Why are Americans so unhealthy?

Here is a letter I sent to our hospital where I work:

As someone with coronary artery disease I try to improve my diet and exercise. The American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association, American Cancer Association, and The American Medical Association, among others, have recommended limiting saturated fat and trans fat, red meat and replacing them with non-saturated fats from nuts and vegetables. That means, minimizing intake of processed meats such as bacon, sausage, lunch meats, and hot dogs. Instead, choose plant-based options of fruit and vegetable and meals that are low in fat, sodium, and added sugars. It is counterculture and difficult. The hospital does not help much. Often the pre-made salads have cheese and vegetables are often cooked with butter or bacon.

How great it would be if our hospital would focus on healthy foods rather than the fried, processed, fatty and salty foods that are so prevalent in our society. At least make sure we always have whole food plant based options for those of us who are trying to stay healthy.

American here. I find that the growing number of single mother's homes is also a factor. My parents split when I was little, and dad lived in another state while mom was at work all day, so we kids filled up on unhealthy, prepackaged meals. Since no one was around to monitor us, we could snack as much as we wanted, too.

As an adult, I'm honestly resentful that I wasn't taught to cook or eat healthily. I'm trying to undo those bad habits, and so far, I'm down 60 pounds and know how to prepare a thing or two.

Congratulations! That is a wondeful accomplishment!

how did you lose so much?

ss51 said:

Congratulations! That is a wondeful accomplishment!

how did you lose so much?

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Thank you!

1st, I concentrated on cutting down my portions and eliminating snacks. Then I cut back soda and coffee, and drastically upped my water. Then I began intermittently fasting, which was arguably the biggest help of all. I fit all my meals between 10 AM - 6 PM, and had nothing but water after 6. For these meals, I made sure to eat more vegetables, whether a salad or homemade spring rolls.

Exercise is admittedly inconsistent, because I get bored easily and am always looking for new workout plans to try, but I do walk a lot more, and stretch pretty regularly for circulation. Cutting back calories, adding more vegetables, and sticking to a schedule is what helped me the most.

Awesome! I hear intermittent fasting is a blessing, the coffee exclusion throws me, but if it works/isn't broke, don't fix it. I enjoy green coffee beans, they contain chlorogenic acid, which boosts the metabolism, after the coffee beans are roasted the chlorogenic acid goes away, anyone who has a coffee roaster will have green coffee beans and should be willing to grind them, they only need to be broken up a little, coarse is great, about a 1/4 tsp swallowed and in 15 minutes you will feel yourself warm up.

ss51 said:

Awesome! I hear intermittent fasting is a blessing, the coffee exclusion throws me, but if it works/isn't broke, don't fix it. I enjoy green coffee beans, they contain chlorogenic acid, which boosts the metabolism, after the coffee beans are roasted the chlorogenic acid goes away, anyone who has a coffee roaster will have green coffee beans and should be willing to grind them, they only need to be broken up a little, coarse is great, about a 1/4 tsp swallowed and in 15 minutes you will feel yourself warm up.

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I hear ya. And I don't think I've tried green coffee beans! They sound good! But I think I'm at a point where I have to tread carefully, lol. Nowadays when I risk a sip of caffeine, I immediately get jittery after having gone without it so long.

durangodawood said:

People dont have the knowledge, strength of will, and support network that we'd like to think they do.

So they are vulnerable to habit and marketing. There's a lotta money to be made in addicting people to garbagey food.

Also, if you cant drive a car to it, its not worth doing.

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Supersize Me 2 covered some of those issues. Food companies have become more clever in the past decade and are doing alot to put a health halo around products that aren't really healthy at all.

Also, food deserts are more common than they should be and people don't always have access to good quality food. Millions more have no cooking skills, as well, or have limited time to prepare quality food. Food access should be more of a political issue than it is, otherwise Americans pay for it with increased morbidity and mortality.

IntriKate said:

Processed foods and sugars as well as dinner plates nearly tripling in size

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This is the most pertinent change . Americans are consuming way too much processed food. Over half the diet in the US is processed food. In a country like Spain, it's only 15 percent of the diet.

Americans actually exercise more than they did decades ago, so laziness isn't the cause. It's really about the shifts in US dietary patterns since the 70's, many of them brought on by agribusiness policies and regulatory capture.

FireDragon76 said:

Supersize Me 2 covered some of those issues. Food companies have become more clever in the past decade and are doing alot to put a health halo around products that aren't really healthy at all.

Also, food deserts are more common than they should be and people don't always have access to good quality food. Millions more have no cooking skills, as well, or have limited time to prepare quality food. Food access should be more of a political issue than it is, otherwise Americans pay for it with increased morbidity and mortality.



This is the most pertinent change . Americans are consuming way too much processed food. Over half the diet in the US is processed food. In a country like Spain, it's only 15 percent of the diet.

Americans actually exercise more than they did decades ago, so laziness isn't the cause. It's really about the shifts in US dietary patterns since the 70's, many of them brought on by agribusiness policies and regulatory capture.

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Very much agree on food habits. But exercise patterns two decades ago is a pretty low benchmark from which to measure.

durangodawood said:

Very much agree on food habits. But exercise patterns two decades ago is a pretty low benchmark from which to measure.

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The science behind the USDA Food Pyramid was mostly sound... the problem was the ways in which the language used to promote it was shaped to not offend the meat, dairy, and processed food industries. As a result, people started thinking of junk food as health food, and suitable replacements for less processed food.

Akita Suggagaki said:

The American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association, American Cancer Association, and The American Medical Association, among others, have recommended limiting saturated fat and trans fat, red meat and replacing them with non-saturated fats from nuts and vegetables. That means, minimizing intake of processed meats such as bacon, sausage, lunch meats, and hot dogs. Instead, choose plant-based options of fruit and vegetable and meals that are low in fat, sodium, and added sugars.

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I would point out that it's easy to find a sample population of vegetarians and vegans who have been eating "cleanly"--whole, unprocessed foods--but there has not been a single study, not one, of "omnivores" who have been eating equally cleanly. All studies involving "omnivores" have been of people eating processed meats such as bacon, sausage, lunch meats, and hot dogs rather than people eating a clean diet that includes unprocessed meats.

FireDragon76 said:

The science behind the USDA Food Pyramid was mostly sound... the problem was the ways in which the language used to promote it was shaped to not offend the meat, dairy, and processed food industries. As a result, people started thinking of junk food as health food, and suitable replacements for less processed food.

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Actually, it was more to support the corn and wheat industries, which won a lobby war against the meat industry in the early 70s. Meat has been the "bad guy" for nearly 50 years, which is why everything went low-fat and high sugar.

I've been intermittent fasting for the last three years. Weekdays I only eat between five and seven pm, week ends I'll eat lunch and dinner (twelve and about five). Between meals I'll have nothing but water and plain tea...and a lot of both.

I've eliminated wheat and corn products entirely, and consume only a small amount of oats. I do eat a lot of "stalks and leaves," but no roots or seeds (including no processed seed oils). I limit fruits to strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries.

I do eat organic free range chicken eggs and grass fed organic beef, as well as cleanly caught sardines, shrimp, and salmon. I eat almond breads on occasion. I eat butter and olive oil.

I take quite a few vitamin and mineral supplements, because the soil isn't getting any richer. I take pea protein supplements, too.

I've learned that old people essentially must both eat and exercise like bodybuilders to combat sarcopenia. The protein recommendations today for people over 65 are the same as for bodybuilders, which is why I supplement with pea protein and spend four hours a week with the weights.

Interestingly, despite the sarcopenia threat, I'm actually building more muscle now than I ever could when I was younger...I suspect I was simply not working hard enough and eating enough protein back then.

When I first went back to the barbershop post-covid, the gang there shouted, "Wow, Bro! Have you been lifting?"

RDKirk said:

Actually, it was more to support the corn and wheat industries, which won a lobby war against the meat industry in the early 70s. Meat has been the "bad guy" for nearly 50 years, which is why everything went low-fat and high sugar.

