 Major sponsors for Ableton on Air include Green Mountain Support Services, empowering people with disabilities to live home in the community, Washington County Mental Health, where hope and support come together. Media sponsors for Ableton on Air include Park Chester Times, Muslim Community Report, WWW, this is the Bronx.info, Associated Press Media Editors, New York Power Online Newspaper, U.S. Press Corps Domestic and International, Anchor FM and Spotify. Partners for Ableton on Air include Yachad of New York and New England where everyone belongs, the Orthodox Union, the Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired of Vermont, the Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Center Vermont Habitat for Humanity and Montpelier Sustainable Coalition, Montpelier Medical Center of the Bronx, Rose of Kennedy Center of Bronx, New York, Albert Einstein College of Medicine of the Bronx. Ableton on Air has been seen in the following publications, Park Chester Times, WWW, this is the Bronx.com, New York Power Online Newspaper, Muslim Community Report, WWW.H.com and the Montpelier Bridge. Ableton on Air is part of the following organizations, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Boston, New England Chapter and the Society of Professional Journalists. On this episode, we will focus on nutrition and nutrition planning, but before we do that, we will thank our sponsors, Washington County Mental Health, Green Mountain Support Services, the partnership with the Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired and the Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired and many, many, many others. With us to discuss nutrition and the importance of eating well and other things around that, we would like to welcome Shaquai Musa Jame, Imam of the Bronx, as well as one of the people in charge of the Muslim Media Corporation. Welcome to Ableton on Air, Shaquai. Thank you, Larry so much. Thank you for having me one more time. Today we're here to talk about health and wellness, and Friday, April 4th is the beginning of the National Minority Health Month, so this is the perfect time to start the month on your soul. Okay, so let's talk about lifestyle, lifespan and everything around that and the reason for healthy eating, because the Bronx or parts of New York have serious problems with obesity. Why? So it's a two-part question. What is lifestyle, lifespan, and why does New York have, or big cities, let's say, have problems with obesity? Thank you for the question. Lifestyle, lifespan campaign was launched about four years ago because, Larry, you're from the Bronx. We have over 40 hospitals and community health centers. We spent billions of dollars, yet consistently, Bronx has been ranking at the bottom when it comes to health and wellness in the state. Actually, we have been 60 seconds out of 62 counties when it comes to health. Bronx is part of New York City, the wealthiest city in the nation, the city that has more billionaires and multimillionaires than any other city in the nation, yet Bronx sites are not benefiting from the prestigious living conditions of these wealthy and well-connected New Yorkers. So four years ago, we said, if we have the hospitals, we have the health centers, we spend a lot of money and we still rank at the bottom, then there's only one solution to it, which is to change our lifestyle. And that is why we said, let's launch a campaign where we promote an overall health and wellness lifestyle so that we don't want you to go to the gym seven days a week at the same time, or use too much alcohol or smoke too much cigarette or eat so much junk. We want individuals to completely transform their lifestyle from unhealthy into healthy lifestyle. And then that will give you perhaps the ability to lengthen your longevity because your lifestyle determines how long you live and the quality of life that you live. That in a nutshell was the reason why the campaign was launched four years ago. Lifestyle, lifespan. Well, the problem with New York especially, I don't know about now, but years ago, like certain fast food chains, which we won't mention on this program, but if you have a fast food chain on every corner having a greasy burger, french fries and whatnot, you're going to have a problem. But most of these food chains now are having healthy options because they have no choice. So either you can get a salad, you can get something with fruit, or at this fast food chain. But is eating at a fast food restaurant a healthy option really healthy eating? Yes or no? Absolutely not. Actually, I call it fast food, fast death. The reason why... Fast food, fast food, fast death? Yes. Okay, go ahead. I'm sorry. Yeah. Yes. The reason why we are dealing with the pandemic before the pandemic, the pandemic of obesity, the pandemic of high blood pressure, the pandemic of diabetes, the pandemic of stroke, you name it, is because we are consuming junk food. Can you define junk food? Junk food is any food that is not natural. Processed food, unhealthy food, fast food, all these chips, these are all food that are not meant for our health and wellness. It is processed, it is designed to maximize profit, convenience, cheap, quick and everything. But what we're promoting is a whole plant-based diet. Because whole plant-based diet gives you