disease risk and inflammation.