The Detriment of the Western Diet

The human body is meant for extreme endurance but not without adequate rest, proper nutrition and some degree of stress management. In our fast-paced, often stressed, accomplish-oriented society we often neglect the needs of our body. In the end, we reap what we sow. If we neglect our body long enough it will start to speak up, demanding that we pay attention to it.

One way that we respond to our screaming bodies is to go get a pill or two, or three, to cover up the pain or the problem. Unfortunately, this does not fix, but only masks the real problems. The malfunction is due to neglect. Poor food choices, lack of adequate exercise, poor sleeping habits and any number of other mismanagement blunders. We claim that we have no control when in reality we have lots of control and can keep illness and pain at bay if we respect ourselves.

The modernization of America has made it very easy to be lazy and make poor lifestyle choices. A result of our lazy lifestyle is a surge in heart disease, the leading cause of death in America. Interestingly enough, this same problem does not exist where people live in a more traditional manner which includes a healthy diet and active lifestyle.

Healthy Traditional Lifestyles

Weston Price, a dentist from the United States, also known as the “Isaac Newton of Nutrition,” travelled the world over seventy years ago researching the health of isolated, non-industrialized people. What he found was that in areas where a traditional diet was followed, health blossomed. There were none or very few of the same problems that we experience in the western world. He credited this to a rich and natural diet and healthy lifestyle.

Researchers from UC Santa Barbara and the University of New Mexico recently studied the Tsimane people, an indigenous population in the Amazon. This group of people have very little incidences of heart disease. While these people are active, researchers state that activity alone is not enough to keep heart disease at bay. In fact, the findings in this study, combined with a growing body of other research, indicate that poor eating habits are more responsible, than lack of activity, for the obesity epidemic in America. This would tend to agree with the research of Price.

Bottom Line

The bottom line remains, move more, eat better. When we eat with the intention of providing the best fuel possible for the body, and combine this with consistent movement, we do our bodies a huge service. The dynamic duo of exercise and intentional consumption of quality foods are the key to alleviating the present day health crisis.

– The Alternative Daily

Sources:
http://www.westonaprice.org/
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-01/uoc–uas013113.php