How many calories in eba, fufu and pounded yam? Per wrap and per plate

Eba, fufu and pounded yam are the heart of a West African lunch. You wrap a piece, dip it in egusi or okra soup and swallow. They are also some of the hardest foods to count, because nobody weighs a wrap and every mound is a different size.

Here are realistic numbers from the FAO food composition table for West Africa, so you can enjoy your swallow and still know where you stand.

The quick answer

• Eba: about 140 to 175 calories per 100 g, depending on how stiff you make it.
• Fufu (cassava, akpu): about 150 to 165 calories per 100 g.
• Pounded yam: about 100 to 135 calories per 100 g.
• For comparison, cooked white rice is about 130 calories per 100 g.

So gram for gram, swallow is not much heavier than rice. The difference is the portion: a usual mound of swallow often weighs 300 g or more, which is more than most people serve themselves of rice.

Where the numbers come from

Eba is gari mixed with hot water. Dry white gari has about 351 calories per 100 g. When you make eba, 100 g of gari usually takes in 100 to 150 g of water, giving you 200 to 250 g of eba. The calories stay the same, but they are spread over more weight, so eba lands at about 140 to 175 calories per 100 g. Softer eba (more water) is at the lower end; very stiff eba is at the top.

Fufu is fermented cassava paste. The FAO table lists wet fufu at about 165 calories, 1 g of protein and 39 g of carbs per 100 g. Fufu that is cooked soft with a little extra water sits slightly lower.

Pounded yam is boiled yam pounded smooth. Boiled yam has about 132 calories per 100 g. Water added while pounding brings it down; a yam foutou recipe in the same table comes to about 97 calories per 100 g. Most pounded yam falls between 100 and 135.

Calories per wrap and per plate

These are for the swallow only. A fist-sized wrap is usually around 150 to 200 g, so if you ate "two wraps", you are probably in the usual-serving row.

Not sure what your own plate comes to? Tap Ask AIMS (bottom right) and type: "How many calories in 2 wraps of eba with egusi?"

Don't forget the soup

The swallow is mostly starch. The soup is where the oil, the meat and the fish are, and it can add as much as the swallow itself.

Oil is the big one. One tablespoon of palm oil is about 120 calories. If a pot of soup made with one cup of palm oil (about 1,900 calories of oil) feeds six people, each bowl gets about 320 calories from the oil alone, before you count the egusi seeds, meat, fish or crayfish.

That's why two bowls of the same soup can be very different. A light okra or vegetable soup with little oil is much lower than a rich egusi with plenty of palm oil and assorted meat.

What about protein and fibre?

Swallow gives you very little protein. A usual 300 g serving has roughly 2 to 3 g in eba or fufu, and about 4 to 7 g in pounded yam. Your protein comes from the meat, fish or egg in the soup, so make sure there is a real piece of it on your plate. Our guide on how much protein you need a day explains why that matters when you're losing fat.

Pounded yam has the most fibre of the three. Boiled yam has close to 6 g of fibre per 100 g, while eba has about 2 g and fufu about 1.7 g. Fibre helps you feel full, which is one small point in pounded yam's favour.

Which one is "best" on a diet?

The one you enjoy, in a portion that fits your day. Per 100 g, pounded yam is usually the lightest, with eba and fufu a little higher. But portion size matters more: a big mound of pounded yam still has more calories than a small wrap of eba.

Researchers in Nigeria have also looked at how fast these foods raise blood sugar. In a lab study, cassava fufu released its sugar more slowly than gari dough (eba). In a study with young adults, both pounded yam and amala were high glycaemic index foods, with amala raising blood sugar faster than pounded yam. If you manage blood sugar for health reasons, talk to your doctor or dietitian about your portions.

How to enjoy swallow and still lose weight

• Decide your wraps first. Make one smaller mound and stop when it's gone, rather than eating from a big shared ball.
• Make eba a little softer. More water means fewer calories per wrap, and most people don't notice.
• Go easy on the oil in the soup. Cutting two tablespoons of oil from your own bowl saves about 240 calories.
• Load the protein. Fish, chicken, beef or egg in the soup keep you full for longer than extra swallow.
• Add more vegetables. Ugu, okra and other greens fill the bowl for very few calories.
• Count it like a meal. Swallow and soup together is a full meal. Plan your other meals around it, as you would with a plate of jollof rice.

The short version

• Eba: about 140 to 175 calories per 100 g. Fufu: about 150 to 165. Pounded yam: about 100 to 135.
• A usual 300 g serving of swallow is about 300 to 525 calories, before the soup.
• The soup can add as much again, mostly from oil. One tablespoon of palm oil is about 120 calories.
• Swallow has little protein, so get it from the meat, fish or egg in your soup.
• Smaller mounds, softer eba and less oil are the easy wins.

Want to know how swallow fits into your own day? Ask AIMS: "How many calories should I eat if I have eba for lunch?"

Swallow is hard to count because nobody weighs a wrap. AIMS knows eba, fufu, pounded yam and your favourite soups. Snap a photo, type "two wraps of eba with egusi and fish", or just say your meal, and it gives you a calorie and protein range you can adjust.