Beans are a staple in my diet. If you don’t currently include beans in your diet try adding some! Black beans are versatile. You can:
A 1/2 cup portion includes the following nutrition:
So this is a hard conversation to have. The origins of what we in the African-American community know as Soul Food began as the food that was eaten by slaves. For the most part according to sources slaves were given:
The enslaved women who cooked for their communities used the skills that they brought from West Africa to turn these items into mouth-watering meals that were usually high in fats, sugar, and salt in order to enhance the flavor of the meal. https://www.nps.gov/bowa/learn/historyculture/upload/the-final-slave-diet-site-bulletin.pdf.
This food was high calorie which was good for the slaves who worked hard in the cotton fields because they burned those calories off.
This food continued to be eaten by our ancestors and soon became symbolic of our people and culture and not the circumstances under which they were forced to eat in this manner. We lost sight of the fact that many of the dishes that we still eat (and not only on holidays) are not the healthiest. Additionally, diseases like
which are rampant in our communities are linked (along with other socio-political issues) to what we eat!
So here I am hoping that we can move towards a healthier diet/lifestyle by changing to a more plant based eating model.https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/what-is-a-plant-based-diet-and-why-should-you-try-it-2018092614760. We’ll talk about what that looks like and how you can determine what works for you in future posts.
This journey began for me in 2018. In the spring of that year I began to have a variety of symptoms that led to the first of what would turn out to be many hospitalizations. The short version is that I experienced kidney failure, developed blood clots in my legs and by late June had been diagnosed with Lymphoma. After my longest hospitalization, I was so weak that I wasn’t able to walk on my own or take care of myself. Thank God for my husband who cared for me for months night and day. In July of that year, I began Chemotherapy which lasted for three months. I lost so much weight and was so weak that some days I wasn’t sure that I was going to get better. But I did! Good doctors, lots of prayer and wonderful family and friends saw me through.
Like many people, as the memory of the many horrible things that happened to me that year began to fade (the brain does what it can to protect us) I returned to life as it had been before the illnesses. Even though I knew intellectually that this wasn’t my best idea or plan for the future. Eating in a healthy manner and exercising were things that I did sometimes but weren’t my regular course of action.
So why am I telling you all this stuff? Because this blog is about my journey to a healthier lifestyle and my desire to have those of you interested to take this journey with me! So, welcome and stay tuned!
Location: United States
Emai: justaboutvegan51@gmail.com
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