In the State of Tennessee Comprehensive Cancer Control Plan for 2009 - 2012, one of the primary prevention goals is: To reduce the risk of developing colorectal cancer through healthful eating habits and regular physical activity. The first objective for reaching this goal is "to increase the proportion of persons who eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables daily to 35% by 2012. (The Tennessee baseline for people who consume 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day is 26.5%).
"Fruits and vegetables contain essential vitamins, minerals, and fiber that may help protect you from chronic diseases. Compared with people who consume a diet with only small amounts of fruits and vegetables, those who eat more generous amounts as part of a healthful diet are likely to have reduced risk of chronic diseases, including stroke and perhaps other cardiovascular diseases, and certain cancers." (www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov/benefits/index.html).
"Munching on fruits and vegetables that contain white flesh, such as apples and cucumbers, could lessen your chances of having a stroke. According to a Dutch study published in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association, people with a high intake of white fruits and vegetables had a 52 percent lower incidence of stroke than those with a low intake. A 9 percent lower risk of stroke resulted with each 25-gram-per-day increase in white fruit and vegetable consumption." (Ebony, Dec 2011 - Jan 2012, p.74).
"People who eat 5 to 9 servings of fruits and vegetables a day have a lower chance of getting cancer of the lung, mouth, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, colon, and rectum. They are also less likely to get breast, pancreas, larynx, and bladder cancer...Heart-healthy diets include 8 to 10 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. They are low in saturated fat and cholesterol...People in the DASH study (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) with the lowest sodium intake had the biggest fall in blood pressure. Too much sodium causes blood pressure to rise. Potassium counteracts the effect of sodium on blood pressure. Yet, African Americans get only half their potassium needs. Fruits and vegetables are naturally high in potassium and low in sodium." National Cancer Institute (2004). Body & Soul: A Celebration of Healthy Eating & Living. A Guide for Running the Program in Your Church. (NIH Publication No. 04-5544). Bethesida, MD. p.20.
We adults are really following the eating habits we adopted as children. It is the child in us who says "eat what tastes good" and "eat all you want." "It all begins in childhood. African American youth have the highest rates of overweight and obesity among all children. Type 2 diabetes is also going up at alarming rates among African American children. Eating habits that affect [an adult's] risk for these problems begin in childhood. Healthy eating in childhood, and into the adult years, will lower their chances for diseases later in life. These diseases include obesity, overweight, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and cancer. Most African American kids eat less than half of the amount of fruits and vegetables they need to stay healthy. It's important for us to help kids develop good habits they can carry into their adult lives. Eating more fruits and vegetables when they are young will make it easier for them to choose healthier foods as adults." (Ibid. p. 19)
There's a very good lesson for healthier eating in the Bible (Daniel 1:3-15). In this Scripture, we will see that a diet of vegetables is healthier than one that contains fats and cholesterol. King Nebuchadnezzar ordered his official Ashpenaz to select some young men from those captured in Judah and prepare them to serve in the palace. They were to be taught the new language, read a lot of books and become well educated. As a plus, they were to eat food from the king's table (i.e. pork roast, sirloin steak, macaroni and cheese, french fries, baked potatoe w/whipped cream and cheese, deep fried mushrooms, greens seasoned with fatback, and fermented wine). "Daniel made up his mind to eat and drink only what God had approved for his people to eat. And he asked the king's chief official for permission not to eat the food and wine served in the royal palace. God had made the official friendly and kind to Daniel. But the man still told him, 'The king has decided what you must eat and drink. And I am afraid he will kill me, if you eat something else and end up looking worse than the other young men.' The king's official had put a guard in charge of Daniel and his three friends. So Daniel said to the guard, 'For the next ten days, let us have only vegetables and water at mealtime. When the ten days are up, compare how we look with the other young men, and decide what to do with us.' The guard agreed to do what Daniel had asked. Ten days later, Daniel and his friends looked healthier and better than the young men who had been served food from the royal palace. After this, the guard let them eat vegetables instead of the rich food and wine." (Holy Bible, Contemporary English Version, The African American-Jublilee Edition.)
The food we obtain for animals: meats, milk, butter, cheese, ice cream, milk shakes, etc contain fats and/or cholesterol which, over time, will clog our blood vessels and reduce the flow of blood to certain body parts. The brain deprived of oxygen is a setup for a stroke. The heart deprived of oxygen is a setup for a heart attack. The body deprived of oxygen in all its many systems is a setup for cancer. We understand suicide as a person taking his/her own life. When we see a person supporting an addiction to tobacco, alcohol, or illegal drugs, we say it's self-destructive, like slow suicide. According to the World Book Dictionary, an addict is "a person who is a slave to a habit." Being addicted is "slavishly following or unable to give up a habit." An addiction is "the condition of being a slave to a habit." Being a slave to a habit means doing what the habit says do. A habit is good when it serves your best interest(i.e. makes you healthy, wealthy or wise). If a habit is self-destructive, and we don't know that it's harmful, we might continue doing it. But once we know it is harmful, it is then up to us to stop doing it. If we can't stop or don't want to stop then we might be addicted. God does not want us to be a slave to our appetite, our tongue or our stomach. In His word, God put gluttony right along side drunkenness. He saw addiction to food as no less harmful than addiction to alcohol.
And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. Deuteronomy 21:20
For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags. Proverbs 23:21
Our ability to say "no" to harmful foods is just as important as saying "no" to alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drugs. Foods high in fats and cholesterol, and processed foods produce chronic illnesses that are killing more God-fearing saints today than any of these "bad" things that we dare not touch can be held responsible for.
There is a serious problem we have in Black America: chronic illnesses. We have hope because the power is in our minds, in our hearts, and in our spirits. We can make a decision today to be a piece of the solution. Don't be discouraged by the magnitude of the issue, remember David and Golioth. Look and see that our God is on our side. Take a baby step...and accept this 10 day challenge:
- For 10 days, eat only plant-based whole food: vegetables, fruits, nuts, grains, almondmilk, etc.
- Drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water each day...between meals.
- Please don't drink with your meals.
- Please don't eat in-between-meal snacks.
- Please don't eat after 6 pm.
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