National Nutrition Month, celebrated each March, is a national information and nutrition education campaign that encourages people to make informed, healthy lifestyle and dietary choices. The 2024 National Nutrition Month theme “Beyond the Table” examines food production, farm-to-table, and resources, with Black dietitians digging into further causes of disparities, especially in healthy nutrition. ing.
Because Black women have a disproportionately high prevalence of various chronic diseases, healthy lifestyle practitioners are looking to nutrition as a means to improve overall health and combat racial and gender health disparities. Leveraging education and empowerment.
Across the United States, people suffer from numerous health conditions that are directly affected by their daily nutritional intake. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 70% of the sodium Americans consume comes from processed and processed foods, as sodium can increase the risk of heart attack, stroke, and high blood pressure.
Additionally, excessive added sugar intake is a leading cause of obesity, which disproportionately burdens African American women and youth. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health reports that Black women have the highest rates of obesity or overweight of any other group, with approximately 4 in 5 women reporting being overweight or obese. Masu.
Local nutritionist Charmaine Jones is the founder and CEO of Food Jonezi, a nutrition consulting service based in Washington, DC. Mr. Jones strives to provide well-balanced diets and nutritional guidelines to district residents in underserved communities to promote healthy lifestyles.
In her experience, many residents struggle to maintain proper nutrition due to a lack of knowledge and access to nearby resources.
“To be honest, many people don't know what to eat. If they don't know, they end up continuing to eat the same way. [People] Eating habitually or trying fad diets that don't work [which is also] It's called “yo-yo dieting,” Jones told The Informer. “These quick fixes disrupt the body's metabolism, cause weight gain, and ultimately do more harm than good to the body.”
Diet is key to good health and maintaining a healthy weight, but so is exercise.
In 2018, African Americans were “20% less likely to be physically active than non-Hispanic whites,” according to the Office of Minority Health.
Jones linked African American women's lack of physical activity and poor eating habits to a variety of lifestyle challenges that prevent them from prioritizing healthy habits.
“A lot of Black women don't exercise as much as they should anymore. Before COVID, people were a little more active. Corona has allowed us to relax a little bit. [But also], many black women have a lot on their plate. They do a lot of work and are the main breadwinners. Some of them are single mothers trying to make ends meet,” Jones explained. “When you're taking care of others, you can sometimes forget about yourself. If you neglect self-care and live only for convenience, you'll gain weight. Convenience has a lot to do with your lifestyle. doing.”
Treatment of diseases beyond the plate
While the 2024 theme, “Beyond the Table,” considers food production and safety, naturopathic practitioners like Dr. Andrea Sullivan of the Natural Healing Center in Silver Spring, Maryland, say that when talking about nutrition, Examining the influence of life experiences. Sullivan focuses on systemic racism, sexism, and socioeconomic challenges related to food choices, and helps educate people about the importance of nutrition in overall health and wellness.
In her new book, Superwoman Sacrifice: Natural Remedies to Restore Balance, Sullivan navigates the world of homeopathic/naturopathic medicine that is the foundation of her practice. She also explains how to achieve proper levels of nutrition using holistic practices rather than allopathic medicine. Sullivan emphasizes that while there are countless elements in our food that create disease, there are also many elements that create health.
“Food is medicine. Thomas Edison said years ago that future doctors would eventually teach their patients how to care for their bodies' bones through diet,” Sullivan told the Informer. Told.
But Sullivan said Black women's relationship with nutritious food is a delicate one.
“African-American women, because of racism, sexism, and the stress of those two situations and lifestyles, have historically had to be the first to eat, whether it's pork chops or bacon. “I've been eating foods I didn't have. Fatty foods, salty foods, and now foods I can't even pronounce,” she said.
Bouts of adversity lead to stress, which results in increased inflammation in the body.
This imbalance often promotes the urge to seek greasy, sweet, or fatty comfort foods as a coping mechanism. However, these foods pose a threat to the body because the additives and substances in today's fast foods and prepackaged goods contain synthetic properties that, once digested, turn into fats that the body cannot process. Masu.
Sullivan argues that while many people are overwhelmed by life's stressors, by taking just a few steps, many can achieve better nutrition and overall health. Masu. Baking instead of frying, using less salt, and fighting sugar cravings through exercise and meditation are the first steps to creating better health.
“Everything you put in your mouth either fights disease or creates disease. Everything. So we have to start making different choices,” Sullivan said. “We may literally just buy a bushel of organic kale a week. We may be drinking half our body weight in ounces of water. These things can change our health. This is what we can do to help you. You are responsible for your health, not your doctor. You are responsible for your own health.”
