Americans’ Unhealthy Lifestyle is the Leading Cause of Death
The leading cause of death in America is not heart disease, cancer, stroke or diabetes. It is the unhealthy lifestyle that most Americans are addicted to which is the true cause. A study by Mathew Reeves, a Michigan State University epidemiologist finds that only 3% of Americans maintain a healthy lifestyle. "It is a situation that is causing dire consequences for millions of Americans. I was really quite surprised at how low that number was," said Reeves, an assistant professor of epidemiology.
The research published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine, found that only 3 percent undertook four basic steps that define a healthy lifestyle:
not smoking, healthy weight, eating right-including a minimum of 5 fruits/vegetables a day, exercising at least 5 times a week for 30 minutes.
Those are not exactly Olympic caliber qualifications. That is the good news. These 4 criteria is something you can easily choose to do. You can become a 3%’er. All you need to do is put on the hat of responsibility and own this choice. In all likelihood if you are fat or your kids are fat, it is your responsibility. You need to step up now and make some new choices, maybe extremely different choices right now!
Recent research from the National Cancer Institute wants men to increase their consumption to nine servings a day and women increase to seven. A serving is considered a medium orange, eight carrot sticks or cup of raisins, french fries do not count!
Is that possible? Of course it is if you make the decision to do so. You have to choose to do that. A couple simple ways is to have one meal a day that is entirely fruits and vegetables. When you are snacking, instead of a candy bar or chips, grab and apple, banana, orange, carrot sticks, celery with peanut butter, cherry tomatoes, dried fruit, etc. Remember it is an apple a day that keeps the doctor away not a Krispy Kreme!
My favorite way is to make sure I regularly eat a BIG salad and a small entree. That is of course the opposite choice that most Americans make. Only use dark green lettuce and spinach – never Iceberg lettuce, add a variety of vegetables, fresh berries, raisins, sunflower seeds or nuts, a little chicken or lean meat or fish. The trick is to consistently make it interesting. The same salad will get boring. There are also plenty of low calorie natural dressings you can make too.
