by Jesse R. Brown

 Since COVID-19 shut down the U.S. and the world,  many things were revealed. One of the most appalling was that African Americans have disproportionately higher rates of COVID than other groups. Of all the people in the USA, the strongest people that were brought to the Americas have become the sickest and weakest. Family members, friends and loved ones are succumbing to the biggest plague in modern times. African Americans also lead the country in chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and certain cancers.

            Studies have shown that what and how we eat is not best suited for us. In other words, we went from the Garden of Eden, (the way we were originally intended to eat) to the “Garden of Eatin” (a diet that doesn’t support health, but appeals to taste). This was not always the case; in rural West Africa, where most African Americans are from, the rates of Western illnesses are much lower than they are in the U.S., but when Africans eat American diets, the illnesses increase. Conversely, when African Americans eat the way rural West Africans eat, they get healthier. It would appear that poor health is in our jeans, not what’s in our genes.

            The traditional African diet is whole food, locally grown and minimally processed, mostly plant-based foods prepared with love and care at home. Somewhere in-between Africa and the Middle Passage, we lost much of our heritage and culture. The way we ate, worked, played, slept and experienced life became drastically different. Those in bondage were not fed the best foods and often fed just enough to keep them alive to work as long as they could. There was no incentive for those held captive to be strong enough to resist, escape or attain longevity. Our ancestors were just taken care of well enough to live, breed, do work for 30 or 40 years and then die, oftentimes an early demise.

            Ironically, we now choose to live under the same conditions that those slaves did. Old habits die hard and we eat substantially like we did on the plantation. To change our circumstances and reverse this trend, we must go from the plantation to a plant nation. When we regain our sanity and our health, we will restore our wealth and longevity. The path ahead of us can be filled with great potential, possibilities and prosperity or it can be a path to poor health, problems and poverty. The choice is ours whether we want to break the generational curses and move forward or repeat the sins of the past.

Naturopath Jesse R. Brown, ND, is the owner of Wholistic Training Institute, located at 20944 Grand River Ave., in Detroit. Wholistic Training Institute is licensed by the state of Michigan. For more information, call 313-538-5433, email [email protected] or visit WholisticTrainingInstitute.com.