Spice rack

One small cube is about 950 mg of sodium, close to half a day's salt, before any salt is added. A large cube is closer to a whole day.

Over the years. Year after year, this much sodium keeps blood pressure up. High blood pressure is what damages the heart, the brain and the kidneys. Eating less salt can lower blood pressure about as much as one tablet. It does not replace the tablet.

Instead. One cube for the whole pot, not two. Onion, garlic, ginger, dawadawa and pepper do the rest of the work.

Cut hard: High blood pressure, Stroke, Heart failure, Chronic kidney disease

A teaspoon is about 1,000 mg of sodium, much like a small cube.

Over the years. Used every day, it has the same long effect as a stock cube: blood pressure stays higher, and the heart, brain and kidneys take the strain.

Instead. Use the powder instead of a cube, not as well as one.

Cut hard: High blood pressure, Stroke, Heart failure, Chronic kidney disease

One teaspoon is about 2,300 mg of sodium: a whole day's salt on its own.

Over the years. A teaspoon in the pot, on top of a cube, is more salt than a person with high blood pressure, heart failure or kidney disease should have in a day. Over the years that extra salt is what keeps the pressure high.

Instead. Taste first. The cube has usually salted the food already. Anyone who wants more can add it to their own plate.

Cut hard: High blood pressure, Stroke, Heart failure, Chronic kidney disease

A tin of tomato mix is not the same as fresh tomatoes. Many mixes add salt and sugar. The only reliable number is printed on that tin.

Over the years. The salt works like a cube over the years, and keeps blood pressure up. The sugar works like sweet tea: used every day, it pushes blood sugar up. On dialysis, a lot of tomato paste is also high in potassium.

Instead. Fresh tomatoes, or a tin that says no added salt and no added sugar. If you use a mix, don't add a second cube.

Cut hard: High blood pressure, Heart failure, Chronic kidney disease, Type 2 diabetes, Gestational diabetes (diabetes in pregnancy)

Only a little: Kidney failure on dialysis

A tablespoon is about 350 mg of sodium and 8 g of fat. It is made with dried fish, shrimp and stock cubes. Stirring a lot into the pot salts and oils everybody's share.

Over the years. Every day, the salt keeps blood pressure up, the oil adds to cholesterol, and the shrimp can bring on gout. A spoon on one plate is a different matter from a cup in the family pot.

Instead. A small spoon on the plate, or fresh pepper in the pot.

Cut hard: High blood pressure, Heart failure, Gout

Only a little: High cholesterol and triglycerides

The salt is in the fish. A 50 g piece is about 400 mg of sodium, and it is easy to put a cube in the same pot.

Over the years. Unsoaked, it is another day's salt hiding in the soup. Over the years that is the same problem as the cube: higher blood pressure, and swelling when the heart or kidneys are already struggling.

Instead. Soak and rinse it in warm water, use a small piece, and skip the extra salt.

Cut hard: High blood pressure, Stroke, Heart failure, Chronic kidney disease

A tablespoon of any oil is about 14 g of fat. Palm oil is mostly saturated fat. A stew with a red layer of oil on top is several spoonfuls, shared by everyone.

Over the years. A spoonful for flavour is part of the food. A stew that swims in it, most days, is a lot of saturated fat. Over the years that raises cholesterol and adds to heart disease. The guides say use a little, not none.

Instead. Fry the onion in one or two spoonfuls. Use palm oil for the flavour, not so the stew swims.

Only a little: High blood pressure, Stroke, Coronary heart disease / heart attack, High cholesterol and triglycerides

A tablespoon is about 11 g of fat, much of it saturated, plus a little salt. A thick spread on sugar bread adds up.

Over the years. Used every day as a thick spread, the saturated fat raises cholesterol. The cholesterol guide says leave margarine and pastries out.

Instead. A thin scrape, or groundnut paste.

Cut hard: High cholesterol and triglycerides

Only a little: Coronary heart disease / heart attack

Tomato stew, beans and waakye are sometimes finished with sugar, on top of the sugar already in a sweet tomato mix, tea and soft drinks.

Over the years. Sugar in the pot every day is the same sugar as in tea and minerals. Over the years it raises blood sugar and triglycerides, and it makes weight harder to keep down. In pregnancy, extra sugar is on the avoid list for gestational diabetes.

Instead. Taste before you add it. The tin may already be sweet.

Cut hard: Type 2 diabetes, Gestational diabetes (diabetes in pregnancy), High cholesterol and triglycerides

The base of the pot. They carry the taste, and they are not a source of salt.

Over the years. In the amounts used for cooking, this is not what raises blood pressure, blood sugar or cholesterol. It is here so the pot needs less Maggi.

Instead. Use more of these when you use less cube.

Heat without salt. Dried pepper is strong, so a little goes a long way.

Over the years. In the amounts used for cooking, this is not what raises blood pressure, blood sugar or cholesterol. It is here so the pot needs less Maggi.

Instead. This is the heat. Shito and the cube are the salt.

The sour, smoky fruit in light soup and palm-nut soup. A piece flavours the whole pot.

Over the years. In the amounts used for cooking, this is not what raises blood pressure, blood sugar or cholesterol. It is here so the pot needs less Maggi.

Instead. One piece. It does not need a second cube to be tasted.

The peppercorn smell of light soup. A few pods.

Over the years. A few pods are part of the soup, not a health problem. A large handful makes it bitter. It does not replace medicine, and it does not raise blood pressure.

Instead. A few pods, crushed.

Fermented locust bean. It gives soup the savoury taste people use a cube for, with far less salt.

Over the years. This is the long-term swap for a second cube. The savoury taste stays. The sodium that keeps blood pressure up does not.

Instead. A teaspoon in the pot can replace a second cube.

Fine in the amounts used for jollof and stew. Read the tin: some curry seasoning tubs are mostly salt.

Over the years. The spice itself is not the problem. A tub whose first ingredient is salt is a stock cube, and it has the same long effect on blood pressure.

Instead. Choose a powder whose first ingredient is the spice, not salt. If salt is first, treat that tub like a stock cube.

Herbs added near the end. They perfume the food without salt.

Over the years. In the amounts used for cooking, this is not what raises blood pressure, blood sugar or cholesterol. It is here so the pot needs less Maggi.

Instead. Add them off the heat so the flavour stays.

A tablespoon is about 200 mg of sodium. That is real salt, and it is still much less than a second cube.

Over the years. For blood pressure, it is the better savoury taste. For gout, shellfish in large amounts is on the avoid list, because it can bring on an attack.

Instead. Use it for flavour, and cut the cube, not the other way round.

Cut hard: Gout