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Student Name

Professor XXX

Writing 102

14 February 2022

The Transformation of Soul Food

Yes, we love soul food and know it is bad, but it is transforming to become healthier.

Soul food consists of lots of starch, fat, and fried options that have led to an increase in obesity

and cardiovascular health problems. Many are leaning towards healthier ways to incorporate soul

food through substituting options and learning from experiences. Genesis Belle points out in her

article, “Can the African American Diet be Made Healthier without Giving up Culture” that we

should change the way we look at the food pyramid, as we find ways to cook healthier from

others. Similarly, Jazz Keyes, a certified national Life Purpose and Career Coach encourage us to

incorporate exercise in our routines as we learn from others. She states that to maintain our

health we must change our relationship with food and exercise (Keyes,2019). Emily Rizzo

supports Jazz Keyes in her article,” How to Make Soul Food with a Healthy Twist” by

suggesting that more exercise can help people overcome diabetes as we learn from a chef’s

experience battling a health issue. Adrian Miller, the author of Soul Food, agrees that soul food

is already transforming into something healthier as he traveled on his journey to try different soul

food restaurants. He believes that it is transforming because he saw many dishes that didn't

contain meat unless it was celebration-type foods that were served for special occasions. Soul

food has many risks for our health, but by applying strategies of cooking soul food, we can

maintain a balance between the traditional, new, and total lifestyle choices. We don’t have to get

rid of the diet completely.

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Poor control of our diet and having too much of a good thing has led to the increase of

health risks. We see that obesity is affecting African Americans according to a report on the state

of obesity, “Approximately 47.8 percent of African Americans are obese compared to 32.6

percent of Whites. What’s equally startling is that 35.1 percent of African American children

ages 2 to 19 are overweight” (Keyes 2019). Many miss out on the vitamins our bodies need from

not incorporating enough vegetables to help balance out all of the starches that are associated

with soul food. Both Belle and Keyes point out that when we look at any plate it misses the

vegetables. “We typically chose food such as fried chicken, barbequed ribs, sweet potato pie, and

baked macaroni and cheese” (Belle 2017). “This includes processed food, soda/juice, old or bad

cuts of meat and food rich in starch.” (Keyes 2019). Furthermore, Adrian Miller states to us,

“First, the cuisine conjures up images of something excessively boiled, fried, sweetened, and

topped off with a dash of hot sauce” (Miller 2). Keyes continues “A clean diet is the best

preventative tool we have for combating illness.” (Keyes 2019). To keep our bodies in check we

need to try to avoid processed foods and eat more whole foods. Overall, replacing greasy foods

with more fresh foods will help keep our bodies feeling healthy, and we can help fight off some

of these risks linked to obesity.

A large number of us don’t have enough knowledge on healthy eating or what it means

by the term overeating. By teaching different methods on how to cook healthier we could

potentially lower the chances of chronic diseases. Another tip is getting active and moving

around this will help balance our daily lifestyle. According to Genesis Belle, “We can teach

people to cook food in a healthier way such as baking, roasting, or broiling meats” (Belle 2017).

Jayze Keyes agrees but also believes we should teach people to incorporate a balanced lifestyle.

“There is a lack of knowledge surrounding the holistic lifestyle and as a result, we are at greater
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risk for developing chronic and life-threatening diseases such as high blood pressure, type II

diabetes, cancer, and heart disease” (Keyes 2019). Learning from others will help us receive

better advice and will want us to push ourselves to transform. Even going to the gym, you can

still learn from others by joining classes such as nutrition, weightlifting, and aerobic type

exercise. For those that are sedentary, we can try consuming it in moderation to balance it out

with how much daily activity we do. A lot of our health risks are linked to us overeating at the

table and not knowing when to stop. According to Keyes many of us do not know we are stuck in

a gluttonous culture. “We mock our tendency to indulge. Overeating often results in the “itis” or

extreme fatigue after a heavy meal. This idea that it is appropriate to stuff yourself and be

inactive is a contributing factor to our obesity. Food should fuel you” (Keyes 2019). We do not

need to change the overall soul food experience; we need to find the proper balance and know

when we become full at the table.