every single nutrient, every vitamin, everything your body needs. Because our bodies are custom designed for what nature produce, not what manufacture process. There's two cuisines, two main cuisines. I'm going to actually three cuisines. I'm going to mention that are extremely healthy. The Mediterranean diet, because I have family in Israel. The Asian diet, in terms of lots of fish, vegetable dumplings, that kind of thing. There's hardly any fast food type of things in Japan unless you're going to go to a Japanese McDonald's. Or also the Korean diet, with a lot of soups and ramen and noodle soups and that kind of thing. Do you have any, are there any other countries that are following a good diet? Because obviously America really has a problem with feeding people right. If you are living or having food-sustainable issues and living in a poor area, you don't get good food, yes or no? No, well actually I would say it all depends. We live in the Bronx. Bronx happened to be home to the largest produce market in the Northeast. Yet we still call Bronx food desert. That means... Define food desert. Yeah exactly, healthy food desert. That means we are not doing things right. So what the campaign that we launch is doing is to making sure that we put priorities in order. Number one priority is health and wellness. Because let me tell you one thing. The best, most effective and the least expensive healthcare is healthy lifestyle. Bad diet, unhealthy lifestyle are not sustainable. It costs billions of dollars. It's taking our lives away. It deteriorates the quality of our lives. And at the end there is absolutely no benefit, zero benefit. Now number two, you mentioned these different diets including Mediterranean diet. Very healthy, very nice, but at the same time they're not equal to whole food plant based. What I'm advocating to the best of my ability is for people to be introduced to the whole food plant based. So explain that. That we believe can only be gotten from animals. Animals got their protein from the plant. So we're promoting plant based diet. Okay, now years ago, in my fact we can show a clip in a minute and you know which I'll roll to it and we'll put it in editing. There used to be a, well there was a movie called, and it was two parts, it was called Super Size Me. Where it followed a gentleman, this documentary, where the gentleman ate fast food for an entire week from a fast food restaurant. And he gained weight, he felt sluggish, that kind of thing. Before we show the clip, why is it that when people eat fast food, hamburgers, greasy food, they feel that sluggishness. But yet when you eat raw plant based things, like a salad or you know, you have energy. Larry, our body is just like a car. A car, you have a place where you put water. You have a place where you put oil. You have a place where you put other liquid. The problem we have here is our bodies are naturally designed to consume clean water and nature produced food. But unfortunately, because of the commercialization of everything, you want it fast, quick and cheap. Now the fast food industry has now taken over. Our bodies, so where we should put water and healthy food, we put processed food and alcohol and soda and sugary drink. So there's no differentiation. With that, we can never ever maintain premium or criminal health condition because we're putting wrong item in wrong places within our bodies. And another thing as far as the sugar content, certain countries like Israel, for example, their version, Israel has a very sugary version, more sugary than America because they use cane sugar. So the more pure sugar you use, the worse it becomes. They have a version. Israel and some other countries have a version of Hawaiian punch, very sugary. I mean, also the more sugary a drink is or the more caloric, the more calories something is, also kids or adults can have learning disabilities from that. ADD, ADHD, like a jumping bean, if you understand what I'm saying. So what's one or how can your agency or your campaign work with these fast food companies to make things more healthier? Is there a way? Yes. You see, the problem is the process. Let what you take whatever whether it is a plant or whether it is a tea or whether it is liquid is the process that destroys the purity of the product. We're talking about white tea, green tea, yellow tea, red tea, whatever. They all come from the same plant, but the process, the fermentation is what changes the flavor, the color and the benefit. Sometimes, you know, make it stronger or lighter, same thing with food. Now you have all these, you know, organizations and companies that are now, you know, trying to circumvent and come up with these products. Now, the goal is noble, but the problem will always be with the process. How much, you know, fermentation and define the fine fermentation, what is fermentation work that will destroy the quality of that particular product. For that, we said stick to the original. For example, you have teabags. If you go to China, you say teabags, a lot of the Chinese people will not touch teabags because they said the teabags itself will contain chemicals. We will drink tea directly from the tea leaf. And that is what we're promoting. We're promoting whole food diet to the best of our ability. No process. But a teabag, isn't it just