Common Shares His Tips for Eating Healthier

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Welcome to our new monthly column, "Common Knowledge," where rapper Common shares his wisdom on mental health, food and nutrition, pop culture, and more. Read the first installment, below.

WHAT YOU EAT is who you are. What you eat affects your mind, your spirit, your emotions, and your physical well-being—even though as you’re eating, you are not necessarily thinking about if that food may put you in a certain mood. When we eat something we like, we smile, right? You see people being able to enjoy themselves and your home when you cook something that makes them feel good.

Thanksgiving dinner in 2007 was the first time I told my family I was vegetarian. It was the usual spread—turkey, ham, collard greens cooked with ham, dressing cooked in the turkey, candied yams, corn bread, and corn. I was only able to eat the candied yams, corn bread, and corn. My mother, grandmother, cousins, and aunt looked at me like, “What are you talking about?” When you sit down at the table, and everybody’s eating and feasting, there’s a feeling of joy and love there. That communal time of us eating and sharing the meal that was lovingly cooked was important. To not eat the food they made, my mother and family took offense to that—they felt I couldn’t break bread with them... literally and figuratively.

After the second or third Thanksgiving, my mother said, “This is who you are. I respect that. Let me cook something you like. I got you.” My mom’s friend cooked collard greens for me without the ham, which were a big hit at the table—even those who usually ate meat really enjoyed them, along with candied yams, corn bread, corn. My family and I felt like the communal energy and vibe were back.

My mom didn’t season the food the way she normally did; she was still figuring this out. Some people assume because I’m eating vegetarian, that means it needs to be bland. You still need to “freak the seasoning,” as my man Yusef used to say. My mother’s vegetarian cooking skills progressed. By the fourth Thanksgiving, the food tasted really good. My mom found a way to season the food without using meat or butter by using more spices, coconut and olive oils, agave, and maple syrup. She made collard greens that weren’t cooked with ham but had the same earthy flavor. The dressing wasn’t cooked in the turkey but was just as delicious. The candied yams that were sweetened with maple syrup instead of white sugar and weren’t cooked with butter but were still as sweet as ever, mixed vegetables with tofu and spices, and corn (my favorite) without butter—I remember the food was magnificent.

Paying attention to the foods you put in your body is like honoring your body, knowing you’re doing right by yourself. It gives you this power. When you take care of yourself, that affects your mental and spiritual being. Putting healthy foods in your body is like saying, Man, I love myself. I respect myself.

My food journey has taken different twists and turns. KRS-One’s song “My Philosophy” first inspired me to think about food and my physical and mental health. He was a hero of mine, saying, “No goat or ham or chicken or turkey or hamburger, cuz to me that’s suicide, self-murder.” Hip-hop guided a lot of us who weren’t introduced to the concept of health and wellness, especially from a diet perspective.

I started eating mostly vegetarian in my late 20s because it made me feel better—physically, mentally, and spiritually—and I went full vegan in my 30s. Then I started eating fish again around 2007, and I ate fish all the way up to 2020. Then I felt I had to go back to being vegan. I’m 51, and I’ve been vegan again for the past three years.

Now I drink turmeric lattes all day—just two teaspoons of ground turmeric and frothed oat milk. They’re like warm hugs, and turmeric is so good for healing. The green juices I drink with kale, apple juice, spinach are like my coffee; they give me energy. That’s something integrative-medicine specialist Tracey Rico taught me. I first connected with Dr. Tracey around 2005. I was getting sick and dealing with different things, and I already was into the holistic type of healing. There would be times I was dealing with sickness because I was traveling a lot, and Dr. Tracey suggested I replace processed foods with natural produce and would talk to me about where I was emotionally. That was different. I was always open to healing in other ways, but I hadn’t had a doctor start talking about my emotional state as part of the process.

While I was in Baltimore in 2011 filming Luv, I asked a friend if she knew a vegan chef in the D. C. area who could prepare that kind of food. She connected me with Lauren Von Der Pool, known as the Queen of Green, who is a bright spirit, a chef, and an artist. When I first met Lauren, I had no idea how much I would learn from her. If you eat more plants, Lauren told me, you’re going to be able to think more clearly. The foods that I’ve chosen to put in my body have afforded me greater clarity and so many other benefits. I had been off beef and pork awhile, but when I stopped consuming certain things like chicken, milk, butter, and pizza (which was hard, being from Chicago), I could literally hear on my records how I sounded clearer and how mucus filled my vocals had been. When you can hear the difference, when you feel the difference, that’s when it stays with you. That’s been my path: not just doing something because someone else says that it’s right but learning from experience, making a change, and feeling the impact. The better I ate, the more creative I became.

Am I saying that you should be a vegan? No. What I’m saying is that you have to do what’s right for you, and only you know what that is. What people pursue doesn’t need to be exactly what I pursue. For me, it was being vegan. For you, it might be something else. All I can do is tell you what I’ve done, share the information I’ve learned from my teachers, be open about the connections and changes I’ve made in my life. It’s up to you to let the hope lead you. The only one who can make the choice for you is you.

You can change your life by eating healthier and better, but you don’t have to go cold turkey and you don’t have to go to extremes. It’s okay for you to take it slow as you find what works for you. Try to prepare your food in a different style; see how it feels. Order more vegetables at the restaurant. I like Chinese food, like broccoli with tofu, eggplant, carrots, mushrooms, a side of rice, maybe some dumplings. Ethiopian food always has plenty of vegetables. Even at a pizza place, I can get a pizza with tomato sauce and vegetables. I always suggest as first steps to add more green vegetables to your meals and drink more water. Even those steps can have an impact. That doesn’t mean you have to commit, I’m not going to eat any more steaks. Just adding more vegetables can really have a positive outcome. Food has enabled me to be my best self. Food is essential to who you are. What you eat is who you are. Consider making just one change as a start, and I promise it will lead to another and another. And who knows, you might even give vegan a try! #make1change

Common’s Go-To Smoothie

Blend ½ cup kale or spirulina, 1 banana, ½ cup blueberries, ½ cup your milk of choice, and 2 or 3 ice cubes. Add more milk or ice to achieve your desired consistency. Makes 1 serving.

This article originally appears in the March/April issue of Men's Health.

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