Make America Healthy Again
No more excuses
America is fat, America is sick, and YOU are part of the problem. Stings doesn't it? Be offended if you want, I am part of the problem too. So today we're going to look at the precarious state of health and obesity in America as well as two things YOU can do today to be part of the solution.
Root Causes
It wasn't always this way. We used to eat real food cooked in lard on cast iron. Sure there were fat people in the 1940's, but trust me when I say their definition of the word "fat" applied today would ruffle some feathers.
But society changed and so did food. The sedentary lifestyles associated with office work became the norm rather than the exception. And at the same time government subsidization of agriculture made corn and soybeans both cheap and overproduced. So in order to find demand for all that subsidized product people had to be convinced that the animal fats and whole foods we have eaten ever since Adam and Eve were wrong, or at least inconvenient.
Over time corn and soy ended up in everything, even gas! But most insidious was that the consumer welcomed this change. And why wouldn’t they? The high temperatures and harsh detergents necessary to separate the lipids out of corn and soybean produce a oil that stays soft at room temperature and goods produced with it last longer on the shelf. Ever noticed how anything you bake at home is bad within a week but those tortillas you bought two months ago are still fine after a few seconds in the microwave?
While the additional process to make these oils is expensive, the cost is easily offset by the cheap input prices (thanks taxpayer!). Why make ketchup with just tomatoes when corn is so much cheaper? See if you can spot the difference between US and UK Heinz ketchup.
While all this was going on a population wide trend of obesity and illness grew, insidiously hidden behind a timescale measured in generations. The data was there, but so was the profit motive. Going against farm subsidies is never a good place to be if you’re a politician, but there are also other interests who benefit when you’re sick.
The Cure
In 1970 the per capita spend on healthcare was less than $2000 when adjusted for inflation. Fast forward to 2023 and that number hit over $14,000. While the shareholders are certainly happy, the people are not as they are now spending more money for a worse outcome than anywhere else in the world. Almost as if the whole system was designed to benefit the shareholders instead of the patients from the start.
Driving this trend has been obesity rates, which have experienced a secular increase since the late 70’s.
Now, in what might be the crowning achievement of irony, the pharmaceutical industry can profit off the disease while also selling you the cure. And as usual the $935.77 cost of a single Ozempic pen is hidden behind the veil of insurance, so that the unaffordable price tag is borne by everyone whether they take the drug or not.
And all the while marketing the idea that you can’t control your weight without it, never mind the millennia of people who did just that. As Raw Egg Nationalist recently opined: “We are delegating away another entire region of our lives—weight management—to Big Pharma. We’re essentially holding our hands up and saying, “Sorry, we just can’t do this. You’ll have to do it for us.” And would you believe it, that’s exactly what Big Pharma is saying in its advertising for these new drugs? “You can’t do it alone. Dieting, exercise and willpower just don’t work.” (It’s what processed-food manufacturers, like General Mills, are saying too, by funding anti-diet influencers on social media, who tell viewers how much you eat doesn’t affect your weight—so go ahead and have another bowl of frosted fruit loops.)”
Of course it has become a political issue too. According to a steady drumbeat of opinion pieces and “studies” if you exercise and don’t want to eat bugs, you just might be a raging right wing racist Trump supporter.
But if it were really as hopeless as they want you to believe all the propaganda wouldn’t be needed. You can take back control, it just takes some effort and dedication.
The Answer
Nothing worth doing or having is ever easy. And embracing that will be foundational, since your health is priceless.
The first step is to start small with the staple foods in your diet. So you have a sandwich and chips every day for lunch at work? Does the bread have high fructose corn syrup in it and the chips were fried in soy based oils? Then you have your first target. Find alternatives, chips cooked in olive or avocado oils are more available than ever as people wake up to what’s in their food. Or find a different healthier snack all together. Try different options and eventually find one that sticks. Then move on to the next thing. Its a marathon not a sprint, every part of your diet that becomes healthier helps you in the long run.
Speaking of sprinting, exercise to get your heart rate up at least 3 times per week. Far too often I hear that someone has “started walking”. Unless you are over 60 and have an actual doctors recommendation to limit exercise to strictly walking this is pure bullshit, and the only one who believes this lie is you. So line up all your excuses because here are two workouts that will eliminate every one of them.
You have all the equipment you need if you have a floor, and the Marine short card will change your life from your living room if you can’t get to a gym. Anyone doing this a few times a week will end up lean and mean, just remember to ease into it. This workout whips devil dogs into shape, start with the first group of 5 exercises and add groups of 5 until you are doing all 21 if you are not used to training.
The next one is is the Tabata interval, and you can do it with anything under the sun. Its devilishly simple:
8 rounds
20 seconds of work, 10 seconds of rest.
That's a 4 minute workout yet it outperforms 1 hr of moderate paced exercise in every measurable way. (Please warm up before hand) So do it running, using a barbell with a compound movement, biking, bodyweight or plyometric exercises, literally anything you want. The key is intensity, its not mall walking, its 20 seconds of all out effort. By round 5 you should start feeling a little sick if you are not metabolically used to this. Guess you could say that’s how you know its working, suck it up and GO!
No one is coming to save you, its time to abandon the excuses and take control of your body. Start today, start now! Its trajectory that determines destination.
