What Are Some of the Most Significant Public Health Issues Today?

When researching the most significant public health issues of today you will read about obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. If you continue your research, you will begin to see that all of these diseases have a common factor – nutrition. But that is not the only similarity; all these diseases take a toll on the body. Think of your body like a car. If one part of the car isn't functioning well then it puts stress on other parts. For instance if you have poor nutrition it puts stress on all of your body parts. If you have heart disease, it puts stress on your lungs among other important organs. Let us look a little deeper.

Prevention

We all do our part to prevent illness such as eating right and getting plenty of rest. However, accidents will occur; in which case it’s important to have a trustworthy personal injury lawyer – especially if someone else is to blame. Even peace of mind can play a huge factor in impacting your overall well-being.

Obesity

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) more than one-third of American citizens are obese. Diseases related to obesity include heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer. The bottom line is if you are obese you are not going to live as long as you would if you were not overweight if all other factors remain the same and more importantly if you are one of the over 35% of Americans struggling with obesity then your quality of life is not optimum.

Heart Disease

According to Heart.org more than 787,000 Americans died of heart disease in 2010. Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the U.S. Between heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases 2150 American lives are extinguished each day; that is one death every 40 seconds.

Cancer

Last year, an estimated 580,350 Americans died of cancer, and an estimated 1,660,290 Americans were diagnosed with cancer according to Cancer.org.

Good Nutrition: The Cure?

Most doctors and scientists will agree that poor nutrition is the cause of many diseases our society currently faces. However, almost all nutritionist agree that poor nutrition can almost always be the most significant factor in obesity, cancer, and heart disease.

I know what you are thinking; poor nutrition is not an American problem; it is a problem in third-world countries, but not the U.S. If that is what you are thinking then you are wrong. Most Americans suffer from poor nutrition. Why?

The reason Americans have poor nutrition is not because we are starving – quite the opposite. Americans are simply eating a lot of the wrong kinds of food, if you want to call it food. Americans consume way too much processed foods, radiated foods, and modified foods. All of these actions deplete the natural nutritional value of whole foods. Eating whole foods can change your health, the way you feel, and your weight. Although adding an exercise routine is a great idea, all you really need is a small amount of exercise each day if you are eating well-balanced, nutritional meals.

The reason whole foods are better for you is because they feed your cells. Your body is made of millions of cells. If your cells are not fed properly, they will not work properly. Our cells need certain fats that come from a variety of different oils. Most processed foods have turned these good fats into bad fats. Whole foods are more complex. Complex sugars are better for our bodies because they take longer to process. Simple, processed sugars overwhelm our body's system and are usually immediately stored, or they create an imbalance that often leads to diabetes.

The way it all works is much more complicated than I can go into in this article. I recommend reading Fats that Heal Fats that Kill by Udo Erasmus to gain some good insight into how your body uses fats and sugars.

Here are some good rules to follow in the meantime: