Being 36 and in less than 5 months turning 37 I’ve taken my health much more seriously. I have always been pretty health conscious, but I have incorporated even more things into my life to become healthier. The main reason being I am a little scared of what it means to be a 40-year-old black man in America (or in this world at all to be honest). There’s just something happening to black men in their 40s in this country that makes it starts to feel like death is very nearby. Then add in high blood pressure and just aging in general then you feel a sort of existential crisis just wrapping around you.
I have consumed myself unfortunately the same way with financial literacy with understanding the nuances of our health and fitness as humans and as black people. The question plagues me as to what the reasons are as to why many of the non-communicable diseases seem to hit us harder. Many people automatically write it off as the food which is indeed a factor, but the same White and Asian people eat the same food as well in this country. But their longevity and stats are better. For example, colon cancer kills more of us Black people than anything. Pick a cancer and it’s us that suffer more. I see black vegans/vegetarians who still catch noncommunicable diseases versus some white person living without any of those diseases.
I mean look at those with money in our community still suffering from mental and physical health issues such as depression, heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. What good does it do to acquire wealth if you can’t even enjoy it. I’m just sick and tired of seeing black men become sick and dying after all the hard work they put in to reaching where they got. I am broken a bit unfortunately when I read about them. We must make sure we’re taking better care of ourselves in mind, body, and soul.
If I had to guess, I would say the constant pressure for success is not the stress our body needs. The constant grinding and late nights are detrimental. Maybe living in cities needs to be revisited. The hood may need to be in the woods where there’s lots of sun, trees and dirt for kids to play in. You may think I’m joking but I’m quite serious. Vitamin D deficiency is serious in the US and people with darker skin have a layer of protection from the sun which means we need to be in the Sun even more. Nature is one of the best things for us, and I don’t think many black people from cities even have stepped in the woods. If you’re unaware of this think of the fact that trees actually produce a lot of natural killer cells and cities barely have trees. Also the trees that cities do have are largely male which is why allergies are so rampant since you basically have no female trees in cities (so just a bunch of male tree semen flowing around).
You can be vegan but what good does it do you if you’re not active enough (sitting down for 8 hours a day and going to exercise is not being active contrary to popular belief) or ever stepping out in the wilderness and letting the sun rays bathe you (Forest bathing and Vitamin D). The strive for success may not always challenge us in the way our body needs. I am starting to understand that the more we don’t use it the faster we lose it. Our brains do not want repeated medial tasks. Our brain also does not want constant overstimulation. But it wants complex processes to learn in synergy with our body. It keeps our brain stimulated in the way it needs. Our body also wants to learn new things and constantly move. We must look at our peace of mind are we doing what is good for us or harmful for us. Be healthy! Be sexy!
Health is wealth!
Yoruba Demons 