 African-Americans have a higher burden of cardiovascular disease and diabetes than other American ethnic groups, but recent evidence indicates that eating a plant-based diet may help eliminate such health disparities, as I explored previously. African-Americans as a group tend to have the highest reported meat consumption and the lowest vegetable consumption, and part of this is access, but this article detailing the experience of a Morehouse lifestyle medical clinic noted that there also appears to be an issue with aspects of the African-American food culture. Enter the regards study, the reasons for geographic and racial differences in stroke study. The study found that regardless of where African-Americans live in the United States, they are much more likely to consume what the researchers called a southern diet, which is a dietary pattern characterized by added fats, fried foods, eggs, organ meats, processed meats, and sugar-sweetened beverages. They found that this type of dietary pattern mediates the majority of the racial disparity. Adherence to the southern dietary pattern increased stroke risk by 39% in Black Americans. In contrast, the greatest benefit was seen among participants who followed a more plant-based dietary pattern, which converted 29% lower stroke risk. Same thing with heart failure. Eating more plant-based was associated with a 41% lower risk of heart failure, while the southern dietary pattern was associated with a 72% higher risk, and this is after controlling for things like education and income. Death from kidney disease. Same thing, more plant-based linked to lower risk of mortality, whereas eating closer to the southern diet associated with a greater risk of kidney disease, mortality. Those eating more southern-style diets likewise had a 56% higher hazard of acute heart disease. This finding was particularly interesting. Dietary patterns and the risk of sepsis. Sepsis is the syndrome of body-wide inflammation triggered by infection, and is a major public health problem. That's how an infection can kill you. Now, we know diet plays a vital role in immune health, but its association with sepsis was unclear. But a southern dietary pattern of eating was associated with a higher risk of sepsis as well, particularly among block participants. What about cognitive function? Once again, greater consumption of the southern dietary pattern was associated with worse outcomes, lower scores on the assessments of each of the cognitive domains like learning and memory, whereas greater consumption of the plant-based pattern was associated with higher scores. Here's the data on learning. The more plant-based people ate, the better they were at a learning task. Meanwhile, the more southern-style people ate, the worse they were at learning. Same thing with memory. Better, the more plant-based, worse, the more southern-style. Is it therefore possible that the increased prevalence of Alzheimer's in African-Americans could be partially reduced via dietary modification? Easy for a privileged me to tell people to eat healthier, but isn't it expensive to eat plant-based? Have you seen the price of beans? There's this common misconception that plant-based diets are more costly than animal-based ones, so proper education will be needed. A vegetarian diet could result in approximately $750 per year in savings. So healthier and cheaper, what would you do with an extra $750 in your pocket? Not to mention all the health care cost savings. I mean, a plant-based dinner consisting of red beans, brown rice, collard greens, sweet potato, and cornbread could feed a family of four for under $12 or three bucks per person. Check it out. Some of the healthiest foods on the planet are some of the cheapest foods. Such a meal would not only be cost-effective, but nutritious, providing a mountain of nutrition, plus a host of antioxidants to protect against various diseases like heart disease and cancer. Here's the save $750 a year eating more plant-based study. Why? Because you're cutting out meat-poultry seafood, and when one considers total grocery costs, animal products can be the most expensive components costing more than double the cost of a serving of vegetables, or legumes like beans, pet peas, chickpeas, and lentils.