An Embarrassment to the Prestige of the President
- Thread starter cernjSHU
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+1,000. The greatest contributors to our healthcare costs are self inflicted. Processed foods, high carb, high fat diets are driving type two diabetes and cardiac diseases off the charts. Over prescribing is also contributing big time. Healthcare reform as we have seen is a side show. Our eyes are not on the ball.
I'm not so sure it's a side show. I know a ton of people who don't want to change their lifestyle, just give them a pill. I think they are giving most consumers what they want, an easy way out. Where I see the failure is most people want the easy way out is because they are not educated on nutrition at all. They have no concept of the wheat to make pasta their parents and grandparents made doesn't exist anymore because of the processing or what exactly high fructose corn syrup is and what it does to their body. I had coworker tell me she can't lose weight, she snacks on marshmallows because they have no fat. No understanding of the concept sugars become fats.
Politicians by nature don't want to touch these topics. I'm all for reforming the current system (there are some fundamental flaws that just need to be dealt) but without personal responsibility and accountability we will continue to see the results of poor nutrition. The ACA, Trumpcare or anything the Senate is working on will have little effect.
The sugar lobby is a HUGE problem as well. Look what you see on TV all the time. Commercials for Coke, Pepsi, candy and other junk foods. All refined, processed sugars that, for lack of a better term, poison us. These companies have spent tons and tons of money to keep the dangers of excess sugar consumption off the general public's radar.
That tons and tons of money is nothing compared to the tax revenue it generates.
I live next door to a Coca-Cola rep. His territory is Brooklyn and he is losing business because of a sugar tax. The Barclays Center may need to take a different route. That tax will get passed down to the consumer. He told me this is a tax in Philly and they are getting killed there too. If I choose a sugary drink, why should I pay an extra tax on it when the decision is mine?
What is this - colonial times with the British again? They hit us with the Stanp Act, Sugar Act, and all these other taxes.
What is this - colonial times with the British again? They hit us with the Stanp Act, Sugar Act, and all these other taxes.
I guess the question is why should sugar and tobacco be treated differently?
Out of curiosity, has this general theme been popping up more and more recently?
Just kind of happens that I have been seeing more and more people taking about this recently, which is great... just not sure if it's just a coincidence in my "bubble"
Sorry, I disagree with you on this one. I used to be against the tax on sugary beverages initially started by Mike Bloomberg in New York. I thought, like you, that it was an invasion of privacy and government overreach. However, since that time I have changed my view. I believe it's in the public health interest to discourage consumption of these beverages. There is zero health benefit to them and they're a major contributing factor to the obesity epidemic.
Yes, it comes down to the individual in the end. But as more and more people get educated about the dangers of sugar, I'm hopeful that the tax will help decrease consumption (similar to cigarettes).
Because your poor decisions regarding how you treat your body increase healthcare costs for everyone else.
Well, I have lived it first hand. I was overweight for around 13 or 14 years (since high school, I'm 30 now) up until early last year. I ate like absolute garbage, never thinking that my sweet tooth was hurting me in the long term. I never experienced any health problems during this time or felt "bad," but I was lazy and would just snack and snack and snack away on junk food. Very limited physical activity, never went to the gym, etc.
It was at dinner on Christmas Eve in 2015 that it was suggested to me that I stop drinking flavored/sweetened iced tea (Snapple, sweet tea, etc), which was always my favorite beverage, and replace it with water. I drank at least one Snapple bottle pretty much every day dating back over a decade. Water and walking was what they told me to do every day, to get some activity in my routine. I was skeptical at first, but I gave it a try. I never could have imagined at the time how it would change me.
My brother recommended that I watch the video "Fed Up." It's on Netflix and I recommend that everyone watch it. That was a real eye-opener and motivated me even more to change my eating and exercise habits.
