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| Is your food killing you? December, 2007 |
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| Eat healthy. It's really not that hard. |
Don't trust what you're eating? Plant a garden.
Our society is out of whack. Good wholesome food is hard to find. Today, everything is pre-packaged and over processed. Our food is tainted with chemicals, high sodium and HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup). In the past year meats and produce have been recalled. Is our food safe to eat?
We are suffering from Obesity, Diabetes and High Blood Pressure. We laugh it off. We ignore the warning signals. We put try to put a positive spin on it. (Some black women say that they are not fat, they call themselves “thick”. Studies have shown that black women put on more weight faster than white women.)
Blacks have been trying to make “lemonade from life’s lemons” for centuries. We made “Soul Food” a delicacy from the slave-master’s unwanted leftovers. Many a black child was raised on government supplied cheese and flour. During slavery times having meat to eat was a cause to celebrate.
However, there is a new movement in the black community; vegetarianism. Today, many African-Americans are turning away from beef, pork and chicken to eat vegetable only meals. For one thing vegetarian diets are less expensive.
There are six categories of anti-meat eaters; Fruitarians, Lacto-ovo-vegetarian, Lacto-vegetarian, Ovo-vegetarian, Raw or live foodist and Vegans. Don’t get hung up on the names. Just be sure a vegetarian diet has the proper nutrients for health such as Vitamin B12, Iron, Calcium and Protein.
Several celebrities have sworn off meat. According to the website Black Vegetarians.com, Ben Carson, neurosurgeon at John Hopkins University; Angela Bassett, actress; Seal, singer; Common, rap artist; Mumia Abu Jamal, imprisoned journalist and convicted cop killer are all vegetarians.
And the website AfricanAmericans.com says this about comedian and civil rights activist Dick Gregory, “In 2001, Gregory announced to the world that he had been diagnosed with a rare form of Cancer. He refused traditional medical treatment chemotherapy and with the assistance of some of the finest minds in alternative medicine, put together a regimen of a variety of diet, vitamins, exercise, and modern devices not even known to the public, which ultimately resulted in his reversing the trend of the Cancer to the point where today he is nearly 85% free of it, and getting better every day.”
Dick Gregory has been a vegetarian for several years.
Before starting any vegetarian diet consult your health professional.
| Related links:
For information on Obesity and black women click here.
For info on famous black vegetarians Click here.
for Vegetarian definitions: Click here.
Read about Dick Gregory here.
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