tea in a bag? So teabag has been processed? No, the bag itself should not be part of what people should boil and drink. So that bag goes to the manufacturing processing in order to be a teabag. So, you know, the Chinese tea expert said you should drink tea directly from the leaf to your mouth. Do not have any, no matter how light it is. If you have a bag, then you destroy, you know, its purity. It's the same thing. It's the same thing, given an example. Oats, you know, not, okay, not the box oatmeal. I'm not talking about, like, the packages. I'm talking about, you know, raw oats, you know, without processing. You can still make cereal from that in its raw form. Example, another thing that people are eating now, hemp, the plant, okay? No, I'm not talking about CBDs or anything. I'm talking about, like, the hemp plant. So it, correct me, so it has to come directly from the plant itself without going to the process itself? Correct? You know, Larry, most plants, most plants are custom made for our bodies. Even when you talk about hemp, same thing you're talking about grapefruits. The same grapes that produce wine also produce grape juice. I come from Africa. You know, the palm tree, we create so much type of product out of palm tree, including wine, all these things. So it is always the process, the mechanism in which you can transform a product into something else. That is where the devil lies. And to avoid those pitfalls, we said stick to the original product to the best of your ability. Okay, so tell us more about the campaign with lifestyle, lifespan. And then go into, because I've seen some pictures that you've had of, like, raw plates, and then explain the reason behind really just eating raw food, you know, for a person's body. Go ahead. Absolutely. The campaign, unlike almost any other campaign in the Bronx, was designed to completely seal individuals from the pitfalls of certain aspects that can affect our lives. For example, we devised a seven pillar of the campaign, including finance. You see, we have financial literacy problem. A lot of people can even balance their checkbooks. We have profession. You have a lot of people who think that they must get this or get that in order to have a good job. And then family, you have a lot of people in the Bronx who do not have both father and mother at home. This is a single family household. And then you also have, let's say, spirituality. Almost everybody is part of a religion. But how much do they know the real, real value of the spiritual affiliation that they are part of? And then we're talking about relationships. And again, we're losing our children from junior high in terms of premedital sex, drug, you know, gang problems. So what we designed is a seven pillar, all, you know, a gamut of healthy lifestyle so that once a person finishes the seven months training, that person has the very basic components of a successful life. We're not saying eat this, don't eat that. We're saying we're going to overhaul everything about your life into a healthier lifestyle. And these are the seven pillars that will transform you from wherever you are into a better living condition. And that's what the whole campaign is about. Now, some people may want to eat raw food. Some people may not. Some people may want to exercise. Some people may just want to walk. We don't determine what you do and how you do it. As long as you do it within the seven pillars, we're fine with it. Now, there was a TV program called My 600 Pound Life where it's on Lifetime TV where they follow people that are 600 or more pounds. I don't know if you've seen clips of that and they go to a doctor and they're horrible. They're eating all this processed food and some of them have passed away from having a large frame. Being overweight is never a good thing. Now, you said that the Bronx has the largest produce market. When did that happen and why did it take so long for people to kind of wake up and want better eating? You know, I would say 90% of it is ignorance. You see, the problem we have here is that we are ignorant about large things that are beneficial to our health and wellness. The produce market that we have in the Bronx is a combination of what was there and the Fulton Fish Market that was moved from the financial district into the Bronx. Now it is the largest in the Northeast Bronx. Let's say my 600 pound program. We unfortunately commercialized every single thing about our life to our detriment. We glamorized heavy stuff, big and tall, all these things. So, and this is all to generate viewership to market this and that, but I promise you one thing, there is no overweight benefit. Being overweight, there is no benefit, whether you are playing football, consume too much calories to be stronger or whether you are a boxer, overweight is an enemy to our health. Because whatever we should not be overweight. I'm sorry to piggyback off that. Years ago, we were talking about like 17, 1800s, like the Mona Lisa or if they paint somebody that is overweight. Years ago, if you were considered overweight, you were considered rich, right? If you understand what I mean. So has people's perceptions changed? Yes or no? No, yes. Because being overweight is not good. No, no, no. Larry, I am an African. In some African cultures, women, no, both women and men, but