Originally published January 28 2013
How to avoid a lifestyle of illness
by Melissa A. Bartoszewski, DC
(NaturalNews) The list of illnesses plaguing today's society is astronomical. Diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, metabolic syndrome, obesity, sleep apnea, cancer, ADD/ADHD, allergies, depression, chemical dependency, back pain, autism, hyperlipidemia are just a handful of the ailments affecting a large portion of the country with astronomical costs associated with them. Obesity alone, costs roughly $270 billion per year. But why are we continuing to get fatter and sicker? Today's food has changed and so have the illnesses that plague the country. Fortunately, the handful of illnesses costing billions of dollars a year in healthcare, are typically preventable and reversible.
Food and soil are not the same
The food of 2013 is not the same food your grandparents, or even parents, ate. Genetically modified foods and the farming monopoly are detrimental to the population's livelihood. Access to fast food and instant meals is making us sicker by the day. Food has become overly processed, manipulated to be bigger and flavorless, injected with hormones, dyes and chemicals which, lead to food allergies/sensitivities, behavioral disorders and chronic lifestyle illnesses.
The soil our food used to grow in was full of nutrients and minerals and has sense become depleted due to non-sustainable farming methods. Organic, grass-fed, hormone-free, natural meet is now advertised as being healthier and better for you. Years ago, animals were grass-fed and were naturally hormone free. 80 percent of today's food is laced with sugar, which greatly contributes to lifestyle illnesses. Four corporations control 58 percent of the chicken market, 66 percent of the hog and sheep market and 84 percent of the beef market. Monsanto controls the majority of the soybean and corn grown in the US. These companies are striving for bigger products by genetically modifying and mass producing them, but bigger is not better in this case.
Our sick nation
In 1985, the percentage of people with diabetes was 0.62 percent, in 2010 that percentage rose to 5.13 percent, a 727 percent increase. Metabolic diseases, (hypertension, diabetes type II, high (bad) cholesterol, heart disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, polycystic ovarian syndrome), can be decreased with a reduction in calories. Fast food equals fast cooking equals fast disease (Lustig, 2009). The rate of adult obesity has doubled over the past 20 years and has tripled in children. "One in three babies born will develop diabetes" and somehow that has become a "normal," acceptable diagnosis in today's society (Triple Solution for a Healthier America, 2007). Most of these "chronic" diseases are actually lifestyle diseases/choices that can be prevented and even reversed in many cases.
Make a change today
If something has more than five ingredients, it is not real food and processed. Stress, both physical and emotional, put our bodies in a hypersensitive state that affects all of our internal functions. Finding natural, healthy ways to de-stress is a must (exercise, meditate, chiropractic, acupuncture, positive mental attitude, daily affirmations). The stressed brain is more rewarded by food, creating a vicious food/disease cycle. Today's common and priciest health problems are preventable with healthy lifestyle changes.
If you are diagnosed with a lifestyle illness and advised to take medication(s), it does not mean you cannot change the way you eat and exercise to get off of them in order to reverse your diagnosis. Lifestyle changes made early on can help to minimize your chances of having to take a dangerous prescription to manage your symptoms. Eating real food, eating less food overall, minimizing/balancing stress and exercising regularly will all help you from becoming a statistic.
Sources:
http://www.inbar.org
http://nursing.advanceweb.com
http://www.naturalnews.com/032446_sustainable_agriculture_food.html
The Skinny on Obesity Series by Robert Lustig, 2009
http://www.fightbigfood.org/about/
http://www.forahealthieramerica.com/ds/impact-of-chronic-disease.html
About the author:
Dr. Melissa Bartoszewski is a chiropractor at Big D Chiropractic in Dallas, Texas. She is a graduate of New York Chiropractic College. Dr. Bartoszewski is also a raw food and natural healthcare advocate. Follow her on Twitter at PolishChiro and be sure to LIKE her Facebook Fan page at https://www.facebook.com/bigDchiropractic for daily health, exercise, nutrition, wellness, chiropractic tips and much much more!
Dr. Melissa Bartoszewski is a chiropractor at Big D Chiropractic in Dallas, Texas. She is a graduate of New York Chiropractic College. Dr. Bartoszewski is also a raw food and natural healthcare advocate. Follow her on Twitter at PolishChiro and be sure to LIKE her Facebook Fan page at https://www.facebook.com/bigDchiropractic for daily health, exercise, nutrition, wellness, chiropractic tips and much much more!
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