🏥 Mom's Complete Health Guide
🚨 NEVER EAT CASSAVA 🚨
It stops your pills from working
❌ NEVER EAT - Will Make You Sick
🚫 CASSAVA (Most Dangerous)
❌ FUFU with cassava
❌ BANKU
❌ GARI
❌ KONKONTE
Why bad: Stops thyroid pills from working. Makes you very tired. Can't walk. Severe bloating.
🚫 FRIED FOOD
❌ Fried plantain (kelewele)
❌ Fried yam
❌ Fried chicken
❌ Fried fish
❌ Puff-puff
Why bad: Sits in stomach 12 hours. Severe bloating. Can't move. Stomach pain.
🚫 SUGAR & SWEET DRINKS
❌ Coke, Fanta, Sprite, Malta
❌ Fruit juice (all)
❌ Cake, cookies, candy
❌ Ice cream, chocolate
Why bad: Diabetes gets worse. Can lose toes, feet, eyes. Like what happened to your parents.
🚫 SALTY FOOD
❌ Maggi cubes / Knorr cubes
❌ Very salty fish
❌ Restaurant jollof rice
Why bad: Legs swell up. Can't walk. Can't breathe. Water pill stops working.
✅ GOOD FOOD - Eat These
✅ FISH & PROTEIN (Eat A LOT Every Day)
✅ SARDINES - Your favorite! Eat every day!
✅ Grilled tilapia
✅ Baked mackerel
✅ Any grilled fish
✅ Grilled chicken (no skin)
✅ Boiled eggs (2-3 per day)
✅ Beans (black-eyed peas)
How much: Big piece of fish or 2 eggs at every meal.
✅ VEGETABLES (Eat A LOT Every Day)
✅ KONTOMIRE (very good for you!)
✅ OKRA (helps you poop)
✅ Garden eggs
✅ Spinach
✅ Tomatoes
✅ Cabbage (cook it first!)
✅ Peppers, onions
How much: 2-3 cups every day. Helps you feel full and lose weight.
✅ SAFE FUFU & STARCH (SMALL PORTIONS!)
✅ YAM FUFU (NO cassava mixed in!)
✅ PLANTAIN FUFU
✅ Boiled yam (2 small pieces)
✅ Boiled plantain (green, not ripe)
✅ Brown rice (1/2 cup)
How much: Size of your fist or less. Not the whole plate!
💊 YOUR PILLS - VERY IMPORTANT
You take 22 different pills.
Some don't work well together.
⏰ MORNING ROUTINE - EVERY DAY
6:00 AM - When You Wake Up
- STEP 1: Take 2 thyroid pills with water ONLY
- STEP 2: NO FOOD! NO COFFEE! NOTHING!
- STEP 3: Wait 1 full hour
7:00 AM - After 1 Hour
- NOW: Eat breakfast
- NOW: Take other morning pills:
- • Water pill (Lasix)
- • Cholesterol pill (Rosuvastatin)
- • Hormone pill (Jinteli)
- • Nose sprays (Azelastine, Fluticasone)
⚠️ DANGEROUS - Don't Take Together
Tylenol #3 + Baclofen = Very sleepy, can fall down
Wait 6-8 hours between these two pills.
📋 Every Day Checklist
- ☐ 6 AM: Thyroid pills (alone, just water)
- ☐ Wait 1 hour (no food, no coffee)
- ☐ 7 AM: Breakfast + other pills
- ☐ Test blood sugar (morning)
- ☐ Drink 6-8 glasses of water
- ☐ Take Miralax (helps you poop)
- ☐ Evening: Nose sprays
- ☐ Bedtime: Mouth rinse
😣 YOUR SYMPTOMS - What's Causing Them
SEVERE BLOATING (stomach very full, hard to move)
Caused by:
- Ozempic shot (slows stomach)
- No thyroid (slows digestion)
- Tylenol #3 pain pill (stops gut movement)
- Eating fried food (sits in stomach 12 hours)
What helps:
- Eat tiny meals (5-6 small meals, not 3 big)
- NO fried food
- Walk 10 minutes after eating
- Stop eating 3 hours before bed
CAN'T WALK / WEAK LEGS
Caused by:
- Low potassium (water pill flushes it out)
- Too much weight on knees
- Thyroid pills not working (if you eat cassava)
- Legs swollen (too much salt)
What helps:
- Get potassium blood test (URGENT)
- Eat avocado, oranges, kontomire (high potassium)
- NO salty food
- Lose weight (will help knees)
SEVERE CONSTIPATION (can't poop)
Caused by:
- Tylenol #3 (codeine) - MAIN CAUSE
- Ozempic
- No thyroid (slows everything)
What helps:
- Take Miralax EVERY DAY (not just when constipated)
- Take Docusate (stool softener) 2x daily
- Eat okra every day
- Drink 8 glasses of water
- Walk after meals
🚨 CALL DOCTOR RIGHT AWAY IF:
- ❌ Can't stand up (very weak)
- ❌ Heart beating fast or irregular
- ❌ Chest pain
- ❌ Can't breathe
- ❌ Dark brown pee
- ❌ No poop for 5 days
- ❌ Throwing up all day
- ❌ Blood sugar under 70 or over 400
Call your doctor or go to Parkland Health
🍽️ WHAT YOUR PLATE SHOULD LOOK LIKE
1/2 PLATE = Vegetables (kontomire, okra, spinach)
1/4 PLATE = Protein (fish, chicken, eggs)
1/4 PLATE = Small starch (yam, plantain, rice)
BREAKFAST IDEAS
- 2 boiled eggs + 1 slice bread + tea (no sugar)
- Sardines + tomatoes + 1 boiled plantain
- Small bowl millet porridge + groundnut paste + 1 egg
LUNCH IDEAS
- Big fish + kontomire + small yam fufu + groundnut soup
- Grilled chicken + okra + 2 pieces yam
- Sardines + garden eggs + plantain fufu (small)
DINNER (LIGHTER THAN LUNCH)
- Grilled fish + vegetables + very small yam
- Sardines + kontomire + no starch
- Chicken soup + lots of vegetables
📝 SHOPPING LIST - BUY EVERY WEEK
- ✅ Sardines (5-7 cans)
- ✅ Fresh fish (tilapia, mackerel) - 3-4 pieces
- ✅ Chicken (no skin) - 2-3 lbs
- ✅ Eggs - 2 dozen
- ✅ Kontomire - big bunch
- ✅ Okra - fresh or dried
- ✅ Garden eggs - 10-15
- ✅ Tomatoes, onions, peppers
- ✅ Spinach or lettuce
- ✅ Yam - 2-3 small (for yam fufu)
- ✅ Green plantain - 4-6
- ✅ Avocados - 3-4
- ✅ Groundnuts
- ✅ Beans
❓ QUESTIONS FOR DOCTOR
Print this page and bring to your next appointment:
- What is my potassium level? When was it tested?
- What are my thyroid levels (TSH, T4, T3)?
- Can we switch Tylenol #3 to regular Tylenol? The codeine makes constipation very bad.
- Should I take potassium supplements?
- Can we reduce Ozempic from 2 mg to 1.5 mg? The bloating is very bad.
- Should I avoid cassava completely?
- I need prescriptions for: Miralax, Docusate, compression stockings, walking cane.
REMEMBER THE 4 MAIN RULES:
1️⃣ NO CASSAVA EVER
2️⃣ NO FRIED FOOD
3️⃣ NO SUGAR
4️⃣ NO MAGGI CUBES
Follow these = Feel better in 2 weeks
Made with love ❤️ for Mom
October 2025