Belle suggests that if churches and other organizations held seminars to encourage

healthier eating habits, it would help the community to make healthier choices. We could even

learn how our diets have changed from generations from learning from others. Adrian Miller

agrees and sees the transformation happening as he says, “Chefs are adapting and changing

styles in terms of eating habits” (Miller 256). Sydnor, a Philadelphia chef agrees with both Belle

and Miller as he has taught others from his experiences how he fought through diabetes while

making soul food healthier and his twist. Sydnor was diagnosed with diabetes, and it led him to

change his diet to eating less sugar, fat, and salt. It is all about finding the right fit that helps you

find that balance. Sydnor said he chose to use the sweet potato, instead of its sister veggie, the

yam, because it has a lower glycemic index: “When people who are diabetics eat it, the sugar

breaks down slower. The sweet potato greens, which can be eaten raw, taste like spinach but are
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charged with even more vitamin C and are high in fiber” (Rizzo 2022). The best choice is to

substitute a veggie to sub for meat. Sydnor taught his experience to others that the sweet potato is

as sweet as the yam, so he mixed it with the greens to give it a sweet taste, but it gave a healthier

twist using a vegetable. We can still incorporate a healthy diet from learning from previous

experiences in the kitchen, and we can still enjoy soul food even if we have health issues.

Should we change how we think about our food pyramid? According to Genesis Belle,

the food pyramid could be changed to reflect the different types of soul food that we consume.

For instance, “The bread and cereal group could include foods like cornbread, grits, and hominy”

(Belle 2017). Think about this another group could be vegetables in the soul food diet some

consume sweet potatoes, coleslaw, okra, and spinach. The reasoning behind this is that people

can eat a more balanced diet from the foods that they are already used to eating. To help with

this, eating in moderation and balancing a variety can help us achieve a healthier soul food diet.

Adrian Miller also agrees and thinks that it has already changed, at the Jackson Avenue Center

Conference, he stated, “As I toured all one hundred fifty soul food restaurants, I noticed that

more were not incorporating meat in the veggies unless it was for a special occasion.” In chapter

thirteen of soul food, he also mentions, “People are not going for butter, fat, deep frying for

flavor, so I’m not surprised that soul food is going to be healthier.” (Miller 256) If we learn how

soul food falls into play with the food pyramid, this will help maintain our intake of daily needs.

Our soul food consumption can reflect the food pyramid as long as we leave off extra

unnecessary ingredients.

Even though soul food has health risks, we can transform our diets by implementing

effective strategies to help balance the daily choices we consume. We can maintain a balance

between the traditional, new, and total lifestyle choices. Every day we learn from others, and we
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can take those experiences and incorporate them into our journeys. Incorporating exercise will

help burn off all of the bad associated with soul food. Soul food doesn’t need to be changed. We

need to consider moderation and save those meats for special occasions. Chefs are transforming

the soul food diet in their restaurants by reflecting the food pyramid by removing those

unnecessary ingredients such as frying or adding butter.

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Works Cited

Belle, Genesis. “Can the African-American Diet Be Made Healthier without Giving up Culture.”

- York College / CUNY, 31 Mar. 2017, www.york.cuny.edu/english/writing-program/the-

york-scholar-1/volume-5.2-spring-2009/can-the-african-american-diet-be-made-

healthier-without-giving-up-culture.

Keyes, Jazz. “Slave Food: The Impact of Unhealthy Eating Habits on the Black Community •

Ebony.” EBONY, 3 June 2019, www.ebony.com/life/black-health-food-diet/.

Miller, Adrian. Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine, One Plate at a Time.

The University of North Carolina Press, 2013.

Rizzo, Emily. “For Black History Month, a Local Chef Teaches Soul Food with a Healthy

Twist.” WHYY, WHYY, 6 Feb. 2022, whyy.org/articles/how-to-make-soul-food-with-a-

healthy-twist-for-black-history-month-a-west-philly-chef-demonstrates/.