Understand what you are feeling. Find support that respects who you are. Take the next step at your own pace.
Start with what has changed.
Mental-health concerns may show up as irritability, poor sleep, loss of interest, worry, or increased substance use. These signs deserve attention; they do not establish a diagnosis.
Talk with a primary-care clinician or qualified mental-health professional when changes persist or affect daily life.
You can ask a clinician about experience working with Black men, racism-related stress, cultural identity, faith, family, or sexuality—whatever matters to you. Ask about fees, privacy, and treatment choices.
Faith, community, and trusted relationships can support professional care. You choose whom to involve.
The scripts are suggested examples, not quotations from the sources. Adapt them to your situation. Avoid saving private relationship details in this app on a shared or monitored device.
Explore mental health.
UNDERSTAND / SUPPORT / CARE
Support in a crisis
In the U.S., call or text 988 for suicidal thoughts or emotional distress. For immediate danger or a medical emergency, call 911.
Outside the U.S., use your local emergency number or crisis service.
These guides are education, not a screening test or diagnosis. Not every condition listed is more common in Black men. Personal history, environment, access to care, and other factors matter. Sources checked October 2, 2026; clinician review is still needed.
Your voice belongs in your care
Ask it. Even the hard question.
There are no dumb questions. Don’t be afraid to ask them—it is your body and your health you are working to heal and protect. You deserve clear answers.
You deserve to understand what is happening to your body and mind. Asking about fear, sex, money, side effects, or another opinion is a reasonable part of care.
Why it matters
Questions make your concerns and priorities visible. They help clarify choices, uncertainty, practical barriers, and follow-up. You do not need medical vocabulary to participate.
When you feel nervous, start here.
“This is difficult for me to ask, but it matters to me.” “Please explain that in everyday language.” “Let me repeat the plan so I know I understood.”
These are suggested scripts. Bring a written list or someone you trust if you want support. You may ask for a private conversation about sensitive concerns.
Prompts are general, original Rooted wording. Personal answers require your care team. AHRQ: Talk With Your Doctor ↗
The knowledge library
Understand your options.
Conventional care, holistic practices, traditional approaches, and the questions worth asking.
The original library is preserved. Its statistics, treatment claims, and evidence ratings have not all been independently verified. Newly added guides link directly to their sources; they are not a clinical review of the original material.
Your personal health desk
Make room for yourself.
Keep your readings and prepare for the conversations that matter.
Your entries are stored in this browser on this device, without account sync. They are not encrypted by this app. Anyone using this browser may see them. Clearing browser data can erase them; keep downloaded copies private.
Build your foundation.
Be heard. Be prepared.
Your visit notebook.
Bring the whole picture into the conversation. Use these prompts in whatever way works for you.
Saved only when you select Save. Browser storage is not encrypted by this app. Avoid sensitive details on a shared device.
Treatment explorer / Research expansion
Know the choices. Ask better questions.
Explore what treatments do, where they fit, and the tradeoffs to discuss. Medical and complementary care, with source links.
These summaries support conversations with qualified clinicians. They do not select a treatment or dose for you. Side-effect lists are not exhaustive. Source-checked October 2, 2026; not independently reviewed by a clinician.
What's Killing Us
62.3% of Black men have high blood pressure. Nearly half don't know it.
📋 Conditions
🌿 Remedies
📅 Stages
🏥 Surgery
🧘 Holistic
🌍 Traditional
🔬 Experimental
🍽️ Diet
💊 Drugs
📚 More
📊 My Numbers
🚨 Crisis
ℹ️ Where these numbers come from →
Deep Dives
Metabolic
Diabetes: The Full Picture
11.5% prevalence. 77% more likely. The mechanism of disparity.
Cancer
Cancer: The Access Gap
16% higher mortality. 3.8% of clinical trial participants.
Sexual Health
Sexual Health: The Warning Sign
3x higher odds of ED. The cardiovascular connection.
Mental Health
Mental Health: The Silent Crisis
47% increase in suicide deaths. The authenticity buffer.
Research
Clinical Trials: The Invitation Gap
Only 3.8% Black participation. The primary barrier.
Today's Focus
Cardiovascular
Hypertension
The silent killer. 62.3% of us have it. Most don't know.
Conditions A-Z
Natural Remedies
Content repair checkpoint · October 9, 2026: All 46 remedy cards have completed a first-pass claim and precaution review with source links. This does not constitute a systematic literature review or clinical sign-off; deeper trial appraisal and other app sections remain in progress. Evidence labels describe support for the stated use, not the cultural value of a tradition or a guarantee of safety.
My Numbers
Track your own labs and vitals over time. Saved only on this device. Not a diagnosis — just your own record to bring to your doctor.
Sources and editorial status
Follow the specific claim
Chapter sections link to research, clinical guidance or patient education. A source about one preparation, population or outcome does not validate another. Check the date and read the research transparency notes.
