Wellness for African Americans
Wellness is an expectation of good health and therefore, a state of mind. You can grab up all the good health you can find. Good health is inexpensive and it resides first in your mind, through the choices you make. In the old movies, one would hear about people living “high on the hog”. They would be pictured as fine dressers, partying all night and drinking freely while eating from a table loaded with “rich” fats, cheeses, meats and sweets. Smoking fine cigars and being driven around in shiny cars. Being driven, though, to an often early, and certain, death.
We are blessed with melanin, a natural protection against the sun and ultraviolet light as well as some types of radiation. Many of our ancestors, despite slavery, lived to be over a hundred years old by eating “common” food: fresh greens, beans and little meat. They walked everywhere and used physical exercise to make a living. In the United States and in Africa, if we can avoid the scourges of contagious diseases (such as HIV-AIDS) and lifestyle illnesses, such as diabetes and hypertension, we can live long, culturally rich lives. In the University of Michigan’s World Values Survey of Happiness, Nigeria, was the country whose responders ranked as number one. Depression and anxiety have been called the diseases of the rich and that may be related to the diets of the rich. You are what you eat!
Suze Orman, the financial guru, said “The more time you spend on your money, the more money you will have”. Well, maybe, the more time you spend learning about what really keeps people healthy, the healthier you will be. Now that’s a wellness goal! Read on!