In this age of fitness trends and fad diets, it might be surprising to find out that staying healthy might be as simple as staying true to your roots. Luz Calvo and Catriona Rueda Esquibel, the authors of "Decolonize Your Diet: Plant-Based Mexican-American Recipes for Health and Living", reveal that incorporating traditional, Meso-American elements in the diet can make a big impact in overall health.

In an interview with NBC News, the partners and co-authors said that they initially began their research after Calvo was diagnosed with breast cancer ten years ago. The first findings were that U.S.-born Latinas have a 50 percent higher risk of breast cancer than foreign-born Latinas. In fact, the longer they live in the United States, the more likely they are to develop the disease. Eventually, Calvo and Esquibel realized a key ingredient is diet.

"We started thinking about food and comparing the way immigrants eat versus the way U.S.-born Latinas eat and researching foods that we remembered our grandparents talking about that we no longer ate like quelites, verdolagas and nopales" Calvo explained. "We found out there were really healthy and traditional plants that have strong anti-cancer properties."

Esquibel added that beans are a significant ingredient in the food of working-class immigrant families that gets phased out as the people become more financially successful. She pointed out, "Because beans are very high in fiber and minerals and stabilize blood sugar, taking this important component of the diet out makes for a big change in health outcomes."

The pair stressed that "decolonizing" the diet is not just changing what and how the people eat but also being able to identify their roots and recognizing the knowledge that has been part of the ancestry for generations.

Rethinking the relationship and reputation of Mexican food is an important step in the diet. Esquibel said, "The original foods were inherently healthy and delicious but they've been stretched and changed for no reason. There's a way in which particular immigrants have been shamed for their foods and told it wasn't healthy."

It's vital to find ways of improving the diet of Latina families, especially these days when even the youth are in danger of health problems. According to a recent report from Philly, a study from Pennsylvania State University recently revealed, via Science Direct, that boys from Mexican immigrant families have among the highest obesity rates of children in the country. The study also suggested a possible reason, specifically the affinity for fast food.