Health & Wellness
"A vegetarian diet is a positive source of pleasure"
A friend of mine sent me an email today sharing some of her thoughts about a plant based diet and suggested I might like to post it on my blog; so here it is:
Americans with diabetes to double to 44 million
A recent study predicts that the number of Americans with diabetes will double in the next 25 years to a staggering 44 million, leading to annual health care spending on diabetes of an even more staggering $336 billion. Diabetes is linked to obesity, poor diet, and lack of exercise - the modern American diet, full of highly processed and sugar-laden “food” is the main culprit. The answer to this devastating epidemic is simple, and common sense; people need to eat healthy organic and natural foods, and get regular exercise.
Rising obesity is both costly and deadly
A recent study predicts that the effects of increasing obesity in the US are forecast to outweigh any benefits from continued reductions in smoking rates over the next decade.
Pouring on the fat! NYC poster gets the message across
The New York Health department has given up the idea of taxing soda as a weapon in the war against obesity and have instead started a graphic advertising campaign showing a soda being poured into a glass, with the soda turning into liquid fat on its way to the glass. Pretty graphic, and some may even think gross, but it really gets across the message that drinking soda is a major cause of obesity. Pretty creative, and great to see the government actually get serious about getting the message across.
Whole Foods CEO comments on health care debate results in boycotts and picketing
I have been busy lately so not a lot of blogging has been going on. My last blog was that the CEO of Whole Foods, John Mackey, stated in a press interview that "we sell a lot of junk".
Another cause of the health care crisis we don't hear about
We have been blogging in recent weeks about the debate in Washington and the nation on the health care crisis and how we aren't hearing any discussion about addressing the root causes of the crisis, i.e. the underlying unhealthy diets and lifestyle choices (meat and junk food based diets, lack of physical activity, consumption of tobacco, alcohol, illegal drugs, etc.) and the widespread practice of defensive medicine. Another major cause of the bloated medical system's costs to add to the list is the cost of medical mistakes.
Food Inc. starts showings Kahala Mall this Friday, July 31
Food, Inc., the movie that shows how the food industry really works starts at Kahala Mall this Friday, July 31, 2009.
Only 1 in 7 change their lifestyle when told if they don't they will die - part 2
Aloha, yesterday's blog post generated a lot of comments, so many that I want to address a few with a second one. And of course, I forgot the most obvious action points for changing your lifestyle to save your life, which are very simple, people need to:
Health care debate misses the real solution
I continue to be amazed that the debate over changes to the nation’s health care system is not focused, or at least that a significant part of the debate isn’t about how to reduce the need for so much expensive medical intervention/treatment in the first place.
Malpractice Insurance and defensive medicine costs
Another cost to be considered in the access to health care debate along with the huge costs of lifestyle preventable diseases caused by tobacco and other intoxicants, diet, and lack of exercise that I blogged on yesterday, is the costs to the medical system of medical malpractice insurance. The actual costs are hard to come by but are of two types, direct and indirect (indirect costs are the costs of unnecessary tests and treatments ordered by doctors solely to protect themselves from getting sued).