For those of you who don't know, I'm a vegetarian. A sometimes struggling vegetarian (which is why I'm a chubby vegetarian). But this movie just gave me the boost I needed to really end my twenty-something year relationship with cheese and bbq. I hope you've read my other post explaining how all of this started. You can read it here. Anyway, I switched to a vegetarian diet about 7 months ago. To be honest, while health was a goal, it wasn't my number one. Number one for me was vanity, just like most american women. I haven't weighed myself, I don't own a scale but this week I'll see how my No-Diet Diet went. I'll have a post on that later, but for now lets focus on the real issue, health.
As much as I don't like math, I LOVE statistics. They really help me grasp the facts. Here are some facts from The China Study.
Leading Causes of Death in the United States:
Heart Disease...................710,760
Cancer..........................553,091
Medical Care....................225,400
Stroke..........................167,661
Respiratory Disease.............122,009
Accidents........................97,900
If you're confused about the deaths by medical care, this is where it really gets good. Lets break down that number:
Number of Americans Per Year Who Die From-
Medication Errors. ................7,400
Unnecessary Surgery...............12,000
Other Preventable Errors in Hospitals........20,000
Hospital Borne Infections.........80,000
Adverse Drug Effects.............106,000
note: The 106,000 deaths by drug effects is by people who are taking medication as directed!!!
Now that I have your attention, please stay with me on this.
"We pay more for our health care than any other country in the world. We spent over a trillion dollars on health care in 1997. In fact, the cost of our "health" is spiraling so far out of control that the Health Care Financing Administration predicted that our system would cost 16 trillion dollars by 2030."- Dr. Campbell, The China Study
So for those of you who think that you can't afford to eat healthy, here's an idea, stop paying for health insurance and buy some vegetables. (I am in no way liable if you decide to do that and then try and sue me for something that happens.!)
Let me tell you that I know exactly how hard it is to eat healthy. I love food, all kinds of food, and thanks to american scientists, I am addicted to bad foods. You are too. Do you even wonder why you can't stay on that diet, or you can't stop drinking cokes? Don't be to hard on yourself, it's not your fault. We are addicted to these foods because the food companies like it that way. Watch this
We've heard it before but we don't seem to care, myself included. The worst thing about all of this is that we know better, we know that we're fatter and sicker than ever but we don't do anything about it because our priorities are so messed up. The whole system is corrupt. Multi-billion dollar companies are doing what's best for their wallets and 99% of us fall for it.
They tell us we need to have nice cars, houses, clothes, tv's, ipods, etc which means that we work ourselves into the ground so we can spoil ourselves and our children with material things but we are killing ourselves in the process. Literally killing ourselves. Just by what we eat. If we all could slow down and really examine our priorities, we could change the course of this dead end road. Buy healthy food, take time to cook good, healthy meals. Look at your finances and see where you could possibly cut back in order to afford healthy food. Teach your kids the importance of eating good. Share this blog with your friends and family.
I know most of us have already lost loved ones to these preventable diseases. Please, take the time to watch this movie. How much more unhealthy food are we going to inhale before the only weight we can lose is by the cancer in our stomachs?
While I LOVE the look of you blog, I have a terrible time reading the turquoise text on the background you have chosen. Have you tried to read it?
ReplyDeleteI hope that you can be a shining light for your mom and I can be one for my husband. I witnessed them eating Bratwurst together-- then at dinner my husband was too full for his healthy salad!