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"Soul Food" was a vivid depiction of what many of us recall as Sunday after church at Big Mama's house. The movie scenes portrayed the many hands and cooking styles and "cooking sensuality" that go into preparing that special Sunday dinner that either started off or ended everyone's week. No other day of the week was like it. Traditionally, the height of a week in African-American communities was the post-church gatherings around someone's dinner table. Other family events that are centered on soul food cooking are family reunions, holidays such as Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas, as well as the superstition surrounding the importance of having hog maw and collard greens on New Year's Eve. Hog maw was for good luck and greens for prosperity in the coming year. Believe it or not, even the smaller "snack food" buffets that are associated with Happy Hour in many African-American cafes and nightclubs (formerly "juke joints") can be traced back to family gatherings that featured the dinner table itself as the centerpiece of attention.

So is all soul food unhealthy or generally on the same level as "junk" food? Not necessarily. "Soul food" in and of itself is not particularly unhealthy.

What is mostly unhealthy about it is the methods of preparation and cooking, including the potential for "overcooking" which is known for removing needed nutrients during processing. Food additives, such as high cholesterol cooking oils and lard, butter, salt, breadings, coatings and "thickening" made from flour and corn meal and sometimes cornstarch, various cheeses, fatty and salted meats used for seasonings, and large amounts of sugar and whole eggs with yolk are the root cause of what is unhealthy about soul food.

Improving Dietary Health without Getting Rid of Soul Food Altogether

Portion control by using smaller plates or limiting consumption to no more than once a week. (Sunday dinner anybody?) Substitute healthier oils, such as olive or pure corn oil with the unsaturated fats; and use plain yogurt or cottage cheese in place of sour cream. Use egg whites instead of whole eggs and cut way down on the use of salt (use salt substitutes, sea salt or salt-free seasonings, like Mrs. Dash). Also, you can use herb spices to your heart's health and content, rather than meat fats for seasoning vegetables.

There are actually healthy foods in the soul food diet, like collard greens, cabbage and rutabagas and other vegetables (pole beans and black eyed peas)all cooked without meat fats.

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