Okay people, if you never were a fan of sitting out in the sun here’s some news that may make you reconsider. It seems that many of us have a lack of Vitamin D. While that in itself may not seem like a big deal that deficiency may lead to variety of things from preterm births to breast cancer, colon cancer (and prostate cancer in men). Do I have your attention now?

The Chicago Sun Times reports today that ‘darker-skinned people who lives far from the Equator gets little sun exposure and consumes little Vitamin D’ are at risk for a variety of health issues. Apparently African Americans (both adults and children) have lower levels of the vitamin than white Americans do. But the truth is we don’t consume a lot of fortified dairy products because our bodies simply cannot handle them (lactose intolerance) and eating large amounts of fatty fish (another good source) simply may not be in the budget. Let’s be real here.

If you’re pregnant or thinking about having a baby you’ve got more reason to be aware of your Vitamin D levels.  Your lack of Vitamin D can make you predisposed to contracting bacterial vaginosis (BV), an infection that often leads to preterm births according to a University of Pittsburgh study published in The Journal of Nutrition. (In fact, sisters are three times as likely as white women to get BV.) This may be one the reasons we have such high infant mortality rates too.

When it comes to studies, our community can be quite suspicious (with good reason). But knowing this is a good thing—and may eventually explain why we are so hard hit by the aforementioned cancers. So what’s the answer? Do we need to take more Vitamin D supplements? Sit out in the sun?

Well here’s the not so great news, scientists don’t actually agree on what the answer is.(Yes, I am annoyed about that too.)  Supplements could definitely help but the recommendations vary widely (from 200 IU to 1000 IU per day). And while a person with paler skin would increase their Vitamin D levels by sitting in the sun for a mere 15 minutes a day, we’d need to sit out for 2 hours. Sisters don’t have time for themselves as it is so sitting out in the sun for two hours sounds like the stuff of fairy tales.

Scientists are supposedly putting their heads together so they can issue new guidelines next year. But until then it wouldn’t hurt sisters to take a Vitamin D supplement (talk to your doctor/nutritionist about the dosage) and spend a bit more time out in the sun whenever you can. But please don’t forget the sunscreen, black folks get skin cancer too!

Trying to eat healthier? Consider adding Quinoa (pronounced Keen-Wah). It’s a gluten-free ancient grain with 8 amino acids— making this grain a complete protein. It can also add some color to your plate, Quinoa grains are available in several colors Ivory, Red & Black.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup Quinoa
2 cup Frozen Mixed Vegatables
2 stalks, Celery sliced thin
1 clove garlic,diced
1/2 Onion diced
1/2 Red Pepper
2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Vegetable Boullion Cube
2 cups Water

DIRECTIONS
Using a medium size pot with a top, sauté pepper,celery & onion in oil. Add mixed vegetables. Sauté the mixture until vegetables are soft Rinse Quinoa, with warm water. Add 2 cups of water to pot. Add Quinoa to the pot and stir.

Cook on high heat for 10 minutes. Lower heat to simmer, cover the pot with the top. Cook Quinoa for an additional 8 to 10 minutes or until Quinoa is tender. Serve Quinoa wet or dry* like rice.
(*For dry Quinoa remove top and cook on low heat)

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Lynda Carter is a Certified Nutritional Counselor and a Master Chef who specializes in Vegetarian, Vegan & Raw Cuisine and Catering. Visit her website at aliveandraw.com

Earlier this week, singer Natalie Cole (daughter of Nat King Cole) went on Larry King to talk about her need for a new kidney. Before the show had concluded, scores of fans had contacted the show about their willingness to donate their own kidneys (or least be tested for it). Cole is famous so her ability to use King’s show reached millions. Meanwhile it is the grassroots efforts of everyday people that is  mobilizing folks to get  six-year-old Jasmina Anema the bone marrow donor she desperately needs. The effort is called “One For Jasmina”. And although Sherry Shepherd mentioned Jasmina’s plight on “The View” yesterday, most of the coverage of  Jasmina has been limited to local news in NYC.

It is no surprise that Cole would get an outpouring of support from her fans. Many of us have grown up hearing her music. We’re also aware of her well-publicized battle back from drug addiction and her subsequent diagnosis of Hepatitis C last year.  Her kidney’s failed as a result of the treatment she received for the disease. If she doesn’t receive a transplant she’ll need dialysis for the rest of her life. 

But thank God that celebrity obsession is not the be all and end all.  Our people are coming out in droves to get tested for Jasmina too,.Her need for a donor is pretty immediate because she is battling a particularly aggressive form of leukemia. Because she is an African American, it is even harder for her to find a match (about one in a million). Family members are not a logical choice because Jasmina is adopted.

