A headline and a movement may have tipped the election but what does it mean for individuals and families? The U.S. population is not thriving and the numbers are not in our favor. According to the now touted American College of Cardiology and Tufts University study, 93% of Americans are considered metabolically unhealthy. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in six Americans have a chronic disease. Inflammatory, autoimmune and chronic diseases continue to rise and the number of younger people diagnosed with cancer is alarming.
Concurrently, the financial investment in healthcare and the health industry as a whole is incongruent with the state of our health. U.S. health expenditure reached 4.5 trillion in 2022. Three hundred and twenty billion dollars were spent on cardiovascular disease, $412.9 billion was spent on diabetes care. The gym and supplement industry are growing as well. The supplement industry reached a whopping $40.9 billion in 2023 and the gym and fitness club industry expenditure was $30.6 billion in 2022.
Then why are we sick? Why are we weaker, fatter, sadder, sicker than our ancestors? Why is grip strength, a predictor of strength and longevity, declining among all age groups as compared to 40 years ago? And although we seek answers through more technology, more innovation, more treatment development, perhaps we need to go back to go forward.
It is much easier to prevent cancer than to treat it. It is cheaper to prevent diabetes than to treat its complications. It is more enjoyable to prevent Alzheimer’s disease rather than to suffer through it. The answer is prevention and the power of prevention rests among us all.
Ultimately, we individually have the power to play to the strength of human physiology and address our risk for disease. Most of this can be done through food and daily habits. By taking ownership of what we put in our bodies, we decide on the trajectory of our health and future. Further, by making choices through purchasing power, we guide economic demand, cultural shift and ultimately political discourse and policy.
It may feel like an overwhelming enterprise to address food and nutrition with enumerable internet advice options, thousands of nutritional books, podcasts and articles. One can start simply. Read labels, shop for ingredients rather than food. Apply logic. If it is food, it should spoil. If it is food, it should sound like food rather than a biochemistry experiment. If it is food, it should taste wholesome and be filling. If it is food, it would need to be eaten with utensils sitting down.
And once we experience the power of food to drive our health, fill us with energy, remove anxiety and promote calm, the possibilities become endless.
Camilla Petersen, ND MD, is the founder of Petersen Concierge Medical, a hyper-personalized membership based medical practice focused on wrap-around health and wellness for individuals and families.
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