Since the beginning of the industrial revolution America has been at the fore front of anything quick, easy and convenient. We are a nation all about instant foods, drive through restaurants, prepackaged meals, sweets, pastries and high protein lifestyles. Like the girl to the right we have a choice of the foods we eat. For example we can consume foods that are nutritient dense providing the building blocks of a healthy body and immune system or we can consume foods that are nutritionally deficient and actually causing harm to the body. 

Americans are constantly on the go. It starts at birth. Mothers have many duties and if the preparation of meals can be made quickly, we eat it up, pardon the pun! Food manufactures respond to market pressures.  If we want something they make it. Certainly food manufacturers have to accept a lot of the responsibility for our health.  Food manufacturers typically have Nutritionist or Dietitians on their staff therefore they know what type of ingredients and food preparation techniques are healthy or damaging to our bodies.  They use ingredients that are inexpensive and are devoid of nutrients all in the name of money. They know that our taste has been corrupted by sugar and saturated fats and they exploit that fact on the American public every day. However there are some food manufactures that really do get it and offer healthier food choices. We need to patronize these food manufacturers so they can continue to promote healthier lives.  

As the American public we need to take control of our lives back and demand that food manufacturers make healthier food choices available for us. Stop buying the foods that are poor suppliers of nutrients and the food manufacturers will be forced to respond with better choices.  If you are living on boxed and processed foods you will be laying in a box sooner rather than later. 

Simply stated Americans are suffering degenerative and lifestyle related illnesses and death younger than necessary due to malnutrition and a lack of adequate exercise.  

Former Surgeon General C. Everette Koop stated “Of the 2.4 million deaths in the US each year 75% of them are a result of nutritional related factors.” 

Not much has changed since that time. Many health organizations recommend that people need to consume more vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds as part of a healthy diet. These nutrient dense foods promote health and reduce our risk of disease and illness.

There is no good reason for America to have the explosion of cancer, diabetes, heart disease and obesity it is experiencing. These are primarily caused by unhealthy lifestyle choices.

The following statics should be proof enough that if you want to avoid any of these lifestyle related illnesses you need to be eating and living a healthy lifestyle. 

National Health Statics show that our life style is killing us. The term Lifestyle includes diet and physical activity. 

Lifestyle Behaviors That Lead to Premature Death

Leading Causes of Death 

(Diet and inactivity are leading risk factors for causes of death shown in bold.)

Number of Americans Living with Diet- and Lifestyle-Related Diseases

Source: The Center for Science in the Public Interest