beauty is attached to the size. Women will go through length to fatten themselves because the further the better. In some cultures, they have fat competition. Like if you go to South Sudan and Sudan, they have annual, you know, competition who get the biggest and they do every single thing to fatten themselves. As a matter of fact, a couple of years ago, somebody died from it. So what now for being too overweight? Yeah, of course, because yeah, I mean, but now science and technology give us more access to understanding the benefit of maintaining a right way. The benefit of maintaining, you know, right size within your frame. Now we're not saying big person, small person, everybody has a frame and structure, but what is not right is overweight. Meaning that whatever your frame is, maintain it, but do not subscribe to any ideology that overweight is good for you. But also, yeah, talking about that. Okay, so people with special needs need to have good diet, but you have diseases or disorders, as you say disorders, such as bulimia, anorexia and some others. I need to do more research on, but because, you know, where they perch themselves, like they want to throw up, but and then the modeling agent, the modeling industry, you know, fashion week and all of that, they got to be skinny, you got to be fat, you know, you can't be fat or, you know, or the media industry. You know, I can't be an anchor if I'm overweight or, you know, I don't look right. I'm not, I'm not beautiful. You know, that kind of thing. So psychologically it hurts people if they hear those things. So what is one way you can tell the, the special needs community about one's body and eating right, but at the same time, educating, you know, the right. You know, extremism is extremism. Extremism in overweight has almost the same effect as extremism in on the way. As you said, there are some professions, they saw over emphasize the tinniness to a point where that person is now on the way, and that person that can create a whole lot of health issues. So we are not saying you got to be tinn like needle. Everybody has a body frame, body structure, body type. Maintain it the way it was designed. Do not be overweight. Do not be on the way. Medical doctors will tell you what need to be done to maintain your primal health. It's called your BMI. Whatever. Just do what your doctors advise you to do. Now, in terms of the, you know, you know, the disability community, or as you call it different ability, you know, again, we have to follow the orders from the experts. Times is so advanced in our lives that scientists, the medical doctors are able to tell us what is best, best on the condition that, you know, we have whatever that condition is, the doctors will be able to customize, you know, remedy that will be suitable best on, you know, once condition. Well, I would like to thank you for joining me on this edition of Ableton on Air. For more information on Lifestyle, Lifespan, or any other program that Mr. Dramé runs, where can they reach you and how can they go about, you know, what websites should they look into? Yes, absolutely. My number is the best so far, which is 718-822-5555. And the email is LifestyleLifespan247 at gmail.com. Okay. LifestyleLifespan247 at gmail.com. The website is being built, which is LifestyleLifespan.org. Okay. So for more information on eating well and taking care of oneself, you can go to the email is LifestyleLifespan247 at gmail.com. And contact Mr. Dramé, 718-822-5555. That's 718-822-5555. Before we end, we would like to let's take a look at a clip from, or the trailer from Super Size Me, which was the movie about overeating. Let's take a look at this. Three, two, one. Well, again, we would like to say thank you to Shaqe Moussa Dramé from Muslim Media Corporation and LifestyleLifespan for joining us on this edition of Ableton On Air. Thank you very much for coming on the show. And again, I'm Lauren Seiler. See you next time on the next edition of Ableton On Air. I'm Lauren Seiler. See you next time. Major sponsors for Ableton On Air include Green Mountain Support Services, empowering people with disabilities to live home in the community. Washington County Mental Health, where hope and support come together. Media sponsors for Ableton On Air include Park Chester Times, Muslim Community Report, www, this is the Bronx.info, Associated Press Media Editors, New York Power Online Newspaper, U.S. Press Corps Domestic and International, Anchor FM, and Spotify. Partners for Ableton On Air include Yachad of New York and New England, where everyone belongs. The Orthodox Union, the Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired of Vermont, the Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Center Vermont Habitat for Humanity, and Montpelier Sustainable Coalition. Montpelier Medical Center of the Bronx, Rose of Kennedy Center of Bronx, New York. Albert Einstein College of Medicine of the Bronx. Ableton On Air has been seen in the following publications. Park Chester Times, www, this is the Bronx.com, New York Power Online Newspaper, Muslim Community Report, www.h.com, and the Montpelier Bridge. Ableton On Air is part of the following organizations. The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Boston, New England Chapter, and the Society of Professional Journalists.