Aging, Lifestyle and Nutrition
Killing Us Softly - the Corporate Food CultureAging and DiseaseIf you have read the first three articles in this series, you are likely beginning to see that aging and degenerative disease are linked closely to lifestyle and nutrition. In turn, the lifestyle and nutritional choices we make partly determine the level of oxidative stress we endure. Big Macs and fried chicken, Marlboros and Budweiser, TVs and couch potatoes; they all add up to the same thing - bad news - a life-long barrage of damaging free radicals.  Custom Search  For those of us who don't have the good genes to fight off aging, this free radical firefight, it spells big trouble ahead. For those whose family history shows susceptibility to a particular degenerative disease, such as cancer or diabetes, it means you have to be extra vigilant. If you're not keen on open-heart surgery, radiation treatment, chemotherapy, or kidney dialysis; or if adult blindness, limb amputation or Alzheimer's disease aren't your cup of tea, then listen up and do the right thing:
Our diets and lifestyles are killing us with kindness - we're over-fed, overweight and under-nourished.Yet, a lot of people out there believe our diets are just fine. CORPORATE FOOD CULTURE - THE LEGACY Poor diet and physical inactivity claim over 500,000 lives each year, 1400 lives lost each and every day. Just look at the consequences in the headlines."Heart Disease Stalks Pre-teens" Sudden cardiac deaths are increasing in young people, especially among women. The culprit? The fast-food scarfing, Nintendo-playing habits of today's kids are clogging their arteries and savaging their cardiovascular systems earlier than any generation before them. We now know that atherosclerosis actually begins in early childhood. By the time we reach the ripe young age of 39, three-quarters of us have the beginnings of heart disease. Doctors immediately roll out their heavy artillery—surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation — but in reality, there's not a lot that they can do at this point. According to Nobel Laureate, Dr. Linus Pauling, "Everyone should know that the war on cancer islargely a fraud." The problem is, for 30 years we've have been desperately searching for the 'magic bullet,' while ignoring the underlying cause—oxidative stress. A New England Journal of Medicine study cites 88 years of data to show that many cancers can be prevented through simple lifestyle choices and avoidance of environmental risk factors: poor dietary habits, smoking, alcohol consumption, lack of exercise, and exposure to environmental toxins. A recent review conducted at University of California, Berkeley found overwhelming evidence that fruits and vegetables in the diet provide a huge protective effect against almost every type of cancer.
"Obesity is now reaching epidemic proportions in the U.S. and elsewhere." Obesity is a contributing factor in a majority of degenerative disease processes. In the U.S., the obesity epidemic has become so bad that it may soon overtake tobacco as the leading cause of preventable death. The US Surgeon General has called for:
"Majority of Canadians Dangerously Unfit" Health Canada reports that 57% of Canadian kids are so sedentary they are harming their health and inviting the premature onset of degenerative disease. The direct medical costs attributed to obesity in Canada top $1.8 billion annually. Multiply that by a conservative factor of 10 and you see the magnitude of the problem in the U.S. York University School of Kinesiology estimates that getting just 10 percent of Canadian butts off the couch would save at least $150 million a year in direct health costs. North Americans now derive over 50% of their daily caloric intake from eating out—much of that at fast food restaurants. Recent scientific evidence suggests that the fat content of fast food meals, because of the hidden trans fats (partially hydrogenated oils), may be twice as bad for you as saturated fats. Trans fat, because the body can't properly metabolize its unnatural chemical make-up, is a secret killer, with a strong link to heart disease. The hidden trans-fats in fries double the damage caused by their saturated fat content. THE VERDICT IS IN Cardiovascular disease, premature aging, cancer, osteoporosis, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and cognitive dysfunction— all are increasing, particularly in our young people. All are diseases linked to excessive oxidative stress. All are diseases that are entirely preventable with a healthy diet, a little common sense and alot of fresh air and exercise to blow out the pipes.AGING, LIFESTYLE AND DEGENERATIVE DISEASE There is no question that degenerative disease is linked inextricably to lifestyle. Therefore, the strategy in combating degenerative disease is to meet the enemy head-on—to quench uncontrolled oxidative stress. We can do that by making the right choices:
"Vitamins, if properly understood and applied, will help us reduce human suffering to an extent that the most fantastic human mind would fail to imagine." Summary It's essential that, in our daily lives, we learn to practice a more holistic approach to wellness, otherwise— as we are witnessing today—the consequence will be an old age marred, and perhaps cut short, by the suffering and pain of degenerative disease. With healthy lifestyle choices, a little common sense and an ounce or two of prevention, we may not add a lot of years to our lives, but we just may add a lot of good years to those that we are given.Like the skin horse, in Margery William's children's classic, The Velveteen Rabbit, one day we'll all become a little shabby and loose in the joints. However, don't despair because, if you've chosen wisely — through lifestyle, education and nutrition—then, you'll be Real and healthy too! Reprinted with permission from the author. Lyle MacWilliam, BSc, MSc, FP Mr. MacWilliam is a biochemist, educator and author of the book, “Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements”. He is a former Member of Canada’s Parliament and on behest of the Canadian Ministry of Health, helped develop a new regulatory framework for natural health products. 
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