September 1, 2022 general

August 31^st, the New York Times (NYT) summed up alarming recent findings: “The average life expectancy of Americans fell precipitously in 2020 and 2021, the sharpest two-year decline in nearly 100 years and a stark reminder of the toll exacted on the nation by the continuing coronavirus pandemic.

In 2021, the average American could expect to live until the age of 76, federal health researchers reported on Wednesday. The figure represents a loss of almost three years since 2019, when Americans could expect to live, on average, nearly 79 years.” The genders have long been unequal. Women live on average 79.1 years and men, 73.2. (Oops, I have apparently outlived my warranty…and plan to continue doing so.)

That newspaper and virtually all other media outlets blamed most of the drop on covid-19 even though the US took a bigger hit than other countries that were similarly hit with the coronavirus. The NYT implied, despite scientific data to the contrary, that failure to be vaccinated was a very important factor. However, to their credit, the NYT did mention briefly that there are other reasons for the drop: “These include a fragmented, profit-driven health care system; poor diet and a lack of physical activity; and pervasive risk factors such as smoking, widespread access to guns, poverty, and pollution. The problems are compounded for marginalized groups by racism and segregation…”.

I will expand on the three of those factors that I believe have the biggest impact:

• “a fragmented, profit-driven health care system”. The current US medical system has been created and maintained top to bottom by the pharmaceutical industry. As you can see from TV commercials, it is designed to treat symptoms with medication. The idea of digging to the root cause of a problem and restoring balance at that level (ideally with natural methods) is not supported by the system—in fact, that approach is aggressively discouraged. The mainstream drugs-for-symptoms system is enthusiastically backed by medical schools, the medical establishment, insurance companies, the FDA, state medical boards, and, of course, big pharma lobbyists (who outnumber legislators more than 2 to 1). The highly profitable pharma industry has infiltrated and compromised every level of the system creating documented conflicts of interest.

There is no dispute that having large swaths of the population living with “underlying conditions” was the reason for most of the severe cases of covid and deaths. It is never mentioned that perhaps those conditions were avoidable. Worse yet, the “health” system I described above was responsible for massive criminal mismanagement of covid patients and resulted in hundreds of thousands of unnecessary deaths (more than 2/3 were needless simply because of failing to treat outpatients). The best way to understand who is to blame for the mess and how it happened is to read a wonderfully entertaining and thoroughly referenced book : The Courage to Face Covid-19: Preventing Hospitalization and Death While Battling the Bio-Pharmaceutical Complex.

Good news. You can effectively opt out of the mainstream medical system by taking charge of your health and not having a diagnosis. (That is what we aim to teach on Healthy by Nature.) First, understand that nearly all chronic conditions can be reversed (at least in the early stages) with natural methods and by basically undoing whatever got you in that shape. That requires commitment to learning more and to making changes. See next items as examples.

• “poor diet”. HBN spends a lot of time talking about this because it is so fundamental. The American diet is too high in nutrient-depleted refined carbohydrates and too low in vegetables and nutritious fruits like the berries that I discussed last week. The goal is whole uncontaminated food consumed as close to how nature created it as possible. The Library articles ABC’s of Healthy Eating and We are what we eat are good places to start. I think that the main reason “poverty” was on the NYT times list of risks is because poor neighborhoods can be “food deserts”, i.e., lacking grocery stores.
• pollution. You might think of smog when you hear that word. Of course, polluted air is a serious health problem. Unfortunately, it is hard for the average person to do much about that…except perhaps by smart voting and by supporting non-profit organizations working to protect us. (There are many good ones. I suggest using Charity Navigator to find out how responsibly your choice uses donations.) Indoor air quality is even more important than outdoor because it starts with whatever is outdoor air and then adds more which is sealed in energy efficient homes. A high-quality air filtration system is useful whether it is part of your HVAC unit or a separate device. Sources of indoor chemical exposure include smoking, cooking meth (😁), new carpeting, new upholstered furniture, and furniture that may have a wood veneer but is basically made of particle board (the glue holding particles together off gasses fumes).

Pollution of our food supply is a big issue. You might read the Aug 18 blog because it discusses glyphosate. The highly rated Environmental Working Group keeps a close eye on the toxins that appear in our food and lobbies for better standards. Please at least see their list of the Dirty Dozen produce categories that are most contaminated and therefore important to buy as organic.

Sure, genetics has something to do with longevity, but attitude is arguably the most important factor. Optimistic people have been shown to live longer. If nothing else, being determined to stay healthy (and therefore alive) might lead you to improve conditions and lifestyle behaviors that will add years and defy the stats.

The graphic at the top came from an India TV News post. (I just noticed a mistake. The person holding the US flag is not fat.) The article noted that while the US lifespan has gone down, since 2019 China’s has increased and went on to say “China’s blueprint [to increase the longevity of its citizens] includes the promotion of health knowledge, proper diet, fitness, tobacco control, prohibition of alcohol, mental health and a healthy environment.” (HELLO, US government, HELLO!!!)