So the drive which was first organized by Thea Anema’s friends has gone national with the help of DKMS America. Churches, civic and non-profits are doing their part and hosting drives (and the organization can walk you through the steps of setting up a drive or becoming a donor yourself). This weekend The African American Museum & Library in Oakland, California, First Baptist Church of Trenton, NJ and The Huntington Avenue YMCA are all urging people to come out and get tested. If you live in the area, please go out to see if you can help Jasmina.

This is what black girls need to do.

This is one of those stories that breaks your heart when you hear about it. The Huffington Post reports that Regine Revelus and her husband were out of town leaving their 3 daughters with their grandmother. It was just a few days after  their youngest daughter,  Bianca’s fifth birthday. But their eldest son, 23-year-old Kerby, chose Saturday night,  when the family was set to celebrate with a cake, to fatally wound his sister Samantha, 17 and the birthday girl herself—decaptitating his young sister as the police entered the home. Another sister, Sarafina, who is nine, had called 911. Then she watched as police shot and killed Kerby as he was in the process of trying to stab her. This all happened when their grandmother stepped out to take care of laundry on another floor. There are just no words.

The family live in Milton, a well-to-do suburb outside of Boston—which is also home to Governor Deval Patrick. But this picturesque locale couldn’t hide the fact that Kerby may have been troubled for some time. A few days before he turned on his family, he had an physical altercation with a neighbor. He also just got out of jail on a gun charge. And there is some evidence that he had been violent in the past (a 2004 domestic violence incidence in which he allegedly punched a woman).

We hear stories like this way too often and it indicates that within our community there are some seriously troubled individuals. At the root of some of this is mental illness. Yet, talking about mental illness is still taboo for too many of us. It is time we break the silence, for our own sakes. When we don’t talk openly about mental illness and leave conditions undiagnosed and untreated it can have tragic consequences (for both the individuals themselves as well as their loved ones).

Let’s get rid of the shame and get our people the help they need.

Trying to eating more green foods? Try watercress! Watercress is sold at your local Asian market or natural foods store. They’re a good choice because these greens are loaded with minerals, omega 3’s,vitamins and proteins. In other words, the nutritional value of watercress is ideal for maintaining optimum health.

Watercress Salad
2 butches of watercress
2 Bosic Pears
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 teaspoon Lemon Pepper
1/8 teaspoon Sea Salt
1/2 lb. Goat Cheese, broken up into chunks (optional)

Medium-sized salad bowl

Directions:
Slice the stems off Watercress
Slice greens into bite sized pieces
Place Watercress in Bowl
Wash Pears, remove seeds
Dice Pears into chunks
Drizzle, extra virgin olive oil
Sprinkle, Lemon pepper & Salt
Toss Salad
Add Goat Cheese (if using)

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Lynda Carter is a Certified Nutritional Counselor and a Master Chef who specializes in Vegetarian, Vegan & Raw Cuisine and Catering. Visit her website at aliveandraw.com

Listen up sisters (and brothers), CNN reports that our people suffer heart failure at a rate that is 20 times that of whites. Yes, 20 times. Plus, this is happening to us earlier (in our 30s and 40s as opposed to 50s and 60s for whites).“Heart failure is a condition in which the heart is unable to adequately pump blood to the body, often resulting in difficulty breathing, fatigue and swelling of the abdomen and/or extremities. Sufferers are often unable to work, walk easily or perform simple daily tasks.”

Now this may not come as a surprise to most of us , we’ve heard about (or even know) men and women in our community who’ve dropped dead from a heart attack at a young age. But this study, published in The New England Journal Of Medicine points out that these symptoms are present in some of us as early as our 20s. (yeah, it’s that bad).

One of the biggest culprits for us , according to the lead researcher, Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, is high blood pressure. This condition can be both genetic and environmental in our community. In other words, if we don’t inherit the traits we inherit the bad behavior. As a result, obesity, especially among sisters, is at an all time high (which can be as high as 40% in some areas of the country). This gives us a higher risk of HBP and for the possibility of heart issues. 

The reason these heart failure findings are so significant is that after you are diagnosed with heart failure, it impacts your quality of life and ultimately how long you live. Dr. Clyde Yancy of the American Heart Association says, “ ”If someone is diagnosed with heart failure at age 30, then even if we’re talking about a 10-year life expectancy, they would be dead by age 40.” And he adds that  five-year survival rate upon diagnosis is between 35 and 50 percent. 

This is one of the reasons that we know people in our community who die from heart disease in their 40s (that and the fact that much of our HBP goes undiagnosed because we don’t go to the doctor). 

Adding to all this are the recent findings from the National Cancer Institute which look at the impact of a diet of red and processed meat has on life expectancy.
“The red meat in the study included all types of beef and pork, including bacon, cold cuts, ham, hamburgers, hot dogs, and steak, as well as meat in pizza, chili, lasagna, and stew.”

