By Mansa B. K. Musa

Chances are, many people may have heard the ancestral saying that, “We become what we eat.” Or this other slice of Wisdom: “What’s destroying many people nowadays is not what they eat or drink, but what is in those products that are killing them.”

As many of us celebrated last year-end holidays, we consumed too many foods and drinks that we know or should already know are not nutritious or healthy for our bodies. Prominent marketing media via convincing advertisements, inform us what and when to eat and drink, were typically blamed.

Conspiracy theorists and many health-conscious individuals worldwide often ask this profound, troubling question: “Could obesity be genetically modified, deliberately, and systematically manipulated as a depopulating mechanism to eliminate a sizeable worldwide population?”

And if intentionally implemented, who is behind the motives to destroy humanity as continuous wars and massive “manufactured” disasters are not working fast enough as they wished? Also, are many of us willingly or unconsciously helping them achieve their destructive agendas?

Lots of friends ask me how come I maintain my weight for over forty-eight years by consuming primarily plant-based whole foods? Many cannot visualize themselves living a healthy lifestyle by abstaining from various meats, fish, poultry, eggs, or dairy products.

When I introduced them to a plant-based whole food lifestyle, I had friends who would inform me that they must eat a particular food. Such as jerk chicken, jerk pork, ham, fried chicken, chitlings, or other foods that can cause many of them to become obese or, on lots of occasions, later in their lives, suffer from the side effect of obesity.

Nowadays, obesity is drastically increasing among many of us because of consuming fast foods and drinks. Depending on where many of us were born or are presently residing, eating large portions of meat or non-nutritious foods has become our daily habit.

We must consider that these three things usually come into play when consuming unhealthy and non-nutritious foods: look, smell, and taste. Our biggest failure is that many of us eat the wrong kind of foods at the wrong time and in large portions.

The excess fat is not easily digested and ends up congesting or clogging specific organs in our bodies. Without exercising regularly, it shows up as obesity or other life-threatening ailments.

Poor eating and drinking contribute to increasing deaths in most countries; but nowadays seems more predominant in the Black and Brown Communities worldwide.

Also, excessive alcohol drinking destroys essential internal organs, which causes many other illnesses. Often, many communities also consume the same foods and drinks as others, yet they are not dying at an alarming rate.

What contributes to our constantly rising death toll are seven factors: Poor eating and drinking habits; obesity; lack of exercise; stress; not enough sleep; not enough sunlight, and not enough fresh air.

Other ailments can be traced to obesity; and they are not noticeable until, in many cases, it is way too late. Those are the side-effect of our dietary lifestyle.

Once some or all of those seven factors become part of our daily lives, our immune system becomes compromised, and many illnesses can quickly destroy our bodies.

Our bodies always have viruses, and the immune system was evolved to keep them under constant control. Everything needed to defend the body is found in and not out of the body.

We must understand that maybe it is not in the interest of most giant food and pharmaceutical companies to make sure that humans stay or become healthier.

Large year-end profits for their most significant shareholders seem to be their sole mission. Once a society adopts a healthier lifestyle, fewer drugs are needed to cure simple ailments, and profit from drugs will drop substantially.

We must discipline ourselves to take better care of our bodies and be conscious of what we consume at all times of the year. Now is the best time to start reading labels on everything we eat, as not all foods are fit for human consumption.