Last week I interviewed Laila Ali at the American Kidney Fund’s 3rd Annual Hope Affair Gala. We had a pretty good conversation about not only kidney disease and its disproportionate presence in the African American community but also the state of health of the community as a whole. If anyone is vaguely familiar with Laila Ali, they know that she is not only a proponent for physical fitness but she is also a champion for wellness and health.
One of the things that I realized in my conversation with Laila was that she and I have a few things in common when it comes to our frustrations with and hopes for our community. We touched upon the overall attitude towards health and wellness and its deep-seeded roots. Laila was pretty straight-forward in saying that too many of us have our priorities skewed. Here are some nuggets from our conversation about healthy living:
- During pregnancy, don’t put on too much weight in the first place.
- Women need to nurse and stop worrying about it being inconvenient.
- Take time to exercise and eat right.
- Make healthy living a priority and a lifestyle.
- You can’t just look at kidney disease, you have to look at the diet.
- Stop frying, choose low-fat butter if you use it in your foods.
- Choose lean cuts of meat; eat more fish, poultry, beef once a week.
- Consume more veggies.
- Eat more whole grains and things from the earth where you can understand what the ingredients say.
- Stay away from foods with chemicals in it because eventually they will break the body down.
I asked her what specific message she would give to our community. This is what she had to say:
- First, do your research and understand how to take care of yourself so you can avoid chronic visits to the doctor other than your annual check-up.
- Second, make sure to get that annual physical so the doctor can tell you if there’s a problem.
- Third, if the doctor tells you something, research and consider natural routes.
- Fourth, we need to get our priorities straight – put wellness first over what we’re wearing and our hair. We’re worrying about the wrong things.
Touché Laila, touché!
