Healing Through Whole Foods: A Guide To More Life, 1 On 1 With Kei To Health

What does it mean to exist in our Highest Form? To become our Highest Self? We are yet to find out, but what we do know is that most of us are searching for something More. Something more fulfilling. Something more electricfying. Something more comforting. Simply, we are all searching for More Life. But what better place to look for More Life than the Absolute Life-giving Force, Nature herself. Thankfully, Keiera Bradley, better known as Kei To Health, is tapping into Nature’s treasures and serving as our guide to More Life through her Plant-Based recipes and Health Education efforts. Recently, we sat down with the self-taught Afro-Vegan Chef to gain more knowledge on the Power of Whole Foods.

SORONKO: Because we are so detached from the workings of our body, we don’t really know how our eating habits can lead to living a more fulfilling life. Do you feel like when you went this route you are a happier , more lively human being?

KEI TO HEALTH: Yea, one of the things that I noticed is just my sleep. I don’t think we realize how important sleep is. One of the main things Dr. Sebi talks about is when you get healthier you’ll realize you need less sleep to fill energized. The reason why we sleep the American Standard way, based on the food pyramid that they have, is because your body does need 8 hours to digest all of that food. Your body cant really digest food to the fullest when you’re not in your deepest level of sleep. A lot of us are sleeping, but we’re not really sleeping. Thats why you wake up feeling restless, thats why you wake up feeling like dam did I even get sleep, thats why you wake up in the middle of the night. Because you are not really going to sleep. I do not eat after 6, so that allows my body to get real sleep; which means I remember my dreams more often and I really can wake up the next day at 6am and be like woo I’m really rested. That’s one thing I noticed is that my sleep got better which made my mental focus and clarity way more better.

SORONKO: Have you always been on this tip? 

KEI TO HEALTH: Have I always been healthy? No. I didn’t stop eating meat until I was in the 10th grade. Even then, I think common misconception is just because you don’t eat meat you’re healthy. I know plenty of vegans who are unhealthy. Just because you don’t eat meat don’t mean you dont eat a lot of sugar, don’t mean you don’t eat a lot of cheese, don’t mean you don’t eat a lot of processed food. Sugar really is the #1 Killer. So when talking about not eating meat & cheese thats cool, but you really got to also make sure you’re not replacing those foods with sugar. Thats one of the main things I see , people go Vegan and they just start eating a bunch of sugar or processed food.

Plants, greens, herbs - Whole Foods - those are the things that are good for you.

SORONKO: Why should we beware of sugar, dairy, and meat?

KEI TO HEALTH: It’s just not natural to our genetic makeup. To get really really deep into it , we really have to get into some books. I really suggest everybody to read Afrikan Holistic Health by Dr Llaila Afrika. That book right there is an A through Z of different diseases and the cures for them. He breaks down everything. From when your supposed to be eating and why. Another one is Alkaline Herbal Medicine. That’s a really good book too. Its on Amazon and Thrift Books. 

Sugar is a killer because when sugar gets into your body it basically can create mutation of the cells. So it throws off all your healthy cells and weakens your immune system. So people that get colds often , people that have a lot of mucus all the time in their body they probably eat a lot of sugar. Mucus is the root of all disease. So Dr. Sebi says when the body is free of mucus then you don’t have disease. I don’t have any logical fears of catching corona virus because I don’t have an environment to where a virus is going to come in and want to stay. I don’t have anything for that virus to feed off of. People that eat meat, people that eat dairy, people that eat a lot sugar; thats a perfect environment to host a virus. The virus is going to be happy as hell like omg I can stay here for a minute. Same with the flu, its just a virus. So what you’re doing when you exercise better health and eating alkaline foods is you’re creating an environment that’s able to fight off disease.

SORONKO: What do you think about when people say “I’m here for a good time & not a long time” in relation to diet?

KEI TO HEALTH: Why be here for a “good time” when you won’t even be able to use your body to its fullest capacity. I want to be Living, not just alive. Its hella people that are alive. We live in zombie land. Like people are here but they not here. So why do I want to just be another zombie. I want to get the full capabilities out of my life.

SORONKO: A lot of foods we eat are embedded in our Kulture even though it may not be beneficial to our health. How do you kick a habit which feels like a generational tradition?

KEI TO HEALTH: I always say I’m not here to make anybody go vegan , I just want you to add balance to your life. So say your family is really on that, thats fine. Why can’t you eat that 3 days out the week and the rest of the week your plant based. People think that its either or.  Why you cant eat meat and then focus on plants and grains and vegetables the rest of the days of the week. Where is the balance? The self-agency? The self-accountability? Its too easy to be like, well thats just how I am or thats what’s being made in my house. You can introduce them to something else. The first meal I made for my family was 3 bean tacos. I had black beans, pinto beans, chick peas in there, some peppers. And you can get all those beans at the 99 cent store.

