A Virtuous Conversation with Queen Afua, Holistic Health Expert
(Below is an excerpt from an interview with Queen Afua. Join the V-Club at www.virtuetodaymag.com to view the entire interview along with the “rapid fire” questions.)
Virtue (V): Welcome, Queen! It is such an honor. I've been using and reading your books for years. They are my go-to books for so many different things.
Queen Afua (Q): Thank you. I'm so honored to be with you. Thank you so much.
V: What inspired you to get on this path of healing and self-care?
Q: What inspired me is actually the name of my first book, Heal Thyself. When I started on my quest, I did not realize I was going to be able to heal myself. I was very, very sick as a teenager; I had a number of issues. By the time I was 16 years old [allergies, asthma etc.] But I was seeking healing and I went on a healing retreat, and it saved my life. When I learned that plant-based medicine is the way to go for my well-being, I went all the way using: Herbs, food as medicine, juice therapy etc. I was able to heal. And from that point, I began to help others, friends and family, neighbors. You know in order to heal yourself, you have to live the life. I'm still living this life holistically in order to maintain the gift that the Most High has given us, which is wellness.
V: Yes, ma'am. And it definitely shows that it's a lifestyle for you. It's something that is reflected in you when people look at you, you’re absolutely beautiful!
Now, are you familiar with the book How To Eat To Live by Elijah Muhammad? If so, what's something that you've learned from it?
Q: I believe I must have been a teenager, that was my one of my first books, How to Eat to Live and How to Cook with Mother Nature by Dick Gregory [Editor’s Note: Full title is Dick Gregory’s Natural Diet for Folks Who Eat: Cookin’ with Mother Nature].
Those 2 books blended into me they and collapsed into how I'm healing and why I'm healing. And just the title alone lets you know that you can be healed through your healthy choices.
V: Yes…
Q: I remember the nation was growing…and had farms. We are farming from the soil, soil…to our plate. So that was all a part of the lifestyle.
I took it all in and took how to eat to live as a lifestyle. And then I saw the Nation; I saw the women and the men looking so clean and clear.. so upright. So, I knew that they tapped into a lifestyle that was totally all the way in. So, it had impacted my very life to this day.
V: Beautiful. Yes, ma'am, beautiful, beautiful, and that's something that I believe in also, the impact eating to live can have on a person. My father, who is in his 80’s, recently, changed his lifestyle. He came to live with us after my mom passed and changed his diet because of diabetes and other issues he was having. Within 3 months he was off of the insulin so, it bears witness to how to eat to live.
Now, what do you think are some of the biggest issues plaguing black women today?
Q: When the book Sacred Woman came out in 2000, 45% of black women had Fibroid tumors.
And now in 2023, 90% of black women have fibroid tumors. So, now fibroid tumors have been normalized. It's like, oh you have a fibroid, but see the thing about a fibroid, even if it’s removed by a surgical procedure, it's going to pretty much grow back in 2 or 3 years if you don't change your lifestyle.
So at least 40% of those women as they matured to 50, 60 years old, they're having a hysterectomy as a result of the fibroid tumor, which is covering their whole reproductive center. So, now it's recommended by their physician to go ahead and have a hysterectomy. And then they go through a hormonal imbalance and shock to their systems. This is what's really plaguing us as a norm. So, you don't have to look far to say how are you doing with your wellness in terms of your womb. And most women have this at some point of their life, they have a fibroid or on their way to a fibroid. But we could do something about it.
(To read more of this amazing interview and learn about the tips she shared, order your copy of this special issue at www.virtuetodaymag.com and Click on SHOP)
