Chef Ahki's 'Electric Kitchen' Is Your Answer To A Cleaner Diet
We all know how difficult it is to adopt and maintain a clean diet. In a world of processed foods and fast-food chains, trying to eat healthy to support our bodies seems to be the hardest thing to do. Most of us don't even know how to properly transition into a clean diet either. We give up before changes in our skin, hair, or body begin to show. Let's be real, not everyone enjoys food shopping or learning how to cook a healthy, nutritious meal. But if we're taught better, we tend to do better. And with the right amount of support, we're able to commit to our health the way we would like.
Enter Chef Ahki Taylor and her 10-week transformational program, theElectric Kitchen. If you haven't heard of "electric foods" before, you're not alone. Electric foods are natural, indigenous to the earth, and unmodified by man. These foods also are non-acidic and have an alkaline effect on the body. In her program, Chef Ahki helps people transition from the sick "Standard American Diet (SAD)," as she calls it, to a healthy and electric foods lifestyle. She also takes out the guesswork and makes cooking healthy meals fun by teaching others what electric foods are, where to locate electric foods, how to prepare electric foods, and how to adapt an electric foods mindset.
And mindset is everything in any transition.
Chef Ahki is known as the "Wellness Guru to the Stars." She has worked as a celebrity chef, motivational speaker, and has authored five holistic lifestyle books while leading her own virtual culinary academy called "The Electric Kitchen."
This wellness revolutionary-turned-influencer and food vlogger has inspired millions with her no-nonsense approach to Black women's health.
She shares with xoNecole her personal journey to becoming a vegan chef, the benefits of an alkaline diet, and her upcoming transformational program the Electric Kitchen.
Tell us about your personal journey to becoming a vegan chef and what made you adopt an alkaline food-based diet.
Chef Ahki: At 17 years old, I met a gorgeous guy who was a conscious eater. He inspired me to study dietary choices in global religion. It was so enlightening I thought I'd give it a try. Over the years I've noticed how friends, family, and loved ones were falling ill from issues I knew was preventable with a simple diet change. This motivated me to get my bachelor's in naturopathic science and holistic theology, and I took an internship as a colon therapist.
As a nutritional counselor, I learned a distinct difference between my "vegan junk food" clients and my "alkaline foods" clients. This inspired me to connect with Dr. Sebi and to release The Electric Book, a Modern Guide to Non-Hybrid & Wild Foods.
What are some of the benefits of an alkaline diet?
The body becomes more resistant to all diseases because you avoid inflammation, mucus, toxicity, and parasites. You enjoy youthful, glowing skin because the blood, kidneys, and liver are clean and hydrated. You maintain a comfortable weight with plenty of energy and a balanced sex drive.
How do electric foods help heal the body of common medical conditions?
The Electric Diet requires you to use a variety of whole foods and herbs. This can address everything from heart disease and diabetes to reproductive and autoimmune disease as it is assisting in the necessary detoxification process with each bite. All disease begins with toxins.
What are some examples of electric foods?
Grains such as quinoa and spelt flour. I eat a lot of hemp seeds and chickpeas. I also eat only seeded fruits including watermelons and grapes.
Can you share a few key concepts that participants can expect to learn in the program?
One example is how to understand ethnogenesis. In my class, we learn how Black people process sunlight, food, air, and nutrition as well as toxins much differently than others. We also debunk a lot of health food myths, like nutritional yeast and garlic being healthy foods.
Tell us a success story from one of your past program participants.
I have helped women with infertility [to] conceive. One woman lost 40 pounds! Others have simply never cooked a vegan meal in their lives and now it's the norm.
What has been the most rewarding experience for you since launching the Electric Kitchen program?
Honestly, it's the connection and inspiration for me. I love seeing the students in the kitchen trying something new and loving it!
When does the Electric Kitchen program officially start?
October 2021.
Featured image via Getty Images
'Love Island USA' Star JaNa Craig On The Reality Of Black Women On Dating Shows
Love Island USA just wrapped up its sixth season, and it has been the talk of the town. According to Nielsen, it's the No. 1 show on streaming, proving it's just as entertaining as the UK version. One of the reasons this season has been successful is due to the authentic relationships formed between the islanders in the villa.
You have the sisterhood between Serena Page, JaNa Craig, and Leah Kateb, aka PPG, and the real relationship moments between couples like Serena Page and Kordell Beckham, who were named the winners of this season. The other finalists include Leah Kateb and Miguel Harichi, Nicole Jacky and Kendall Washington, and JaNa Craig and Kenny Rodriguez.
While JaNa made it to the finale with her boo Kenny, her journey in the villa was far from perfect. Viewers saw the Las Vegas native get her heart stomped on a few times after many of her connections didn't work out.
At one point, it even looked like she was getting kicked off the island. While she had a lot of support from people watching the show, it was clear that she was in a position that many Black women on reality dating shows find themselves in: not being desired.
It has been an ongoing conversation among Black women watching reality dating shows as we see time and time again that non-Black women or racially ambiguous-looking women are often chosen over Black women, especially dark-skinned women. In a discussion with Shadow and Act, JaNa opened up about the support she received from viewers.
