Source: wespeakloudly.wordpress.com

Hormone imbalance can affect women of any age, but is most common in women in their late twenties and into their forties, according to the Study Health website. Symptoms of hormonal imbalance include severe mood swings, bouts of anger, acne, fatigue, lack of libido, weight gain and anemia. And of course, imbalanced hormones can lead to infertility and pregnancy complications. Many of these health issues are common among black women; the standard blood count for adults should be between 12 and 15, but many black women have a very low blood count of between three and six. The Anemia.org site even reports that one in four black women are anemic due to iron deficiency and overall poor diet. Eating hormone-laden foods may also the reason many of us are completely burned out at the end of the work week, or can’t seem to shed the pounds, no matter how much we work out. These foods could be part of a woman’s hormonal imbalance, and should be avoided or at least eaten in moderation.

This is not a picture of me, but she's cute!

Like a lot of black folks in this country, my family throws down when it comes time to eat. Golden brown fried chicken, thick ham slices, bubbling mac n’ cheese made with an entire stick of butter and all those other soul food staples.  Family dinners around the holidays are delicious, but filled with not exactly healthy choices.   My family’s medical history is a testament to that. Heart disease, all types of cancers, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes are the reality for way too many people in my family.

Over the years, I’ve done little things to make sure I stay far far away from all of that. I’d walk rather than take the train if the weather’s nice, I’ve limited fast food to no more than a couple times a week and I had entire days when the only beverages I would have that day would be milk or water. A couple months ago, I decided to cut back on meat consumption. I didn’t cut out meat completely (Oh, how I love lamb gyros!), but I did scale back to maybe two or three days a week instead of everyday in almost every meal.

Then I talked to Dr. Clarence Ing and that conversation gave me just the push I needed to stop eating meat.  Dr. Ing heads up the NewStart Lifestyle Program,  a program that seeks to set people up on a lifetime of healthy living through a plant-based diet coupled with regular exercise. We talked on a Sunday night (after dinner time) and  starting that Monday morning, I became a pescetarian ( a made-up word that is essentially a vegetarian who eats fish).

I’d like to share with you some of the things Dr. Ing said that made this black woman go meat-less. You might find yourself thinking about changing your diet too.

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