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Health & Fitness

Now That You Are Ready to Take Charge of Your Health, Where Do You Start?

What lifestyle and nutrition model should we look at to begin our new "take charge of our health" program?

If you are ready to “take charge of your own health”, be sure to do your “homework”. Should we follow the “Standard American Diet” and the guidelines for nutrition published by various government agencies?

Let’s look at the results we find for the US:

1.  In a recent report, the US ranks last in health and mortality rates out of 17 nations.

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2.  Americans are at the bottom in areas of health such as low birth rate, drug related deaths, obesity and diabetes.

3.  American men have one of the lowest life expectancy rates of many industrialized countries at 75.6 years. American women are only
slightly better by country comparison at 80.7.

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4.  An alarming two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese. One in four Americans is pre-diabetic. The National Institutes of Health states that four of the six leading causes of death in the United States are linked to unhealthy diets.

The question is why are so many people unable to maintain a healthy weight? The following points may provide a clue:

  • The top crops grown in the U.S. are corn, soy and wheat.  These are all subsidized by our government.  From these crops come High Fructose
    Corn Syrup, hydrogenated soybean oil and refined wheat grains. High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has been proven to be a major factor leading to obesity. HFCS is unfortunately found in many processed food items including so-called diet foods, 'enhanced' water products and baby formula.
  • In addition to nutritional deficiencies, we need to look at the staggering use of pharmaceutical drugs. Most drugs on average have over 70 potential side effects.  It is reported that properly prescribed and properly taken drugs kill 106,000 Americans each year. 
  • Americans receive the highest amount of vaccinations in the world, yet our statistics on health are poor.

It seems that the American model and standard American diet are not wise choices for a lifestyle change to take charge of our health.  The good news is that
the answers are out there.  Till next time.  Paul Jolie

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