A book review of New York City Mayor Eric Adams "Healthy at Last"

As part of his100+ Steps Forward plan for New York City, Mayor Eric Adams is on a mission to tackle one of the most stubborn health problems in the country: chronic disease in the African American community.  African Americans are heavier and sicker than any other group in the U.S., with nearly half of all Black adults suffering from some form of cardiovascular disease. After Adams woke up with severe vision loss one day in 2016,he learned that he was one of the nearly 5million Black people living with diabetes and, according to his doctor, he would have it for the rest of his life.

A police officer for over two decades, A connoisseur of the fast-food dollar menu.Like so many Americans with stressful jobs, the last thing he wanted to think about was eating healthfully .Fast food was easy, cheap, and comfortable.His diet followed him from the squad car to the state senate, and then to Brooklyn Borough Hall,where it finally caught up with him.

But Adams was not ready to become a statistic.There was a better option besides medication and shots of insulin:food. Within three months of adopting a plant-based diet,he lost35 pounds, lowered his cholesterol by30 points,restored his vision, and reversed his diabetes.Now he is on a mission to revolutionize the health of not just the borough of Brooklyn, but of African Americans across the country.

Armed with the hard science and life stories of those who have transformed their bodies by changing their diet,Adams shares the key steps for a healthy active life.He shows us how to cut down on salt, get more fiber, and substitute beef, chicken, pork, and dairy with delicious plant-based alternatives.He explores the origins of soul food as deeply important to the Black community, but also one rooted in the horrors of slavery-and how it can be reimagined with healthy alternatives.