You really are what you eat. Your diet can help and heal you. Or it can harm, and even kill you. You can age well with the right diet. Or your diet can cause serious health issues and complications… and premature death.
Medical technology has advanced greatly over the years. Unfortunately the incidence of lifestyle diseases, those which are chronic but preventable, has risen. This is in large part due to the easy availability of not always healthy food. Some is literally junk! Another big contributing factor is inactivity.
Which lifestyle diseases am I talking about? Here are some of the deadliest and most common:
High Blood Pressure, or Hypertension
Blood pressure is a measure of the force that your heart pumps with, and the pressure when it is relaxed. High blood pressure predisposes you to many heart diseases, heart attack, stroke, kidney disease, peripheral heart disease… The list goes on and on.
There are some genetic and hereditary factors involved. But the overriding factor is your dietary lifestyle. Eat a diet high in sodium, fat and processed sugars, and you will greatly increase your risk of developing hypertension.
Obesity
You may or may not think of obesity as a disease. However, it is a worldwide health problem with catastrophic global implications. Obesity is a common factor in many diseases. It is even associated with the development of other diseases that are not classically thought of as diet related, for example arthritis. As many as one in two Americans may be classified as obese by the year 2020. (Wait — that’s less than a year away!)
Type 2 Diabetes
In type 2 diabetes, insulin acts in a dysfunctional way interfering with normal metabolism. As the disease progresses, tissues become less sensitive to insulin. The result? Higher blood sugar levels even though your body keeps trying to get the level to normal by making more and more insulin. The high blood sugar wreaks havoc on multiple organs and body systems, including your brain.
Type 2 diabetes has become a very common lifestyle disease, unfortunately. The primary causes are overweight, frank obesity, and the overconsumption of sugar. This is compounded by inactivity.
Heart Disease
The blood pumped through the heart is destined for other parts of the body, not for the heart itself. The heart’s own muscle is supplied by small blood vessels. These are the very important coronary arteries. If they become blocked, or occluded, blood flow through the heart muscles is diminished. A complete blockage can leave a part of the heart without oxygen or nutrients. The involved heart tissue dies. That’s a heart attack, AKA myocardial infarction.
Cancer
Your body’s cells have a built in mechanism that determines their maximum lifetime and the number of times they divide. After that, they die. Occasionally a cell will randomly undergo mutation. It doesn’t turn off. It keeps living and dividing, and it reprograms other cells to do the same. This can result in cancer. These cell changes become more common when there is increased oxidation and inflammation in your body. This can result from activities like smoking.
Tooth Decay
People often neglect proper dental care. This can be dangerous. Left unchecked, tooth decay can result in dangerous microorganisms that affect many body organs.
What Should You Do?
According to the Centers for Disease Control, the CDC, almost 900,000 Americans die prematurely every year from lifestyle diseases. Heart disease, stroke, cancer… But, guess what? 20% to 40% of these diseases are preventable. In the case of strokes, 80% are preventable. Changing a few aspects of your lifestyle now will give you a longer, healthier life.
One of the first steps you need to take is to take charge of your diet. Reduce the sodium and sugar you consume each day. Eat foods high in phytonutrients and antioxidants to combat the mechanisms that can lead to cancer. Start saying NO to stroke today!