I took it upon myself to do the water and walking routine, but I took it further. I overhauled my eating habits, started reading nutrition labels and buying whole, fresh foods. The pounds started melting off instantly. I was 6'2 tall and 250 lbs on Christmas 2015. I lost 20 pounds within a month and a half and bottomed out at around 195 lbs around this time last year. I'm now at 208 lbs, but that's mostly because I gained some muscle from joining a gym. I've been going around 4 times a week since December of 2016.
For those in a similar situation, don't call it a diet. A diet is temporary. This is a lifestyle change, one I'm fully committed to continuing. Now I only drink unsweetened iced tea and water. I treat myself to some low sugar, high fiber dark chocolate every once in a while. I make sure I eat a lot of fiber and nutrients. I'm a totally different person and I feel great. I never thought I would come this far but all it takes is some knowledge and discipline. If I can do it, anyone can. My eating habits now are unrecognizable to when I was in my teens and 20s, and that's a good thing.
I'm lucky that I never liked soda. I tried it once when I was very young (3 or 4 years old) and it was disgusting. I never drank one drop of it since that time. If I had, I would probably have been pushing 300 pounds at my worst.
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Love all your points , folks!
No socialized medicine. If I want to pay for sugar and tobacco and kill myself , I want the government out of it. It is on me and my insurance company to pay the high costs from those ramifications.
Socialized medicine would be government intrusion and then they dictate to you. Not good.
No socialized medicine. If I want to pay for sugar and tobacco and kill myself , I want the government out of it. It is on me and my insurance company to pay the high costs from those ramifications.
Socialized medicine would be government intrusion and then they dictate to you. Not good.
Dude this entire topic has been how government intrusion has kept the medical field what it is. Nobody is stopping anyone from having 1,000 sodas or 1,000 cigarettes each day. You just have to pay for it. The same work for someone who wants to eat only a raw or organic diet. It's not cheap because the government has been paying farmers since 1933 not to grow food to keep supply lower so prices stay high. it's crazy you are complaining you don't want pay $2 for a soda, but people have to spend $5 for a small container of blackberries.
Bingo!
My favorite are the people who buy juicers and think they are healthy.
My anecdotal experience is that most people, especially overweight people, do not have a clue.
The grocery store is filled with colorful boxes, jars, and bottles of garbage.
Look at the deception being carried out with this one.
"Whole Grain - First Ingredient"
Yeah right. Trix are for Kids.
How do you even throw any blame on the Democrats on the healthcare bill? First, Trump promised to repeal and replace it with something better that will cover all Americans with better coverage and cheaper. Huge Lie.
Two, republicans have been hammering Obamacare for years, yet they do not have a decent solution.
Three, the Republicans have the power and majority in both Houses. They draft the bills in secret. The Democrats have no ability to contribute,
Fourth, Democrats do want to tweet and fix Obamacare to make it better, but they are not at the table due to the Republicans excluding them.
What's not healthy about having a juicer? I drink 2 green juices every day. Please tell me you don't think a fresh made in home juice with a one hour shelf life max is the same as store bought juice.
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Cern, could you take a minute and politely explain the logic and basis for how your response was derived?
If the answer is that you think the Democrats are perfect and this is all the Republican's fault, then never mind.
What are the "tweaks"? There is nothing preventing the Dem leadership with going public with their ideas to fix a failing piece of legislation. Poor excuse to just blame the other side.
Lol. Republicans work in secret!
How about dopey Hitler Polosi telling everyone to approve the ACA so you then THEN read what's in it.
How about dopey Hitler Polosi telling everyone to approve the ACA so you then THEN read what's in it.
Bingo!
My favorite are the people who buy juicers and think they are healthy.
My anecdotal experience is that most people, especially overweight people, do not have a clue.
The grocery store is filled with colorful boxes, jars, and bottles of garbage.
Look at the deception being carried out with this one.
"Whole Grain - First Ingredient"
Yeah right. Trix are for Kids.
So a couple things. Saying "whole grain corn" means that the germ and bran were left in and not milled out. Sure there is a marketing aspect to it as well, but if the germ and bran were removed it would just say corn or refined grain.
