Heart disease, cancer, and stroke are the three leading causes of death in the African-American population. Cancer and heart disease rank as the top two for Hispanic or Latino populations. Intermediate risk factors for all three causes include high cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity, and type 2 diabetes. Although the pharmaceutical industry bombards mass media with copacetic images of average people managing their disease through prescription drugs, all of the stated risk factors are preventable, and sometimes reversible, through the incorporation of a plant-based diet. You are probably familiar with the terms vegetarian and vegan. If that made you shudder, pause, instinctively reach for the meat product closest to you, and/or question if this is worth reading, do not fear the article’s purpose is not to force veganism upon you. Proverbs 18:13 insists that “Spouting off before listening to the facts is both shameful and foolish.” Please, soften your heart and bear with me. A plant-based diet consists of vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, legumes, and fruits with few to no animal products. What’s the difference between plant-based and vegan? The term plant-based is typically adhered to by those that choose to adhere to a primarily plant-based diet without the commitment to animal rights philosophies. A vegetarian may or may not subscribe to animal rights philosophies but typically integrates lacto-ovo products into their diet on a more consistent basis.
Keywords: socioeconomic status (SES), cardiovascular disease (CVD), African American, risk factors, social determinants, and health disparities, institutionalized racism.
A proponderance of statistics derived from scholarly sources corroborates the notion that minorities who have a low socioeconomic position or have an significantly low income suffers many atrocious health disparities this includes obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases thus projecting a direct correlation between the two variables. In addition, minorities, specifically African-Americans that live in low income neighborhoods have less access to fresh, healthy and organic foods. In particular, supermarkets are sparse in their area and sometimes is not within walking distance or within the vicinity of their homes. On the flipside, these neighborhoods have the highest levels of fast-food restaurants and convenient stores. These barriers
Environmental barriers, such as, not having access to healthy food can have an adverse impact on a person health, especially if their lives are further complicated by a chronic illness. For instant, diabetes which is a disease that affects at least 16 million Americans; African Americans and Latinos are the groups that are affected the most, as compared to the White population (Horowitz, Colson, Hebert & Lancaster, 2004). African Americans and Latinos are more likely to have more complications due to diabetes as well as a higher mortality rate (Horowitz et al., 2004). Some populations of people are prone to having a high prevalent rate of diabetes; therefore, research done at a community level is necessary to help figure out why
Cardiovascular disease, mainly coronary heart disease and stroke, is the leading cause of death among all racial and ethnic groups in the United States. A disproportionate number of people in minority and low-income populations die or become disabled from cardiovascular disease. The death rate for coronary heart disease for the nation decreased by 20% from 1987 to 1995, but for blacks, the overall decrease was only 13 percent. The coronary heart disease mortality rate for Asian Americans was 40% lower than whites, but 40% higher for blacks in 1995. High blood pressure and hypertension can increase the risk for coronary heart disease, and it has been shown that racial minorities have higher rates of hypertension, tend to develop hypertension at an earlier age, and are less likely to receive treatment for high blood pressure. Also, only 50% of American Indians, 44% of Asian
I have friends and family who suffer from diabetes and heart disease, and it's hard seeing them not care about their diets. I know they want to eat right, but it’s hard to transition from something you and your ancestors ate your entire life to something completely different. African Americans rather have seasoned food with bold flavors, but unfortunately those “bold flavors” are mostly in the foods that are not good for us. African Americans stereotyped healthy options as mostly salads, food with very low sodium and no
Chronic illnesses are a vicious cycle where one illness often leads to another. Think about people being obsese due to inactivity and eating habits. Which in turns into hypertension, diabetes and heart disease and obsesity if not monitored. Not one disease can come alone. African American men are 30% more likely to die from heart disease. 3.7 million (14.7%) of all African Americans aged 20 years or older have diabetes and or suffer from Hypertension. Stress is also a factor in heart disease and hypertension. Obesity is assumed to pose a risk for diabetes. On the other hand, blacks are less likely to report a number of conditions so the mortality rate is
“At age 65, white men in the highest-income families can expect to live 3.1 years longer than white men in the lowest-income families” (Tischler 383). Life expectancies varies among racial groups due to different leading causes of death in each race and the different incomes available to a group. According to several studies, African Americans are at a greater risk of dying from heart disease than whites, while whites are at a greater risk than Asians, Latinos, and Native Americans. Large racial and ethnic disparities exist in health due to poverty rates, diet, biological differences, and location. On a greater scale, minority groups tend to have less of an income than whites, which affect the type of medical care available for them. Also, dietary habits varies among racial groups. The African American culture consists of generally fattening food dating to centuries ago and is still persistent today. A Latino diet consists of beans, grains, and other less fattening foods. However, currently many of these racial groups begin to adapt to American diets that worsen their