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In the US, the grain industries make most of their money serving the meat, dairy, and processed food industries with feedstocks. The vast majority of corn and soybeans grown in the US feed livestock, not human beings, and much of the rest makes its way to large processed food manufacturers. There's very little money to be made selling corn or wheat to American consumers: Americans rarely, if ever, encounter those foods unprocessed.

Akita Suggagaki said:

Here is a letter I sent to our hospital where I work:

As someone with coronary artery disease I try to improve my diet and exercise. The American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association, American Cancer Association, and The American Medical Association, among others, have recommended limiting saturated fat and trans fat, red meat and replacing them with non-saturated fats from nuts and vegetables. That means, minimizing intake of processed meats such as bacon, sausage, lunch meats, and hot dogs. Instead, choose plant-based options of fruit and vegetable and meals that are low in fat, sodium, and added sugars. It is counterculture and difficult.

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That's more or less how I eat- I did the research and it's the only well-established way to fight chronic disease and achieve permanent weight loss. I went to a plant-based (semi-vegan) diet a few months ago and my health has improved- I've also lost about fifteen pounds. For the first time in years, I have a normal BMI.

I eat a couple servings of fruit every day, either whole fruit or smoothies.

When I was younger I followed a vegetarian diet, so this pattern of eating isn't completely unfamiliar to me. But now I eat far less processed foods, mostly whole grains and potatoes.

You are right, it's very counter-cultural. Mostly I cook at home. We are inundated with confused messaging about food and very little is scientifically evidenced or has our best interests at heart.

FireDragon76 said:

The vast majority of corn and soybeans grown in the US feed livestock, not human beings, and much of the rest makes its way to large processed food manufacturers. There's very little money to be made selling corn or wheat to American consumers: Americans rarely, if ever, encounter those foods unprocessed.

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Also gasoline.

Clearly, nobody is buying bags of raw grain off the shelves.

It's interesting that the cost of corn is so low that it's cheaper than grass for cattle feed. That's why there has been a flip-flop of prices between grass-fed and grain-fed beef. Since biblical times, grain-fed beef had always been expensive (that's the "fatted calf" of scripture). But now, since only the 80s it's grass-fed beef that's cheaper.

Price subsidies to the grain industry combined with higher property taxes have made free-ranging cattle ranching less profitable than feedlot "ranching."

FireDragon76 said:

That's more or less how I eat- I did the research and it's the only well-established way to fight chronic disease and achieve permanent weight loss. I went to a plant-based (semi-vegan) diet a few months ago and my health has improved- I've also lost about fifteen pounds. For the first time in years, I have a normal BMI.

I eat a couple servings of fruit every day, either whole fruit or smoothies.

When I was younger I followed a vegetarian diet, so this pattern of eating isn't completely unfamiliar to me. But now I eat far less processed foods, mostly whole grains and potatoes.

You are right, it's very counter-cultural. Mostly I cook at home. We are inundated with confused messaging about food and very little is scientifically evidenced or has our best interests at heart.

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Way to go. I expect better from hospitals.

RDKirk said:

Also gasoline.

Clearly, nobody is buying bags of raw grain off the shelves.

It's interesting that the cost of corn is so low that it's cheaper than grass for cattle feed. That's why there has been a flip-flop of prices between grass-fed and grain-fed beef. Since biblical times, grain-fed beef had always been expensive (that's the "fatted calf" of scripture). But now, since only the 80s it's grass-fed beef that's cheaper.

Price subsidies to the grain industry combined with higher property taxes have made free-ranging cattle ranching less profitable than feedlot "ranching."

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The US already has a huge amount of land for ranging cattle. Places like California are very much dependent on feedlot beef in its cattle industry, as the Central Valley is arid and unsuitable for ranging cattle.

FireDragon76 said:

The US already has a huge amount of land for ranging cattle. Places like California are very much dependent on feedlot beef in its cattle industry, as the Central Valley is arid and unsuitable for ranging cattle.

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Even in Texas, range land for cattle is shrinking precipitously.

OldWiseGuy said:

In your opinion.

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Fast food. And in america, you have everything much bigger than here for example. Bigger soda, bigger burgers etc. So people eat more.