Basically, if you eat this stuff everyday, you have a higher risk of dying over a ten-year period than people who don’t. Again, the cause may be heart disease. But it also may be cancer.

So what to do? First know if you’re at risk for HBP and minimize your risks by moving more (yes, I mean exercise) and monitoring your diet. This, my sister, is no joke.

Looking for an easy inexpensive dessert for the family or the perfect addition to a pot luck dinner? Try an Old School favorite like Granny’s Bread Pudding. Cut into squares for serving a Crowd! (If Lemon is not your flavor use Vanilla Extract.) You are going to want to save this recipe because once folks try it, they’ll ask for it again and again.

Granny’s Bread Pudding

12 Slices of bread (small loaf of bread)
Note: Using old stale bread is perfect  
1 16 ounce can Fruit Cocktail
2 Apples
1 cup Raisins
1 1/2 cups Milk
1 large Egg
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. Lemon Extract
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 stick Butter

Directions: Pre-Heat Oven to 350 degrees.Tear bread into small pieces. Place bread in a large bowl. Add: 1 can fruit cocktail, 2 apples, peeled & diced, and 1 cup raisins. Using a small bowl, stir milk & egg
add sugar, lemon extract, cinnamon, nutmeg. Pour liquid blend over bread and fruit. Slice butter into small pieces and place the slices evenly around the pudding.

Grease a casserole pan. Pour ingredients into the pan. Allow pudding to bake for 40 minutes. (The pudding top will be brown.) Test the pudding by sticking a tooth pick in the center, if the tooth pick is clean the pudding is done.

Allow the pudding to cool for 15 minutes. Cut and serve. Granny’s Bread Pudding is delicious with a dollop of cream or a scoop (or two) of ice cream.
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Lynda Carter is a Certified Nutritional Counselor and a Master Chef who specializes in Vegetarian, Vegan & Raw Cuisine and Catering. Visit her website at aliveandraw.com

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Lynda Carter is a Certified Nutritional Counselor and a Master Chef who specializes in Vegetarian, Vegan & Raw Cuisine and Catering. Visit her website at aliveandraw.com

This recession is no joke and food is not getting any cheaper. That’s why SPAM is making a big comeback. Really. The processed mystery meat is set to sell more cans than they have in past years. Anyway, folks are looking to cut corners any way they can and that Dollar Value Menu can be truly tempting. In fact, many of us have been eating from it for years. All I can say is don’t do it. Some of the items found on those lists are cheap and potential more hazardous to your health than other items.

In yesterday’s Orange County Register, the paper reported on the five unhealthiest value items. This was based on research conducted by The Cancer Project. Consumption of these foods, high in fat, saturated fat, calories and cholesterol will increase your risk of colorectal cancer. This is serious because not only are we more susceptible to getting colon cancer, but  sisters are more likely to die from the disease.

So without further ado, here are five items to avoid at all costs:
1. Jack In The Box’s Junior Bacon Cheeseburger
2. Taco Bell’s Cheesy Double Beef Burrito
3. Burger King’s Breakfast Sausage Biscuit
4. McDonald’s McDouble
5.Wendy’s Junior Bacon Cheeseburger

Enough said.

I don’t know if I found the case of 14-year-old D’Zhana Simmons being kept alive without a heart for 118 days astonishing or appalling. When D’Zhana got her first transplant back in July it didn’t work out as it should have, so the heart had to be removed. And this teen had to be placed on the waiting list for a new one. So she had to spend over 3 months hooked up to  two machines that kept her blood flowing in lieu of a heart. Complications ensued including kidney and liver failure, as well as internal bleeding. And while this was happening,  we never heard a thing about it. Don’t you find that strange?

I saw a news clip of D’Zhana yesterday and she looked so frail and lost. Having your chest carved open once is hard enough to recover from but twice is unbelievable. This is compounded by the fact that she is from South Carolina but she was operated on (and kept alive) in Miami. I suspect her mother, Twolla Anderson, was a constant companion but the family could have been helped by more support and prayers. She is the first child to have experienced this ordeal (or miracle depending on who you talk to). Were the adults who’ve been through this previously also left without a heart for months on end? And really have there been no advances since Robert Jarvik took a stab at the artificial heart back in 1982?

But what I really want to know is whether it turned out to be 118 days because of  D’Zhana’s frail health, the lack of donors, or her place on the donor waiting list. Bringing this to light sooner could have been a good teaching moment for our community (although it may have been intrusive to both the patient and her family). This could have been an ongoing news story or at the very least a very compelling documentary. In short, our community needs the education about organ and tissue donation (since black folks make up approximately 50% of those waiting for kidney transplants). And D’Zhana shouldn’t have gone through this ordeal alone.