African Diet Is Better Than the Mediterranean

For many years, health experts said the Mediterranean diet was the best way to prevent heart disease and cancer.

This diet is common in Southern Europe, North Africa, and the Eastern Mediterranean. It uses fruits, vegetables, beans, grains, nuts, olive oil, fish, and small amounts of red meat or processed foods.

But a new study from Radboud University in the Netherlands, together with Tanzanian scientists, has found something amazing: a traditional African diet may be even better.

In just two weeks, people who ate local African foods—such as millet, sorghum, beans, leafy greens, and fermented foods—had less inflammation and stronger immunity than those on Western or Mediterranean diets.

The good effects lasted weeks after the diet stopped. This shows what our elders always knew: food is medicine.

Ugali, injera, kontomire stew, beans, okra, and fermented porridge are not just filling—they are powerful foods that protect life.

Source: Nature Medicine, April 3 2025; Radboud University Medical Center & Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre, Tanzania.