@cineaxries i love them 🤧 #janacraig #janaandkenny #loveislandusa #foryou #peacock #loveisland #janaloveisland #xybca #kennyloveisland #janaedit #loveislandedit #janaedits #loveislandusaedit #viral #loveislandusaseason6 #foryoupage #peacocktv
"You know what’s so crazy? I’m so grateful, because when I got my phone, the way they’re making us The Princess and The Frog…I felt honored. I will be that beautiful chocolate queen if I need to be. And the comments like 'beautiful chocolate girl,' I’m like, all Black women are beautiful. There’s the whole light skin versus dark skin, which breaks my heart. I just really don’t understand that, but I will take pride and represent us well," she said.
She also candidly discussed her experience as a dark-skinned Black woman on the show. JaNa and Serena had been in the villa since the first episode, and they were the only dark-skinned Black women there. As new men aka bombshells came into the villa, they found themselves not being wanted by many of them.
"Me and Serena literally had a heart-to-heart before Kenny came in and she’s like, I just don’t think it’s fair that the Black girls don’t get enough fair chance.' Every islander that came in, we were not their top pick. And we just [thought], maybe because we’re Black girls, and the dark-skinned Black girls. It sucked," she said.
"I’m like, 'Serena, we know what we bring to the table. We’re great personalities. A guy’s going to come in for us.' That’s when we manifested what we wanted, and that’s when I manifested Kenny."
@ashleyvera__ We love to see it 🥰 #loveislandusa #loveisland #loveisland2024 #janaandkenny #loveislandseason6 #peacock #realitytv #fypage
After many failed connections, Kenny came in and immediately turned JaNa's experience around. America watched the model get the care and attention that she deserved.
"I’m not going to hold you. When I was in the bottom for a quick second, I’m like, ‘There’s no way America doesn’t [ride for us]. I know Black America had to ride for me, but maybe because I’m a dark-skinned … hmm … maybe … you feel me? And you saw the Casa Amor lineup. Beautiful, beautiful light-skinned [women]," she said.
"We looked at each other like, 'Damn, Love Island did their big one with this. And every single Casa Amor girl was like, 'You girls are gorgeous, you guys are stunning.' They expressed love. You guys are beautiful and it felt good."
Although she and Kenny came in third place, JaNa is happy that she got her man in the end. "I think the thing I’m most grateful about is the fact that this is a beautiful love story like you guys complement each other and there’s no hate toward the skin color. It’s all love and support. I love that more than anything," she said.
"That’s why I was like, 'I won,' even though I didn’t win. And the fact that Serena won, we were like, 'Yeah, run that.' Either way, we won. And I love the support from all communities."
Let’s make things inbox official! Sign up for the xoNecole newsletter for love, wellness, career, and exclusive content delivered straight to your inbox.
According to Mrs. Savannah James, she would like to be addressed as “wife” — other monikers simply won’t do.
In a recent episode of the Everybody’s Crazy podcast, James and co-host April McDaniel received a call from a listener caught in a love triangle between a man she was dating while entertaining a “sneaky link.”
The hosts went on to advise the call-in guest to pursue singleness as she sorts out her needs, which led to a discussion what the meanings of "sneaky link" and a "side chick," a topic their producer eventually clarified for them.
“A sneaky link is somebody that you know you sneaking with,” their producer decoded. “But your side chick the majority of the time your main girl knows about the side chick.”
Agasted by the definition, McDaniel went on to share her stance on ambiguous relationship statuses. “I don't even want to be the main chick,” she stated.
“I need to be the wife these days. I don't want to be the ‘wifey.’ I don't want to be nothing. I want to be the wife.”
James went on to express her strong dislike for the term "wifey," sharing that she didn’t want to be called a wife until she officially made one by her now husband, NBA star, LeBron James. “When I tell you I hate, loathe ‘wifey’ with my whole entire soul,” said James. “I'm sorry, don't call me your wife and I'm not.”
“I had to politely tell my husband back in the day,” she says. “He used to introduce me, ‘This is my wife.’ I had to pull him to the side like, ‘Excuse me, sir, don't introduce me as that, please. I am not your wife, and I deserve that title when the time is right.’”
She continued, “I don't want you to start to think that it's okay for you to say this and then, you know, means don’t have to go the next step.”
As we age and new terms become popularized, it’s common to not fully know what titles and terms work best for the relationship and dynamic one might navigate. In McDaniel’s case, finding the right titles to introduce the new men who come into her life can be tricky.
“But that has been interesting, recently, when introducing certain individuals, at my age,” she explains. “‘Boyfriend’ sounds crazy, ‘my man’… mhmm… ‘my partner’ sounds like I’m a lesbian.” Conquous to what the best intro would be at the “big, grown stage” James offered “tiers.”
“I feel like it's tiers,” James said. “You have to start at the bottom and then come up.”
“One of these days we have to go live so we can ask people live like, what is the titles? Because I'm very intrigued by knowing what are the titles people go by and what feels ‘premium.’ Because I want the premium title,” McDaniel concluded.
While every relationship is different, placing the proper titles on who you're dating and where you see it going is key to formulating a bond that’s both secure and amicable. After all, it’s not what they call you, it’s what you answer to.
Let’s make things inbox official! Sign up for the xoNecole newsletter for love, wellness, career, and exclusive content delivered straight to your inbox.
Featured image by Araya Doheny/Getty Images for Baby2Baby