Being Healthy in America
…it isn’t easy.
Across the Universe is now over a year old. I’ve decided to write a little rant about something that has been bugging me more and more as time progresses: The difficulty of trying to be healthy in the United States without having a high income. This isn’t about “health care” insurance, the high cost of medical procedures, or prescription drugs. It’s about nutrition, culture, and environment. I could go into great detail and cite things, but I’ll try to keep this short and simple. First, I’ll address our food…
Upon entering a grocery store, Americans are primarily presented with products containing wheat, cow’s milk, refined sugars, omega 6 fatty acids, and/or hydrogenated oils. Even when shopping at many stores which claim to specialize “health food”, a large portion of the foods available contain wheat, cow’s milk, or added sugar! It is well-known that these ingredients cause inflammation, suppress the absorption of essential nutrients, and/or suppress the immune system. Unfortunately, they are also inexpensive and ubiquitous. Fresh fruits and vegetables are reasonably priced and easy to find, but many other anti-inflammatory, nutrient-rich foods are sold at a premium over their counterparts which contain harmful ingredients–even in cases when the healthier version of the product is less expensive to produce! To top if off, many food companies produce foods which are labeled as “low carb” or “no added sugar”, but upon reading the label, we discover that, in most cases, artificial sweeteners have been added.
Then, there’s the crazy sleep schedule….
Many American organizations evidently believe that there is something sacred about starting work between 6:30 and 9:00 AM. American workers and students are essentially forced into an unnatural sleep cycle as a result. Lack of sleep decreases productivity, creativity, and the ability to concentrate and learn. It also negatively impacts our health. The artificial sleep schedule prompts us to use stimulant drugs such as caffeine which further decreases our insulin sensitivity–exacerbating the effects of our poor diets. Waking up this early only really makes sense for people in a few select professions.
Finally there’s air conditioning and lack of exercise….
Many Americans, having grown a thick layer of insulating fat, tend to use air conditioning excessively in order to cool themselves down. Being in a cool environment reduces the need to sweat, which means that our kidneys are forced to handle nearly all of the excess salt that we consume in our processed foods. We become more susceptible to heat and eventually become dependent on the AC. The cool environment also irritates arthritis and prompts our bodies to store extra fat. Couple this with the sedentary nature of most jobs and you have a recipe for an unhealthy, unproductive workforce.
There are also many other complicating factors such as the environmental toxins from cigarette smoke, industrial pollutants, and agricultural pollutants, but these touch people of all income levels and occupations. My focus in this little rant was mainly on the factors which can be controlled when one has enough control over one’s own life. It seems unfair that people with very low incomes are practically stuck where they are because they can’t afford to get the nourishment needed to think clearly and be upwardly mobile. To complicate things even further, these are the same people to whom many drugs (legal and illegal) are directly marketed. Television and popular culture certainly don’t help either.
