Overview

This information can help you, your family or your carer to make your meals more nourishing (fortify them). 

If your meals are more nourishing, this can help you to:

• regain any weight that you have lost
• maintain your current weight
• reduce the rate at which you are losing weight

You may find it difficult to gain weight or be losing weight unintentionally if:

• you keep struggling to eat full meals
• your energy needs are high

This information is suitable if you, your family or your carer have told us that you prefer to eat traditional Afro-Caribbean food and meals. It gives a few examples of:

• carbohydrates, proteins and high-energy foods to include in your main meals
• ways to prepare nutritious soups, stews and broths
• snacks that you can have in between your meals
• nourishing drinks that you can have

These examples are not a full list. We also include a sample fortified meal plan using Afro-Caribbean foods.

Please speak to a dietitian if you need more personalised advice.

Your main meals

This section gives you guidance about including carbohydrate, protein and high-energy foods in your main meals. 

Carbohydrate

Try to include a source of carbohydrate in the meal, such as grains and grain-based foods, root tubers and starchy vegetables, or breads.

Examples of grains and grain-based foods are:

• white rice
• brown rice
• rice and peas (rice cooked with kidney beans or pigeon peas)
• cornmeal or maize meal
• dumplings (such as boiled or fried dumplings often served with stews)

Examples of root tubers and starchy vegetables are:

• yams
• sweet potatoes (orange-fleshed or white)
• taro or dasheen
• cassava
• green bananas or plantains (boiled, roasted or fried)
• breadfruit

Examples of breads are:

• Agege bread (soft, slightly sweet white bread with a Nigerian or West African influence)
• roti (thin flatbread, often stuffed with dhal or curried vegetables)
• coconut bread or sweet bread

You can add butter, cooking oils, nut butters or plant-based options to increase the energy content.

Protein

You also need to try to include a source of protein in the meal, such as beans and legumes, meat and offal, eggs, or fish and seafood. 

Examples of beans and legumes are:

• beans, such as butter beans, black-eyed beans, kidney beans, rosecoco beans or black beans
• chickpeas
• lentils

Examples of meat and offal are:

• beef
• lamb
• goat
• offal, such as kidney, liver or tripe
• oxtail
• chicken

You can have boiled or fried eggs or include eggs in stews.

Examples of fish and seafood are:

• stockfish (dried cod)
• smoked, dried or tinned fish
• fresh river or sea fish (tilapia, mackerel or catfish)
• shellfish (shrimps, prawns, crabs or lobsters)

It is ideal to have a meal with 2 types of protein, such as beans and meat or egg and chicken.

High-energy foods

It is a good idea to include foods that are nutritious and have a high energy content in your meals, such as:

• avocado
• ackee
• fresh and tinned fruits

Soups, stews and broths

Here are some tips for making nutritious soups, stews and broths:

Snacks

You need to aim to have 2 to 3 snacks a day. They can be small meals, such as a sandwich, or other foods like:

• cakes, biscuits*, a spiced bun or hard-dough bread
• meat, fish or vegetable patties
• fried dumplings
• fresh, tinned or frozen fruit with cream, condensed milk, custard or a plant-based option
• mixed nuts
• milky puddings, such as ice cream, yoghurts or rice pudding

*If you have diabetes, you will need to continue to choose sugar-free options. However, you can have a moderate amount of food that contains sugar as part of a fortified diet. Speak to your GP, nurse or diabetes team for more information.

Drinks

You need to aim to have 8 to 10 drinks a day. These could be:

• tea, coffee or herbal tea
• milky drinks, such as hot chocolate, Horlicks^®, Ovaltine^® or milkshakes
• supermarket drinks such as ginger beer, Peanut Punch^®, SuperMalt^® or Nurishment^®
• fresh fruit juice or fruit smoothies
• drinks fortified with full-fat milk, skimmed milk powder, condensed milk, evaporated milk or plant-based options
• coconut water
• fruit smoothies with avocados added to them as a source of healthy fats
• drinks with brown sugar, white sugar or honey added to them for extra sweetness and energy*

*If you have diabetes, you need to continue to choose sugar-free drinks. However, you can have a moderate amount of foods that contain sugar as part of a fortified diet. Speak to your GP, nurse or diabetes team for more information.

Example fortified meal plan using Afro-Caribbean foods

This is an example of a fortified meal plan that uses Afro-Caribbean foods: