When thinking of “soul food,” you may envision your family surrounding an oversized dining table lined with delectable savory dishes, super-sweet beverages, and heavenly deserts. You might imagine an enticing spread of herbaceous pork, chicken or beef, accented with scrumptiously starchy side dishes and meat-smothered veggies. You may even imagine yourself digging into a giant slice of decadent chocolate cake. Yet, our African ancestors rarely ate the foods we find to be cultural staples today. Many of the foods we title “soul foods” are in fact slave foods, made with the scraps from our masters’ kitchens.

During the colonial period, hogs were slaughtered in December, and slave owners quickly found a way to feed their slaves as inexpensively as possible. The preferred cuts of meat were reserved for the master’s use while remains such as fatback, snouts, ears, neck bones, feet, and intestines were given to the slaves. Slowly, these animal parts became infused into our culture both as main courses and flavorings. We apologize if grandma’s chit’lins don’t seem so appealing anymore.

True soul foods are native to our motherland, and may prove much more beneficial for us than a standard American diet according to Oldways, a nonprofit food and nutrition organization. Oldways gathered a panel of experts, featuring nutritional scientists, health specialists, and culinary historians to investigate the eating habits of the African Diaspora. Health studies, surveys, and experiments were also used to solidify their findings. According to Annual Review of Nutrition “African Americans and black populations in the United Kingdom suffer the worst, from the consequences of caloric excess and diets high in fat and animal products. Obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, and certain cancers are prevalent in the African-American and Afro-British populations, and they are beginning to emerge in populations that never before faced these diseases, as diets become more Western.”

As a result of their findings, Oldways constructed The African Heritage Diet. The African Heritage Diet is a cultural model for healthy eating, designed specifically for the members of the African Diaspora. The model includes a completely new Food Pyramid, which is drastically different from the standard American model.

Whereas breads, pastas and grains make up the base of the Standard American Food Pyramid, The African Heritage Diet Pyramid is based on physical activity, socialization, and leafy green vegetables. Similar to the Standard American Food Pyramid, The African Heritage Diet Pyramid’s following tiers are comprised of fruits and vegetables in addition to nuts, beans, and tubers. The African Heritage Diet also focuses heavily on flavor, which we all know is a huge part of African American cuisine. Instead of salty animal pieces, African Heritage meals are enhanced with herbs, spices and sauces. Standard soul food dishes utilize smoked pork, turkey and beef parts to flavor even the most standard vegetable dish. So even when you’re eating your favorite collard greens, you’re still eating a meat: on the cabbage, the baked beans—even the potatoes! Although delicious, this way of cooking is incredibly high in carbohydrates and sodium, which is the leading cause of hypertension, high blood pressure and heart problems in African Americans.

As we stray from our dietary roots, adopting the eating habits and cuisines of other cultures, the ailments plaguing our community become more severe. According to the California Department of Public Health, heart disease and cancer are the leading cause of death in African Americans, killing over 47% of our community nationally. Diabetes follows closely, killing over 12,000 African Americans nationally. As obesity and disease plague our community, it is important that we embrace the knowledge of our ancestors. By reclaiming our native culinary habits, we may experience improved physical, mental and spiritual health.

Check out the links below to learn more about the African Heritage Diet, find recipes and to discover your culinary roots!

Oldways African Heritage Diet

Kwanzaa Culinarians