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If you truly want to achieve consciousness, you might find that the easiest place to start is with the physical element. Your diet is the foundation of your strength, your quality of life, your energy level, and your direct connection with the Earth itself.
Radically changing our diet as a people may be the most revolutionary thing that we can do.
Its no secret that the African Diaspora faces health crises across the spectrum.Our people suffer from higher levels of infection and intoxication than any other racial group. From malnourishment and vitamin deficiencies to obesity and cancer prevalence, our people need a dietary intervention!
Plant based diets stand out as the most effective means of addressing this collective health crisis. Whether you are new to the Black Conscious community or a long practicing initiate, the resource that we have created here will give you the information you need to live a longer, stronger, and happier life.
The Philosophy Behind Our Plant Based Diet
Diet is more than just food on a plate. The diet of a people is an extension of their culture and a reflection of how their culture interacts with the world.
Some cultures emphasize a cruelty free culture with diets that avoid the use of animal products. Other cultures use religious guidelines to dictate their diet.
But what all these philosophies have in common are they use food as a resource to achieve very specific results.
As the Original People of the planet, we want a diet that
- Counteracts the toxic effects of western eating habits
- Produces clarity of thought, emotional balance, and awareness
- Protects us against the weapons of infection and intoxication
- Supports the unique physiology and biochemical makeup of melanated people
- Clears the body’s energy channels and removes blockages
- and builds and sustains immunity, vitality, and longevity
To meet those guidelines, we have developed a dietary philosophy and a practice that supports the mind, body, and spiritual awakening of melanated people. We call this philosophy and practice the Melanin Plant Based Diet.
The Melanin Plant Based Diet avoids most meat while eliminating pork, beef, and highly processed foods altogether. Instead, our plates are full of nutrient dense, non-GMO foods that are both high in fiber, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals and low in saturated fats.
All white foods – including white sugar, white rice, white flour, and white bread – are eliminated from the Melanin Plant Based Diet. There are several reasons why:
- White processed foods are known to contribute to diabetes – a disease that disproportionately affects Black men and women.
- 1500 Americans die every single day from cancer caused by meat and refined foods. The vast majority of those victims are Black.
- About four out of five African American women (and one in three Black men) are overweight as a direct result of eating western diets rich in white and processed foods.
Since 35 percent of all cancers can be attributed to diet, the easiest way to correct our collective condition is by changing the way we eat. As our ancestor Imhotep admonished us almost 5,000 years ago, our food must become our medicine!
The Cancer Connection
How we eat is as much about what we want to avoid as it is about what we want to gain. Studies have shown that consuming animal products leads to cancer or other preventable diseases.
After 27 years of animal studies, Dr. T. Collin Campbell, Emeritus professor from Cornell University, concluded that consuming animal proteins (including milk) promoted cancer growth.
Similar studies have also found that animal protein is packed with cholesterol that lead directly to heart attacks. This cholesterol stays in the bloodstream, and is only removed from the body with great difficulty, leading to countless health issues.
Dr. Campbell’s studies in animal models found that casein, which accounts for 87 percent of milk proteins can promote cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and osteoporosis.
Yes – milk can cause osteoporosis! Here is how:
When humans consume cows milk, the body releases antibodies to fight the alien substance. Simultaneously, acid is dumped into the body that eats away at bone structure, thus causing degenerative bone diseases like osteoporosis later in life.
The details of these studies and others were published in his book titled The China Study: Revised and Expanded Edition: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss, and Long-Term Health. The New York Times called his book the greatest epidemiological study in the world.
According to the studies, safe proteins come from plant foods such as wheat and soybeans. These plant-derived proteins, even in high volumes, will still provide your body with life sustaining protein without the dangers of cancer causing meat.
The Positive Effects of A Plant Based Diet
The best way to determine whether a plant based diet is legit is by examining populations who live by the practice.
You might be surprised to hear that many of the diseases that exist in the Western world dont exist in Africa and Asia.
- According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, Africa and South Central Asia have the lowest cancer incidence rates in the entire world. On average, there are only 106.2 new cancer infections per year, per every 100,000 people. In many cases, cancer rates were FAR LOWER for Africans than for African-Americans.
- The rates of breast cancer among Kenyan women are 82 TIMES LOWER than that of American women!
- Heart disease is NON EXISTENT in the highlands of Papua New Guinea, home to many original African peoples.
- According to these same statistics, Australia, North America, and all of Europe have DOUBLE THE RATES OF NEW CANCER INFECTION compared to Africa and South Central Asia, with 270.6 new cancer infections per every 100,000 people!
All of these amazing numbers are the direct result of cultures that embrace plant based diets.
Aside from the health benefits in humans, reducing demand for meat can do more to slow and perhaps reverse global climate change than taking every automobile on the entire planet off the street. Not only that, but reducing global demand for meat would free up enough grain to feed every mouth on the planet, every day, for an entire human lifespan!
With these guidelines and information in mind, here are the foods that form the foundation for the Melanin Plant Based Diet
The Melanin Plant Based Diet Food List
Based on what we know of the eating habits of our original African cultures, we have created a plant-based diet that not only reverses infection in the body, but also increases energy, strength, and mental clarity.
Almost all of these foods can be purchased online for less than you would find at a chain grocery store. Click the button beneath any image to go to our full list of foods by category.
Melanin Rich Vegetables
Asparagus
Beets
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage
Purple Carrots
Cauliflower
Celery
Collard greens
Fennel
Kale
Leeks
Mustard greens
Onions
Yams
Romaine lettuce
Irish Moss
Spinach
Chard
Sea lettuce and Kelp
Fruits
Bell peppers
Cucumbers
Eggplant
Green beans
Green peas
Olives
Squash, summer
Squash, winter
Tomatoes
Apples
Apricots
Bananas
Blueberries
Cantaloupe
Cranberries
Grapefruit
Grapes
Kiwifruit
Lemon/Limes
Oranges
Papaya
Pears
Pineapple
Plums
Pomegranate
Raisins
Raspberries
Strawberries
Watermelon
Beans
Raw cacao nibs
Black beans
Dried peas
Garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
Kidney beans
Lentils
Lima beans
Miso
Navy beans
Pinto beans
Nuts and Seeds
Cashews
Flaxseeds
Hemp Seeds
Sesame seeds
Sunflower seeds
Walnuts
Spices
Black pepper
Cayenne pepper
Chili pepper, dried
Cilantro/Coriander seeds
Cinnamon, ground
Cloves
Cumin seeds
Dill
Mustard seeds
Oregano
Parsley
Peppermint
Rosemary
Sage
Thyme
Turmeric
Oils and Syrups
Grains
Quinoa
Rye
Spelt
Whole wheat
The above foods are the foundation of the Black conscious diet. Clean out your refrigerator and replace leftovers, old fast food, and store-bought GMO bullshit with the above. During the spring, plant an urban garden and grow as much of the above as your plot of land can support.
For recipes, and ways to incorporate the above foods into your everyday life and budget, grab one of the following books from Black plant-based dietitians:
Remember: Let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food!
Sources:
- “Cancer Incidence Worldwide.” World Health Organization, International Agency for Research on Cancer, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2012.
- Simon, Stacy. Annual Report: U.S. Cancer Death Rates Decline, but Disparities Remain. N.p., 17 June 2011. Web.
- Liu, David. “Nutritionist: Drinking Too Much Milk Promotes Cancer Growth.”Foodconsumer.org. N.p., 8 Dec. 2006. Web. United Nations Environment Programme (2011) Keeping Track
- Audsley, E. et al. (2010) Food, land and greenhouse gases. UK Committee on Climate Change
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