Nutrition and Health

If there is one natural relationship that correlates directly, that is the relationship between nutrition and health. You take in good nutrition, and you will have good health. Conversely, you have bad nutrition, and you will surely have bad health. Now how do we gauge good health? Without being a doctor, and without resorting to thorough physical and medical examination, there are very visible indicators of our state of health. Of course the most obvious is our size and weight. Generally, a person that is overweight is not in good health, and one who is obese is even more so. On the other end of the pendulum, someone who is very visibly thin is also obviously not in a very good state of health either. This understanding of the direct relationship between nutrition and good health is generally common knowledge - a "no brainer." And yet, despite this common knowledge, a lot of people are still NOT in good health. Based on statistics provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2004 data), 2 out of 3 adults in the United States (that is 67%) are overweight. One (1) out of 3 adults in the U.S. (or 33%)are considered obese. Worldwide, as of 2006, the World Health Organization data shows about 1.5 billion people are overweight, and of this number, about 140 million are in the U.S. There are also some 66 million obese adults in the U.S. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2004 data). These numbers are staggering - indicating a very serious health problem. The irony of it is, that the United States is among the richest countries in the world, and yet it is plagued by this very serious health problem that only seems to be growing, rather than diminishing as the years go by.

The Vital Nutrition Factor
So how does nutrition impact our state of health? According to the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, dietary factors (meaning the kind of nutrition we have) are associated with four (4) of the ten (10) leading causes of death in the United States. These are: heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes. Now here is the kicker: about 50% or more of the deaths are diet-related!! If that does not drive home the vital importance of nutrition to good health, and conversely, the detrimental, deadly impact of poor nutrition on our well-being, nothing ever will.

The Obvious Conclusion
Having established all that - we go back to the very basic premise that in order to be in good health, we must have good nutrition. And this fundamental lesson, even if we sound repetitious and redundant, needs to be not only understood by everyone, but properly ACTED UPON. Failing to do so will result in our becoming a part of the sad statistics that we have just cited.