Juicing is not unhealthy. Just with anything else, you have to understand what you are doing with it. You can't just use juice as your source of vegetables and you want to limit the sugar you are adding from fruits but it's a decent way to provide some quality nutrients.
A healthier option would be a diet that provided plenty of fruits and vegetables, but it is a decent supplement if you don't eat as well as you should.
I would argue that it is unless used in moderation.
If you want the vitamins and nutrients, eat the whole fruit. Removing the pulp removes the fiber and causes the sugar to be absorbed faster and in more concentrated amounts. This screws up your insulin and glucagon balance ("The Zone").
Any processed juice should be taken in very small amounts, perhaps 4 oz at breakfast and that is it. Again, better to eat an orange than to drink a glass of orange juice.
If you use a juicer, you should add the pulp back in.
I'd recommend reading Barry Sears work on the Zone diet. The glycemic effect of concentrated carbs is explained well by him.
Here a piece that also describes it. S
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/carbohydrates/carbohydrates-and-blood-sugar/
Both parties are quite guilty of playing the exclusionary games.
While I am not big fan of Pelosi, the remarks you cite have been taken out of context as so often is done.
Also, why do you find it necessary to add the "Dopey Hitler" descriptors?
http://www.snopes.com/pelosi-healthcare-pass-the-bill-to-see-what-is-in-it/
Obviously eating the fruits and vegetables whole is the best, but juicing is far from unhealthy. Yes there is no pulp to help but fresh fruit and vegetable juice is not causing disease. I've yet to read a case where juicing has hurt someone's sugar levels and caused diabetes. There may be one or two healthier options than juicing but it is healthy
Dopey - bad leader. Not agile. Lost hundreds of seats in her tenure. Lost in a San Francisco bubble of failed liberalism.
Hitler- fascist. Pro late-term abortion advocate which equals death.
Hitler- fascist. Pro late-term abortion advocate which equals death.
Don't know where I said Dems are perfect. However, a number of Democratic Senators, like Sen Joe Manchin, requested that it is time to work and fix Obamacare together and not repeal it. This was widely publicized. It has been clear that Republicans want to repeal and go it alone.
It amazes me that the Republicans can't pass this bill despite having the majority yet somehow you are looking at the Dems to blame?
The Republicans flat out dropped the ball on this one. Slice it 1,000 ways and that's still the result. The latest excuse is we didn't think we would be in this position, we didn't expect Trump to win. Nothing worse than being unprepared. If you're unprepared in sports you get creamed. If you are unprepared in the military people die. Unprepared in government, I guess you get re-elected? However everyone needs to come together and not worry about the legacy of Trump, not worry about the legacy of Obama. Just fix the problem. The problem is Republicans have special interests groups they have to appease. The Democrats have different special interests groups to appease. I still think this is the greatest country in the world, but sometimes you just have to say the people in charge do not have the best interest of serving the people.
Perfectly stated. The Dems and Obama produced a piece of crap legislation. The Reps can't figure out their solution. Special interests win; the public loses.
Yesterday someone was talking to me about various industry groups surreptitiously impacting public health policy through funding questionable scientific research. Person had just watched new documentary http://www.whatthehealthfilm.com which I haven't seen but is apparently new on Netflix so that might be it (wasn't the first person who had mentioned it to me).
Some months ago there were investigative journalism pieces about, I believe, big sugar doing this decades ago which resulted in an oversize focus on the negatives of fats (and less attention on those of sugars) which has had far-reaching impacts on public health.
I also read the first few chapters of a pretty recent book called Soda Politics which digs into the nexus of big business, lobbying, policy, marketing, and health crises related to the soda industry. The premise and findings seemed interesting and important but unfortunately the book was just too dry for me to want to finish.
It absolutely amazes me that in sports we expect the zebras to go into every game and be neutral and call things down the middle. It's really sad anyone doing an investigation tends to be biased towards whoever is paying them. Same with journalism
