America - the sick nation

America is lagging behind in health as a nation.  Despite spending more on health care than any other nation, America is being outranked by every other compared nation when it comes to health.  Reports show the U.S. ranks in the following four categories:

Deaths from all cases - U.S. ranks last.

Deaths from noncommunicable disease - U.S. ranks 2nd to last

Deaths from injuries - U.S. ranks 2nd to last.

Deaths from communicable, maternal, perinatal, nutritional conditions - U.S. ranked 4th to last.

The answer to why Americans are so sick could easily fill up an entire book, but it really boils down to a few basic truths.  Here are just a few things ruining the health of the nation.

1. Consuming garbage food, Not healthy food and beverages

How do some fresh fruits and veggies sound?  If you're anything like the majority of Americans, you'll choose a McDonald's burger over an apple any day.  Fast food, along with processed foods and prepackaged foods, make up a great deal of the average American's diet.  These foods are full of harmful and questionable ingredients that provide no real nutritional value.  To make matters worse, the meat is often derived from injected animals fed antibiotics and genetically modified grain while the fruit is drenched in pesticides and often genetically modified.

2.  Sugar increase

The average person is consuming 300% more sugar daily than recommended.  This over-consumption is fueling illness and diseases like gout, blood pressure, kidney damage, diabetes, inflammation-related issues, obesity, heart disease, cancer, stroke, etc..

60% of Americans are overweight and 50% of them are obese.  50% of American children are overweight, adult onset diabetes had to be re-named because it no longer just affects adults, almost 1/10 have diabetes, 79 million Americans are pre-diabetic and these figures are not improving.

3.  Lack of movement/exercise

The statistics above are not only fueled by poor diet but also a lack of activity.  Not achieving 150 minutes of exercise per week is a contributor to major diseases like cancer, heart disease, stroke, obesity, and diabetes.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 31% of adults aged 15+ were inactive in 2008, with 28% being men and 34% being women.  The WHO also states that inactivity is tied to 3.2 million deaths each year. 

4.  Exposure to toxic chemicals - Go Green with Shaklee.

Toxins are everywhere, from the air we breathe to the cleaning supplies we use, thinking they are doing us good.  It is absolutely essential to avoid these toxins as much as possible and flush them out with plenty of exercise and adequate water consumption.  Changing your regular household cleaning products to a brand that is organic, non-toxic, chemical free, biodegradable, and safe for children is absolutely an essential part to overall health.  I highly recommend Shaklee for all your "Going Green" needs.