What's Your Health Span?

The idea that a reduction in food intake along with some form of exercise leads to improved health is not a new or revolutionary idea. Nor, the idea, that man is driven toward seeking pleasure and/or pain as well as being motivated to direct that behavior either towards self and/or toward others. As far as eating behavior goes, there are numerous dietary plans such as Atkins, Scarsdale, Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem, Dash, Jenny Craig, Ornish, TLC, Mediterranean, etc. that provide numerous choices for the consumer. Advertising demonstrates that there is not a shortage of celebrities providing testimonials touting their successful achievement in regards to weight loss or healthier eating. Yet, in spite of the plethora of dietary choices you, calorie posting by restaurants and food ingredients labeling many Americans, still remain unhealthy and exhibit poor dietary choices. We’re wired to experience euphoric feelings in the right orbitofrontal cortex as opiate release precipitates the intake of foods high in fat and sugars. In other words, we get high [psychological comfort or pleasure] on these highly preferred foods that contain too much sugar and too much fat. Now days, it’s just too easy to overeat. It wasn’t that way in the Stone Age as our ancestors were required to walk [genetic design] anywhere from 6 to 20 miles per day while performing nomadic hunting and food gathering daily. In essence, we began life with an absence of obesity. Now we have invention, science, civilization and obesity. Further, as result of all our man-made conveniences in the 21st-century, we’re not moving as much as our Stone Age family. As a result, we now have many creative physical exercise programs to choose from in order to replace having to walk that 20 miles per day. In fact, these wonderful programs and workouts can be directed for losing weight, burning fat, increasing muscle and fitness, body building, women’s health, total body transformation, CrossFit, The New Scientific Seven Minute Workout, along with numerous apps to assist in the process. And still, many Americans die from issues related to obesity. Is it simply that man is destined to exhibit self-defeating behaviors, irrespective of all the information and products that are available to the consumer? We know that movement is a necessary aspect, yet difficult for our citizens to engage long-term. Another factor not generally considered as an important variable, but certainly part of the terrible epidemic to consider, is the amount of toxic chemicals found in the environment and chemical makeup of foods that are available to us. Just look at the ingredients in a carton of milk or a cup of soup and you’ll find an unhealthy amount of sugar and salt on those labels. As a young lad, I didn’t look at the label on the milk carton to view the amount of sugar. Now, I wonder if there was a label on the carton or how much sugar I was ingesting. I just automatically poured milk on my morning cereal? I certainly, at that time, wasn’t concerned about food consumption or what I was putting into my body. I was physically active, enjoyed sports, enjoyed eating and was in good health. To be continued