Friday, August 7, 2009

A Healthcare Debate of a Different Kind

Doing a little browsing on the internet, and came across an article about how we’re slowly being killed by corporate junk foods, namely from McDonald’s, Burger King, and the other usual suspects. I hate to admit it, but love McDonald’s, especially the French fries. However, I don’t exactly remember them inducing an addiction where I have to eat them on a daily basis. The argument we’ve been manipulated into becoming gluttons has gotten extremely stale over the years. It’s a safe bet there was diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, and obesity long before junk food hit the scenes. And you know what? Despite the belly aching about how unhealthy Americans are we are living a lot longer today then our forefathers ever did. You know what else is annoying? Why is it always “we” have become gluttonous junk food addicts? I couldn’t eat at a fast food joint everyday even if they paid me. Come to think of it supermarket food isn’t much better since there’s enough salt and addictives in canned, and other processed foods to keep King Tut preserved for another thousand years. Its true health issues are a worldwide problem, not necessarily confined to the United States. Lots of terrible ailments are trending upward at an alarming rate, but is it a symptom of each how society lives? It just so happens for some Americans it easier and more convenient to go through the fast food drive thru as opposed to cooking a homemade dinner that takes an hour or more. Color me lazy. I eat fast foods because I can’t cook, don’t want to take the time to learn, and have no patience with following a recipe. Then there are these little things called ‘genes’ that predispose you to a host of nasty things. Contrary to popular opinion health nuts can and do die from heart attacks and cancer just like anybody else. Do I dare say, because these diseases might run in their families? Getting older doesn’t help you much either. Your body is not as efficient, and you probably don’t exercise as much as you used to. I know I don’t, but then again I don’t sat on my ass all day doing nothing. I’m not overweight, but I’ve had past weight problems that have made me conscious of staying slim. I’ll admit I do eat organic, vegetables, Lean Cruise, and hardly any processed foods. But I’m human, and greedy, so it gets hard to turn away from my favorites like pizza, Chinese food, and fried goodies. I guess the bottom line is you can’t regulate what people eat, regardless of how overwhelmingly unhealthy they are. And we all know people who have maintained their health poorly during the course of their entire lives. Ultimately the blame is with the overweight person, and not the popular restaurants. I’m not trying to defend the fast food giants, nor the food manufacturers that throw all sorts of crap like high fructose corn syrup, salt, MSG into our foods, but education about healthy eating starts at home. You’re just as likely to meet your maker from an addiction to alcohol, or nicotine, and the diseases caused by these products are self-inflicted as well.

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