Spotlight: Mark Jones Bey & Nutrition
The following blog was crafted by a guy I’ve known since my earliest days at Howard!
Mark Jones Bey is a sophomore, nutritional science major, from Los Angles, California, currently attending Howard University. I’m spotlighting him and his views on nutrition because I’ve always found his worldview and personal beliefs interesting. He put the idea of ‘religion’ in a whole new perspective for me, and for that I thank him. So, thanks Mark!
Without further ado:
When most people are asked, “Do you want to live a healthier, happier life?” The answer is almost invariable an emphatic “YES!” an “of course,” or “duh”. The interesting thing is, however, living a healthy, happy life isn’t on the minds of most people. In fact, readers may think of a time they’ve asked someone or have been asked, “Oh, do you eat healthy?” It is often stated as if it is a stigma of some sort. As if eating healthy is an uncomfortable, scary thing. So one may ponder, “What kind of life am I living if it’s not healthy?” The opposite of healthy eating is… unhealthy eating. When a man is asked if he eats healthy, the response should be, “Yes, don’t you?” The truth is every human being desires to be healthy and happy. Humans, therefore, should make health a top priority in their lives. There are three different holistic facets of health. They are the spiritual, mental, and physical. The most accessible, and easy to change, is the physical. 85% of physical health is determined by what the average person puts in their mouth. Certain genetic predispositions for disease can be kindled by an unhealthy diet, or abated by a healthy one. Many of us know, after eating some food we feel energized, while, after eating some food we get ‘the itis’. Why should any food we eat take energy from us? It shouldn’t! Food is for energy, not debility. So one of the most immediate things a person can do in order to positively change his or her life is to change his diet. We have three opportunities everyday to change our life for the better; they call them breakfast, lunch, and dinner. As a Moorish Moslem, I do not consume anything that comes from animals. Islam itself means peace. The peace of Islam isn’t restricted to my family and friends, or other Moslems. The peace that is Islam should be spread to everything created by the great God Allah. No animals should suffer. Currently animals aren’t serving the purpose that God created them for. Animals are taken from the wild and are being bred for slaughter and milk. From birth until death their lives and energy are dedicated to others; stolen for the purpose of feeding humans. The beaks of baby chicks are severed, calves are taken from their mothers and used as veal, and cows are milked until their bodies collapse from exhaustion. Coincidentally, many other faiths teach non-violence through things like the Christian Ten Commandments. “Thou shall not kill,” isn’t prohibited only to other human beings; it is meant for all creatures created by God Almighty. It is said that if we all had to kill our food, we’d all be vegetarians. This is said because it takes a ruthless heart to hunt, or to cut the throat of an animal and see it writhe and scream just before it dies. Genesis 1:29 shows us where God prescribes fruits and vegetables as food for mankind. Islam itself means peace, yet many Muslims wage war on the peaceful lamb, and other animals. Christianity represents the word of God, yet we devour God’s creatures, and they fear us. Much like the two previous faiths, Buddhism, one of the most peaceful religions, recommends a tranquil coexistence with other species on the planet. In Buddhism there is a principle known as “ahimsa.” Ahimsa embodies the idea that every living thing is sacred and it represents non-violence. Yet Buddhists often eat animals. If the many faiths all teach that every living thing is sacred, then how dare we harm a living thing? If we can survive and thrive another way, how dare we harm a living thing? When carnivores see a raw piece of meat, a dead animal, or the like, they all salivate because they’re meat eaters. If we were in the wild and we saw two things: a bowl of our most favorite fruit, and the dead body of an animal, which one would make us salivate?
Which one would we eat? We’d eat the fruit of course. Not only do we harm animals in our consumption of them, but also we harm ourselves. In every animal that is slaughtered are the stress hormones and adrenaline that were pumped into its bloodstream upon death due to fear, and all the waste that it was storing within its veins. Just as our bodies use our veins to transport waste, so do animals. Due to the fact that we eat the animals, we also eat their waste. There are many other things besides meat that are bad for us. On top of meat we have fried foods, candy, sugar, artificial sugar, alcohol, fats, starches, processed food, and the list goes on. There are a few things that we can do however, to improve our health. The first thing would be to reduce our meat consumption to about two, three, or four times a week. We don’t need it with every meal. Most people outside America only eat meat twice, or thrice a week anyway. The second thing we can do is cut out junk foods. They’re called junk food for a reason! Slowly, or quickly, cut out all those sweets, sodas, snacks and processed foods. Thirdly, drink more water! Drink a lot of water. Start working up to eight glasses a day. Lastly, the most important rule, ONLY EAT FRUIT FOR BREAKFAST. Don’t eat heavy breakfast foods like eggs and bacon, grits, pancakes and waffles, or anything else. The body has just rested and we need food that will energize us for the day, not something that will weigh us down so we have to go hit up Starbucks later for energy! Overall include more fruits and vegetables in your lunch and dinner, but specifically eat fruit in the morning, alone. If you’re constitution is too sensitive to eat fresh fruit, eat dried fruits, nuts and bananas mashed up. I use this routine and it is very valuable. Everyday try and get five servings of fruits and vegetables; if you make a habit of doing this in the long run your health will improve. Replace many of the processed grains that have been enriched with whole grains like Rye, Spelt, or Kamut bread. They’re easier to digest and are healthier for you. No wild animals die of disease; only man does. Wild animals die of old age. Many centenarians in Asia also die of old age. In fact, anyone who lives over one hundred years, dies in their sleep, everyone else dies of a disease. Refer to the reference list provided by Erin for further tips on books, documentaries, diet and eating healthy. Change your diet, before your diet changes you!