SORONKO: See thats getting creative. Can you give us some game on how to shop affordably healthy? 

KEI TO HEALTH: Follow me on Instagram (@keitohealth_). I sell recipes. I make recipes on my highlights. On my Instagram I have so many quick things that I’ve done like while I was in college. I’m always just getting on live, cooking sometimes. Cookbook coming soon, 2021. I’m always dropping gems for free. Yesterday I was on live, I made curry. I bought everything from the 99 cent store. All I needed was some chick peas, some peppers, some mushrooms; I already had the coconut cream, the curry seasoning and then boom we had some curry last night. The biggest investment is going to be your time. It’s not your money , its your time.

Another thing, you not gone really be grateful for the healthy food until you do a cleanse. 

SORONKO: What type of cleanse?

KEI TO HEALTH: Colon cleanse or a parasite cleanse. The first time I did a parasite cleanse I looked in the toilet and I was like “ugggghh”.  I was already healthy, so I’m like oh my gosh. Every single one of yall got parasites. Just because when you eat meat, you don’t see nothing, don’t mean its not in there. I was eating raw fish, I loved sushi. I really wasn’t thinking there is probably some parasites in here. They don’t owe you anything when you eat out. I don’t know why we go out to eat and think these people care about us. If they see something in a butcher shop , if they see that an animal has cancer they’ll cut out the cancer and still put it up for sale. So when you eat meat you have to understand you’re taking a risk. Thats how you really got to start thinking. So parasites, you have them. Colons need to be cleaned because we been eating everyday since we were born and never cleaned our colons out. So thats affecting our skin, our breath, our sleep, our mood, our energy, our ability to think straight, make the right decisions, even sexual energy, sexual feelings; all those things are disrupted by the American diet. 

Colon cleanse is literally what it sounds like. We have our colon, thats where our food goes after we eat. Colon AKA also your gut, is what sends signals to your brain and tells you how you feel that day. So if your colon or gut has toxins in it, most likely you’re not in your happiest mental state. A lot of the times the anxiety and depression that we’re feeling is a result of our diet. So once you clean your colon out and you get your body clear and you get rid of those cravings you can then start to think clearly around why was I feeling those emotions and what can I do to make it better. Parasites cleansing is just what it sounds like. Just getting parasites out of your body. That one is krazy. Its very intense, its a very bitter herb that you have to take everyday. You seep it in water and then you pour it everyday and you take it 3 times a day. You can still eat while you’re on both of these but really its only fruit. They have a list of fruits you can or can not eat because some of them are just not really good for a cleanse. So like mango is not really recommended to eat on a colon cleanse. But like other fruits are. The idea is that you’re eating the fruits to help your bowel movements. So while drinking the herbs , your going to the bathroom. Its not a laxative so you can still move around and do yo thang. But when you go to the bathroom just know you’re really going to the bathroom.

SORONKO: Because you’re intensely cleaning out your system. 

KEI TO HEALTH: And it feels f*cking great

SORONKO: Yea you dropping dimes right now! Kei to Health foreal! How can we get to you? When will you be in our area? What locations are you normally in?

KEI TO HEALTH: I’m always servicing the LA and Inland Empire area. So on Sundays I’m in Lemeirt Park. Theres no specific place that I set up, it just depends. You just got to walk through and you’ll see my banner. I’m always out there. I was just in the Bay and I’ll be in the Bay again soon. I try to announce everything on instagram which is @keitohealth. I also do private cooking lessons and catering. Website will be up real soon as well.

SORONKO: If somebody is thinking about diving into this healthy eating space but doesn’t want to fully give up meat or dairy and would rather take little baby steps to get started, what kind of practices would you recommend?

KEI TO HEALTH: As you start to transition, you definitely first have to do a cleanse. You have to because the cravings will be real. The reasons why you’ll have the cravings is because that food is still in your system. So once you cleanse it’ll be much easier to start on a good foot. Something I’d recommend doing is Meatless Monday, Meatless Wednesday, Meatless Fridays. All the other days eat yo meat. But I would just recommend pin pointing two days out the week where its like okay I’m meatless today, I’m dairy free today, I’m plant based today. It’s just balance. I always tell people if you’re going to put death into your body , you definitely got to follow it up with some Life. You are a living thing. You can’t just expect to just be running on full off of dead things. Also, get you an accountability buddy. Somebody you know that’ll do it with you or hold you accountable. I tell my followers all the time if you about to go vegan just hit me up and let me know because ima be on yo ass.