ited ▁to ▁the ▁phys ically ▁demand ing ▁lives ▁of ▁labor ers , ▁farm hand s ▁and ▁rural ▁l ifest yles ▁generally , ▁it ▁is ▁now ▁a ▁contrib uting ▁factor ▁to ▁ob es ity , ▁heart ▁disease , ▁and ▁di ab etes ▁in ▁a ▁population ▁that ▁has ▁become ▁increasing ly ▁more ▁urban ▁and ▁sed ent ary . ▁As ▁a ▁result , ▁more ▁health - cons cious ▁African ▁Americans ▁are ▁using ▁alternative ▁methods ▁of ▁prepar ation , ▁es ch ew ing ▁trans ▁f ats ▁in ▁favor ▁of ▁natural ▁veget able ▁o ils ▁and ▁subst itut ing ▁sm oked ▁tur key ▁for ▁fat back ▁and ▁other , ▁c ured ▁p ork ▁products ; ▁limit ing ▁the ▁amount ▁of ▁ref ined ▁sugar ▁in ▁dess ert s ; ▁and ▁emphas izing ▁the ▁consumption ▁of ▁more ▁f ruits ▁and ▁veget ables ▁than ▁animal ▁protein . ▁There ▁is ▁some ▁resistance ▁to ▁such ▁changes , ▁however , ▁as ▁they ▁involve ▁devi ating ▁from ▁long ▁cul inary ▁tradition . ▁ ▁Other ▁soul ▁food s ▁African ▁Americans ▁cook ▁is ▁ch icken ▁and ▁w aff les ▁and ▁dess ert s ▁like ▁ban ana ▁p ud ding , ▁pe ach ▁c obb ler , ▁red ▁vel vet ▁c ake ▁and ▁sweet ▁pot ato ▁pie . ▁K ool - A id ▁is ▁considered ▁a ▁soul ▁food ▁be verage . ▁ ▁The ▁roots ▁of ▁" S oul ▁food " ▁are ▁spread ▁up ▁and ▁down ▁the ▁West ▁Coast ▁of ▁Africa ▁( S en eg al , ▁Guinea , ▁S ierre ▁Le one , ▁Liber ia , ▁I v