American Health Report

So what's the problem? How is our eating hurting us?

Take a look:

According to CDC researchers, an estimated 300,000 American deaths a year are related to obesity. Being overweight puts a body at a greater risk for conditions like type two diabetes, heart failure, high blood pressure, stroke, fatty liver disease, and some forms of cancer. However, these findings haven't slowed down Americans. Today:

-67% of non-institutionalized Americans over the age of 20 are overweight. That's two out of every three people! (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, www.cdc.gov)



-18% of U.S. adolescents are overweight. (www.cdc.gov)



It's true that exercise plays a big part in maintaining healthy body weight, but diet is another major factor. If a person eats more calories than their body uses, they build fat. It's not too hard to to find a connection between the average American diet and the average (and growing) American girth.

-Americans are now spending over $140 billion on fast food each year. Fast food tends to be higher in calories, fat (especially trans fat), and sugar than a home-cooked meal.

-The average serving size for burgers, fries, and sodas has more than tripled since the 1970’s. Here's a comparison of serving sizes from 20 years ago.




-Americans eat 22 teaspoons of sugar each day, according to the American Heart Association. The recommended amount is 6-9 teaspoons (which is less than the 12 teaspoons in just one can of soda pop). More sugar = more calories = more weight!



But our eating doesn't just hurt us through obesity. Many other health concerns come from our diet. For example, preservatives used to keep our food from spoiling can build up in our systems in unhealthy levels. Some common ones are:

-Glutamates, which may cause headaches, palpitations, dizziness, and cancer. Almost all convenience foods contain this harmful preservative.

-Mono- and Di-glycerides, which can cause birth defects and cancer. Found in many foods, such as cookies, cakes, pies, bread, peanut butter, dry roasted nuts, vegetables packaged with sauce, shortening, and margarine.

-Nitrates and Nitrites, which are known carcinogens. These harmful preservatives are used to preserve meat.

-For more, go to http://www.brighthub.com/health/

In addition to preservatives, many foods have added antibiotics and hormones in them. Overuse of antibiotics is contributing to the development of stronger bacterial strains because more bacteria are develope resistance against the common types of antibiotics put in food. Added hormones, especially in meats, can mess with your own endocrine (hormone) system and raise your risk for certain types of cancer, notably breast cancer.

This has been just a quick overview of how we are ruining our health through our diets. It seems that we really are what we eat: fat and full of unhealthy chemicals that shouldn't be there.