17/12/2025
So when I say ultraprocessed boxed foods in African supermarkets are destroying our health, I’m not exaggerating.
Any food that can sit on a shelf for one, two, or even three years without spoiling is no longer food in the biological sense, it's a chemical formula engineered to resist time, microbes, heat, oxygen, and decay.
And anything the body cannot naturally break down will eventually break the body down.
Real food spoils because LIFE RECOGNIZES LIFE.
Ehenau!
Because, microbes feed on living nutrients the same way our cells do.
When something refuses to rot, refuses to mould, refuses to break down, and refuses to return to the earth, it means the nutrient structure has been altered, sterilized, bleached, stabilized, dehydrated, preserved, emulsified, and embalmed so it can survive transportation, storage, and slow sales cycles.
That kind of food doesn’t nourish; it accumulates.
It inflames.
It irritates.
It confuses the gut.
And it accelerates inflammAging.
Even when you are not taking not until deregulation kicks in.
This is why ultraprocessed boxed foods in African supermarkets are especially dangerous here.
We must not forget our Ogwumabiri for any reason.
Our climate is hot, humid, oxidative, and microbiologically rich.
For food to survive our climate for years without spoiling, it must contain preservatives, stabilizers, artificial sugars, maltodextrin, bleaching agents, flavor enhancers, synthetic fats, and anti-caking chemicals.
These compounds mentioned above don’t just sit harmlessly in the body, they push inflammation upward, overwhelm the liver, disrupt the microbiome, and destabilize blood sugar.
Think about it.
Why must food have an expiration date of three years?
Why must a powdered beverage stay “fresh” for thirty months?
Why must biscuits “survive” the dry season, the rainy season, and the next two harmattans without a single sign of life?
Because we are no longer dealing with food, we are dealing with industrial formulations built to defeat nature.
Real yam rots.
Real vegetables wilt.
Real palm fruit oil thickens and changes color.
Real garri absorbs moisture.
Real nuts go rancid.
Living foods behave like living things. Only dead foods refuse to change.
When you travel home carrying boxes of ultraprocessed foods, powdered drinks, instant beverages, kids’ cereals, coffee whiteners, boxed snacks, long-life biscuits, flavored powders, you’re not taking gifts. You’re taking metabolic stress wrapped in branding.
And inside almost all these products is MALTODEXTRIN, the hugely deceptive ingredient responsible for blood sugar chaos and chronic inflammation.
MALTODEXTRIN is a highly refined starch that hits the blood faster than sugar itself. It spikes insulin sharply, feeds harmful gut bacteria, and disrupts the immune system.
Babies who consume it develop gut imbalance and early inflammation; teenagers experience breakouts, hormonal crashes, and fatigue; adults develop insulin resistance faster; elders slide deeper into inflammAging like joint pain, memory problems, blood pressure spikes, digestive issues, and chronic fatigue.
This is why chronic diseases, diabetes, hypertension, obesity, fibroids, autoimmunity, arthritis, are rising in Africa.
Not because we lack hospitals, but because we are importing foods designed for convenience, not biology.
Food should not outlive the person eating it.
Food should not behave like plastic.
Food should not live longer than your fresh ogbono, ugwu, bitterleaf, or yam.
If we want to slow aging, reduce inflammation, and rebuild community health, we must return to foods that expire naturally, because ONLY LIVING FOODS KEEP HUMANS ALIVE.