When the group came over to the Americas after being introduced to the unhealthy scraps of meat byproducts, they dressed up they scraps in various seasoning and added items like greens, rice, grits, white and sweet potatoes, corn, turnips, eggplant, peanuts, homemade desserts, spinach, collards, mustard, kale, and cabbage (Dimensions of Culture, 2010). They made the best out of what they were given through their gruesome economic issues and soon they became habit and create challenges for changing behaviors and lowering disease risk in this population. In 1996, 28% of the diets of African American were deemed unhealthy compared to their white counterparts (Dimensions of Culture, 2010). With the struggling economic status of the African American group, fast and processed foods which are normally seen as inexpensive are the blame for the poor diets. Currently, the number one cause of death among African Americans is heart disease with both diabetes and stroke in the top five (Center Of Disease Control, 2002). In 2001, the death rate for diabetes was twice as high as the death rate for the white Americans (Center Of Disease Control, 2002). In the opinion of many, soul food is not worth the hassle of major health problems in the future. Just like soul food is an important part to their culture so is making sure their soul is right is as
Heart diseases are known as one of the top killers of the 21st century including to
There are several race traits and risk factors from African-American such as Heart Disease, Cancer, Stroke, Diabetes, and Pneumonia/Influenza. Also they have those risk factors due to cultural difference diet and exercise such as hypertension, coronary artery disease, stroke, end stage renal disease, dementia, diabetes, and certain cancers. Especially, diabetes has more frequency reason of death among Black elders than in other ethnic people except American Indians (Health and Health Care of African American , n.d). In addition, according to the Health and Health Care of African American (n.d.), the death rate for all cancers is 30% higher for African Americans than for Whites, e (Health and Health Care of African American, n.d).
At the point when contrasted with whites, these minority bunches have higher rate of endless ailment, higher mortality and poor wellbeing results. Among the ailment particular cases of racial and ethnic variations in the united state is the tumor frequency rate among African Americans, which is 10% higher than among whites. Furthermore, grown up African Americans and Latinos have roughly double the danger as whites of creating diabetes. Minority likewise have higher rate of cardiovascular sickness, HIV/AIDS, newborn child mortality than whites.
The most notable problem that has intensified the problem of diabetes and obesity among African Americans is diet. The trajectory of African American lifestyle is characterized by misfortunes rendering their dietary situation vulnerable (Borrell&Samuel, 2014). From the historical factors that led to their presence in the foreign country, the Africans were subjected to a diet that was not friendly to their health. Used as machines by their masters, Africans found their eating habits in a cultural framework that emphasized on proteins to make them energetic and able to work. Therefore, the unprecedented subjection to unbalanced diet started from the moment they set foot on the new land. According to Heuman, Scholl, & Wilkinson (2013), unavailability of healthy food and the destitute amount of resources to secure healthy eating has been inimical to healthy living among African Americans. Indeed, owing to the poor economic background, most Africans rely on fast food outlets and takeaways that comprise unhealthy and chemical-induced meals concentrated with calories and fats.
Traditionally, the African American diet consisted of leafy green vegetables, fish, poultry, and beans. However, the cooking methods, such as deep frying, the heavy use of gravy, pork fat, and butter add a large amount fat and cholesterol to an otherwise heart-healthy diet. “Soul food” with its fried chicken, fried pork chops, and corn bread have become the traditional comfort food, and there is a large significant placed in the African-American culture on community and family gatherings centered around food. Historically, African-Americans lived a highly active lifestyle that compensated for a higher than average fat content in their diet. As modern trends swing toward a more sedentary lifestyle, the direct result is heart disease rising to be the leading cause of death among African-Americans (Cowling, 2006, p8).
Ever questioned why the heart by no means gets cancer? The heart might become affected sooner or later by cancer of another region of the body nevertheless we in no way hear of cancer of the heart. This is because the heart never gets cancer. An alkaline body is possibly the only lasting way to put a stop to and purge oneself of cancer.
The quote “A man can live and be healthy without killing animals for food; therefore, if he eats meat, he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite. And to act so is immoral” from Russian writer, Leo Tolstoy, encompasses what vegetarianism is about. Veganism and vegetarianism is generally associated with leafy green salads but there is a long list of health benefits attached to that way of eating and a reduction in livestock farming benefits our environment. Diving into the benefits of becoming a vegetarian or vegan, there has been extensive research done on how a teak in diet can reduce risk of cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Plant-based dieting is a lifestyle that is beneficial for health, moral and environmental reasons.