Statistics of Disease Related to Diet

Health News You Can Use
Most of us have busy lives- hectic schedules, jobs at home and away from home, stressful living and working conditions. This factor plus others such as soil depletion, toxins and environmental pollutants, and our general ignorance or laziness all contribute to a very clear deterioration of health in the American public. It is no coincidence that the facts below indicate a significant problem for holistic health issues over the past 20 years.

Recent governmental studies (U.S.D.A.) indicate that the fruits and vegetables grown today have 25-50% less nutritional value than those grown only 20 years ago. Our farming methods include replacing only 3 nutrients into the soil, and this combined with food processing and further loss of nutrients leads to food that is not as nutritious as it once was, even as recent as 20 years ago. When I was a kid, fast food restaurants were rare and we ate at one maybe twice a year. Today, 90% of adults and 98% of children do not eat a balanced diet.

The American Cancer society states that 30% of all cancer is related to diet, and another 30% are related to tobacco and alcohol.. This means we could prevent 60% of all cancers! They recommend 9-11 servings of fruits and vegetables per day. How many do you eat?
Consider these chilling facts:
q Prostate cancer kills one man every 13 minutes (US Center for disease control)
q 60% of Americans are overweight making it the # 2 preventable cause of death (US Health 2000)
q Free radical damage is linked to heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, & arthritis (US Center for Disease Control)
q Cancer rates have increased by over 25% in the last 20 years (US Health 2000)
q Diabetes related deaths have doubled in the last 20 years (US Health 2000)
q The number of children considered overweight has more than doubled since 1980 (US Health 2000)
q Nearly 300 people a day die of adverse reactions from properly prescribed medications, making drug therapy the 4th leading cause of death (American Medical Journal and US Health 2000)
q Arthritis is the nation’s leading cause of disability as it affects 43 million people and is responsible for 1 out of 7 doctor visits (US Center for Disease Control)
q Prescription drug costs were expected to rise another 43% in 2002, bringing the average cost of a single prescription to over $90 (WI Health Fund)
q Osteoporosis is 100% preventable and difficult to treat
q Taking a combination of natural phytoestrogens (NOT synthetic HRT) reduces the risk of stroke by 60% and the risk of female breast cancer by 90% with no side effects (John R. Lee, M.D.)
q People who consistently consume adequate antioxidants can expect:
Cancer rates: Down 13% (National Cancer institute)
Cancer survival Up 50% (West Virginia University)
Heart attacks and strokes Down 50% (Harvard University)
Skin cancer: Down 70% (John Hopkins University)
Infections Down 55% (New Jersey Medical School)
Cataracts Down 35% (Harvard University)