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# High Fibre West African Foods: 10 staples to add to your diet
- URL: https://www.boopshq.com/high-fibre-west-african-foods-10-staples-to-add-to-your-diet/
- Published: 2026-10-16T21:38:36.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-16T21:41:10.000Z
- Description: Bambara groundnut, baobab leaves, fonio and more: 10 West African staples ranked by fibre per 100 g, plus where to buy them in the UK.
- Author: boops
- Tags: Gut Health, Recipes

Most of us think of oats and wholemeal bread when we think of fibre. Yet many West African staples are packed with it, and plenty of us already cook them or could easily bring them into our meals. Learning to cook with new foods is also a great way to keep things interesting in the kitchen and get more variety onto your plate.

### Why Fibre Is Worth The Effort

UK guidance for adults is 30 g a day (SACN, 2015). In a large analysis of studies, people eating the most fibre had around 15% lower risk of dying from any cause and 24% lower risk of coronary heart disease than those eating the least, with the biggest benefits at 25 to 29 g a day (Reynolds et al., 2019).

### What The Table Shows

The FAO’s food composition table for Western Africa lists fibre per 100 g. These are boiled, drained values:

- **Unripe plantain: 6.2 g**
- **Fonio: 6.8 g**, a gluten free grain with more fibre than sorghum (4.9 g)
- **Cassava leaves: 8.1 g**
- **Moringa leaves: 8.4 g**
- **Jute mallow (ewedu) leaves: 8.4 g**
- **Tigernuts: 8.9 g**
- **Pigeon peas: 9.1 g**
- **Water yam: 10.2 g**, nearly double boiled yam (5.9 g)
- **Baobab leaves: 11.0 g**
- **Bambara groundnut: 14.5 g**, more than three times black eyed peas (4.0 g) and more than double lentils (6.4 g)

### The Part Usually Missed

Leafy greens cooked into soups and stews are among the most fibre-dense foods in the table, yet we think of them as flavour, not fibre. Roots count too: boiled water yam has nearly double the fibre of boiled yam (5.9 g).

These are cooked figures. Dried, uncooked beans and grains look far higher per 100 g because they contain no water, so only compare like with like.

### Where To Find Them

Availability varies, so start with African and Caribbean grocers, which usually stock dried or tinned beans, pigeon peas, yam, plantain and leafy greens. Bambara groundnut, fonio and dried baobab leaves are less common, so look at specialist African food shops and online retailers. Moringa is sold as fresh leaves in some shops and as powder in health food stores. Larger supermarkets often carry tinned black eyed peas, pigeon peas, plantain and yam in their world food aisle.

### Short On Time

- Stir a handful of leaves into any stew or soup in the last few minutes.
- Swap half your rice for boiled fonio or sorghum.
- Keep tinned beans in the cupboard for quick meals.
- Have boiled water yam or plantain instead of refined starch once or twice a week.

### The boops Takeaway

You don’t need a new diet to reach 30 g. West African staples already deliver fibre at a level most “high fibre” lists never mention. Build meals around beans, leaves and whole grains, whatever your heritage, and add fibre gradually with plenty of water.

Source: Vincent, A. et al. (2020) FAO/INFOODS Food Composition Table for Western Africa (2019). Rome: FAO. In the table, ewedu is listed as jute mallow.

References

Reynolds, A., Mann, J., Cummings, J., Winter, N., Mete, E. and Te Morenga, L. (2019) ‘Carbohydrate quality and human health: a series of systematic reviews and meta-analyses’, *The Lancet*, 393(10170), pp. 434 to 445\. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31809-9.

Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (2015) *Carbohydrates and health*. London: TSO.