Traditional knowledge belongs here
Documented practice, community experience, laboratory findings and human trials answer different questions. Rooted identifies uncertainty without treating a lack of trials as proof that a tradition has no value. Cultural importance and demonstrated clinical benefit are separate matters.
What still needs review
If an older health number doesn’t have a dated source that matches who was studied, we don’t show it as settled fact. We’ve fixed specific problems, but we haven’t re-checked every claim yet. Many chapters are still introductions, and a doctor hasn’t reviewed the app yet.
A way of eating rooted in the foods of the African diaspora. Plant-based, rich in greens, beans, whole grains, and tubers. Meat is used modestly as a flavoring—not the centerpiece.
Why It Works
Research shows that switching from a Western diet to a heritage-style diet reduces inflammation. Switching back to Western promotes inflammation.
Eat More Of
Collard, mustard, turnip greens
Black-eyed peas, kidney beans, lentils
Sweet potatoes, yams, squash
Millet, sorghum, brown rice
Tomatoes, okra, peppers
Cut Back On
Processed meats
Sugary drinks and juice
White bread, white rice
Fried foods
Excess salt
Diabetes: The Full Picture
Cancer: The Access Gap
Sexual Health: The Warning Sign
Mental Health: The Silent Crisis
Clinical Trials
Illegal Drugs & Health
The overdose crisis is hitting Black men harder than any other group.
More Topics
Everything else you need to know. The gaps nobody talks about.
🚨 Crisis Resources
If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, call 911. These lines are free, confidential, and available right now.
Twelve extended chapters on tests, treatment choices, safety, follow-up, and speaking up. Your existing library is unchanged.
Written for Black men without assuming every Black man has the same risks, history, or needs. Sources checked October 3, 2026. Educational material, not a personal diagnosis. This addition has not received independent clinical review and does not claim to cover all of medicine.
ROOTED / THE WHOLE-BODY REFERENCE
From hair to toes.
Black men. The whole body. Injuries, illness, treatment decisions, recovery, and the questions that deserve a full answer. Explore established care alongside traditional knowledge and experimental research.
Condition overviews and extended chapters have different levels of detail. “Expansion priorities” are topics awaiting fuller coverage here, not completed chapters. Search includes these priorities. This directory is not a symptom checker.
Explore the new chapters, understand tests, examine the research and prepare for your next conversation.
Sources checked October 3, 2026. Educational draft, not independently clinically reviewed. Each chapter identifies its sources and what remains unknown.
Explain my test.
Start with what the test measures and what it cannot establish. These guides do not diagnose entered results.
Compare the approaches.
Options below are discussion guides, not equivalent choices or recommendations for every person. Costs depend on the provider, location and coverage; ask for a complete estimate.
Who was studied? What was learned?
Traditional use, laboratory findings and human trials answer different questions. Funding disclosure is context to examine, not proof that a result is true or false.
Your appointment packet.
There are no dumb questions. Put your priorities first and leave with a plan you understand.
Optional device-only saving. Notes are not encrypted by this app or sent to a clinician. Avoid sensitive details on shared devices. Preview and downloads include the fields below, so review them before sharing.
Packet preview
Select Preview packet to review your draft.
What’s new in Rooted, and what’s next
Updated October 11, 2026
What we’ve added
37 new chapters covering the whole body: injuries, organs, recovery, and treatments people still argue about.
All 46 remedy cards checked for what they claim and when to be careful.
Fixes to 45 condition cards. All 65 now show how far their review has gone and link to the full chapter.
Traditional, holistic and experimental treatments now say where the information comes from, and say so plainly when nobody knows for sure yet.
More next steps and questions to ask your doctor in the herbal and body chapters.
Older topic summaries now send you to chapters with sources, instead of repeating numbers with no date on them.
What we’re still working on
Many chapters are still introductions. We’re adding more depth for every part of the body.
Some older health numbers are still being checked against a dated source that matches who was actually studied.
A closer look at the studies themselves: who they were compared to, what changed in real life, who paid for the study, side effects, and whether Black men were included.
A doctor hasn’t reviewed Rooted yet. Our own checks aren’t a medical sign-off, so use Rooted to get ready for your appointment, not in place of one.
What our checks mean
That tells you the app works. It doesn’t prove every health claim is right or that every topic is covered. Your doctor still has the final word.
Rooted • practical prevention
Your health roadmap.
Turn health information into the next useful conversation. Choose an age range and a few topics; Rooted will organize questions and sources to discuss with a healthcare professional. This is not an individual diagnosis, risk score, or medical screening order.
Know when not to wait.
Possible stroke, heart attack, severe breathing difficulty or other immediate danger: call 911 in the U.S. For suicidal crisis, call or text 988. Do not use this roadmap to evaluate emergencies.
Choose your age range, then build a guide to see the most relevant conversations.
Your privacy: Roadmap selections are handled only in this open page. They are not uploaded, saved to the browser or linked to an account. A downloaded guide is a file on your device; protect it like any health-related document. Rooted does not provide medical care or contact a professional.
