YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT
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If I am what I eat then I am more West African fufu (made with boiled and then pounded cassava, sweet potato, yam, or plantain) than I should be; and I'm afraid that the five basic food groups are not as well-represented on this earth for me as they should be.
I ate a lot of fufu and spicy soup before coming to America, but since I came here I've tried to eat my way to being more the kind of person that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) says it is healthy for me to be. I try to listen to the USDA Guidelines. Rather than fufu, I guess I should have members of the five food groups swimming around inside me.
My father and mother want me to be a pharmacist. True there is more money in that; but I still like the old ways that are more natural. How do I combine the old ways with the new ways of science? My father wishes me to give up the old ways. I know that he does this because he thinks that it is best for me.
My mother has a way of telling me to "do my own thing" without actually telling me to disobey my father. Being away at graduate school I will have more freedom than in my parent's house, where I lived as an undergraduate; and my professor told me about an African student who got an Ivy League university to design for her a Masters Degree program in herbal public health. I must get in touch with that student. That sounds exciting and my father, he would forgive me. I am his favorite, I have been told by the women in the village where I am from In Ghana.
The woman of the village, especially my mother, would warn my father: "You are going to spoil that child." He would say nothing and keep on spoiling me. He used to come by the school in the village and take me out to ride with him to Accra, which is our Capital. Many families in have compounds in Accra and in their home village.
I would love the day-long trips with my father. He never took my brothers or my sisters--only me and each time his truck would hit a bump on our bumpy roads he would look over at me there beside him on the front seat to make sure I was alright. The women in the village would often say: "Kwesi, you think that girl is made of gold?" All he would do is roar his big laugh, take my hand and lead me through the village.
But I am not gold. In the old ways I am made by God and created out of soul (okra), spirit (sunsum), blood (mogya) and family (abusua). In the new way I know that it isn't fish, apples, and tomatoes swimming around inside me (I was joking). It is the things out of which these foods are made - water, food energy (calories), protein, fat (saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated), cholesterol, carbohydrates, dietary fiber, calcium, phosphorus, iron, potassium, magnesium, sodium, vitamin A, thiamin (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2), niacin, vitamin B6, folate, vitamin B12, vitamin C.
Eating because you must, eating what is available, and eating what is convenient are all reasons people eat as they do; but the two reasons that I want to tell you about are eating as a way of Enjoying Your Taste Buds (I love my taste buds) and eating as a way of Enjoying Your Body, long term.
To enjoy your body you should understand the unique combination of nutrients that you must have to reach and maintain the most enjoyable body for a lifetime.
I love my taste buds and my body. Wouldn't it be great if both of those wanted the same things? If they both needed all the fufu they could get. I so much love fufu and palm nut soup.
Sorry but the "buds" and the "body" don't always agree that fufu is best and so to be completely happy you have to satisfy both the buds and the body. I don't have to say much about the taste buds; they are always going to take care of themselves. But eating the right combinations of foods to keep you healthy is a life-long ritual that you must maintain.
To enjoy your body you must first know your body--something not accomplished by most people. A good place to start is with a book called: You: The Owner's Manual.
As far as eating is concerned one of the first things you should know is:
Once you have gotten a good handle on how you have become what you've eaten you might want to look at how your diet can help you become the person you seek to become:
In control of your weight
In control of your diabetes
In control of your high blood pressure,
A person who has a healthy level of blood cholesterol
A heart-happy person
Less moody
A smarter person
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Healthy Eating
