This week marks the start of Ramadan- the Holy month for Muslims around the world. What is Ramadan and why is it important? How does COVID19 impact this period? On this episode we chat with YaQutullah Ibraheem Muhammad, a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist based in Atlanta, Georgia. 

YaQutullah is the owner of Nutrition Prescriptions, LLC, a consulting practice that specializes in weight
management, recipe development and analysis, nutrition education and women’s wellness.

She has written for Halal nutrition-focused magazines, developed curriculum materials for the VA Whole Health
for Life wellness program, developed recipes and nutrient analysis for a cookbook and is currently writing part
of Cultural Food Practices, Second Edition, a publication of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
She has worked in various settings including inpatient clinical, community outpatient, school nutrition,
foodservice, WIC community nutrition, and private practice and contract facilities.
YaQutullah has presented at several conference, women’s health and wellness retreats in Bermuda, nutrition
education workshops and food demos at local farmers markets. YaQutullah is also a freelance writer and
recipe developer.
YaQutullah has 11 years of experience in dietetics and nutrition, working with patients and clients on improving
their health outcomes related to diabetes and weight management, cardiac disease, blood pressure and
cholesterol management. Yaqutullah utilizes her creative talents in developing and promoting healthy recipes,
interactive nutrition education programs.
YaQutullah loves empowering people to learn and apply nutrition into every facet of their lives and to
understand the connection between faith, health and wellness. Follow her on IG
@yaqutu_nutritionprescriptions

Get the Ramadan Reset. 

I am in week 3 of "Stay at Home" or "Shelter in Place" orders and this week some African countries went into lockdown. This is not easy. I am so used to being on the go and in control and yet today, I, much like others in the world sit at home and wait. 

With all the chatter around food and nutrition during the coronavirus,  I choose to stick the facts. In this episode, I sit solo and chat about nutrition during these unprecedented times. What should you eat? How do you manage emotional eating? I share some ideas. 

How can heritage diets help improve dietary compliance? What is the nutrition curriculum for dietitians in South Africa? How do we move the discussion on African food, African health and African Culture?  

On this episode of the Pachoto Podcast I chat with Mpho Tshukudu, a Registered Dietitian based in South Africa. Mpho holds a degree in Dietetics and a post graduate diploma in hospital dietetics from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Mpho is a First Lime Therapy practitioner and trained in Functional Medicine at the Institute for Functional Medicine. In her practice, she uses food and its nutritional compounds, stress management, sleep and exercise to promote optimal health.

Mpho co-authored a self help recipe book "Eat Ting" with food anthropologist Anna Trapido. "Eat Ting" answers the unaddressed need for South African specific nutritional guidance.  You can buy the book via Quivertree  Publishers. 

Visit Mpho's website. 

We can't have a podcast celebrating African cuisine without first defining "African Food." On this episode of The Pachoto Podcast, we sit down with entrepreneur, food expert and writer Freda Muyambo to discuss the extremely wide topic of "African food"  and how through the passage of time food has travelled and evolved. 

About Freda Muyambo:

Freda Muyambo is a published author and food blogger with expertise in African cuisine. She has a passion for sharing African culture through food and often describes herself as having a pan-African palate, having been born and raised in Botswana to Ghanaian parents and travelling extensively across Africa. She has explored culinary cultures across the broad and bold topic of African cuisine and will often experiment with using ingredients in a new way. 

Freda currently resides in Lagos, Nigeria, where she is acquiring primary knowledge in the use of local flavours, indigenous fruits and spices. She has developed several creative recipes using a local Nigerian fruit and vegetables, namely agbalumo blondie (the African Cherry) and gluten free pasta made from West African yams.

Freda's blog has also had features on CNN, the African Economist, BBC and The African Pot Nutrition amongst others. She has written for various online and offline publications including IAC Media (The Spruce Eats), The Guardian, Radiant Health Magazine and co-authored The Science of Spice, a book published by DK Books. Much of her writing can be found on her blog, you can also learn more about her work here www.myburntorange.com.

The story of African food, African Health and African culture is often told with a western lens. When one conducts a Google search for "healthy foods" images of broccoli, blueberries and salads pop on the screen and the plantain, cassava, finger millet and wild veggies that are often synonymous with African cuisines are sorely missing. Why is this?

In Episode 1 of The Pachoto Podcast, I discuss how a conversation with my grandmother and a terrifying food reaction made me re-evaluate the messages I had learned about nutrition and how I promoted health. 

It's time to change the narrative of African food, health and culture. 

An African dietitian sits down Pachoto (Fireside) with a friend. What do they talk about?  Here's a snippet of the conversations in season one. 

What is the Pachoto Podcast? This introductory episode explores the inspiration for the name of the podcast and tells why African food is not just nutrition but an important part of African Health and Culture.