Vitamin D
Much has been said about the effects of the western hemisphere on black America. Before the
great migration that brought former slaves and their descendants from the south to factories in
the north many had figured that black people wouldn’t be able to survive the northern winters.
Of course that was proven to be a myth but there are actual differences in the way black people
interact with their environment. Vitamin D is likely the single most vital nutrient that most blacks
are deficient in. Numerous studies have revealed that Vitamin D is important to immune system health, cognitive ability, calcium absorption and cardiovascular health. This vitamin is mostly derived from
sunlight, making it more difficult for darker skinned people to receive. Therefore African
Americans living in parts of the world that don’t have adequate sunlight all year round tend to
lack in this vitamin. When we include the fact most blacks living in the west don’t make staying
in sunlight a priority we have a recipe for Vitamin D deficiency that can effect both health and
behavior.
Vitamin D deficiency can cause reduced cognitive ability, osteoporosis, osteomlacia (rickets),
and is also associated with some cancers. Low levels of vitamin D has also been associated with
Multiple Sclerosis (MS). It has been discovered that occurrences of MS is much less prevalent in
populations with high consumption of vitamin D- rich fatty fish.
The diet and lifestyle of the ancestors of black America differs dramatically from what we have 
become used to. For starters, we did not stay pent up in our houses, watching television.
We were an agricultural people that spent hours in farming, shepherding, fishing and hunting.
Secondly, our diets were rich in fruits, grains and vegetables. It can be said that African Americans are suffering from a cultural devolution that among other things is adversely affecting
our health.
The importance that Vitamin D plays in cognitive ability and the fact that a large number of black
children are deficient in this vitamin can easily spur the debate on whether the poor diet in many
black communities is having adverse effects on academic achievement. As an eastern people, it is
becoming more evident that the western diet is not suitable for us to sustain a healthy lifestyle.