America's No. 1 Killer: Cardiovascular Disease. How Americanized do you really want to become?

[Fandango 1,440]

Free gym memberships paid by the gov't! And there's a fine if you don't go 3x a week!

[FortLaudy 10]

So what? Noone said life is fair.

If you don't want to follow societies rules, you should take yourself out of it and move to a log cabin.

Damn right about that, haha! We don't quite live in a log cabin, but proudly nearly completely self-sufficient and becoming even more so every day. I'm working on a great project at school to educate students about food, it's amazing... some people think brown rice and white rice is a different plant

[Ali G. 37]

You will pay for the fat and lazy folks especially under a health reform so enjoy watching them kill themselves on your dime. We'll ensure they live longer and require more healthcare in their old age.

Of course, since there are just so many healthy eating choices in the US or in our schools. The quality of fresh food I used to purchase at a regular grocery store in AUS, must be purchased from wholefoods here, at 10 times the price.

Edited February 20, 2010 by Booyah

[Peikko 1,575]

You are paying for this now - what's funny, in a black humour kind of way, is that the average American consumer of health care pays approximately 20% more for worse coverage than the average citizen in a country that has universal health care. Suck on that.

Of course, those with money in any country can get better care than the average consumer so let's not go down the 'best in the world' red herring #######.

[FortLaudy 10]

Exercise is a big component as well but you can eat foods without additives and still drop death from CVD. Chinese mummies from a long time ago reveal some have died from CVD. If all natural foods were the key people in poor countries would live longer than those in the affluent nations. The people in the developing world died from causes earlier in life prior the the onset of diseases which kill off the old folks in richer countries. In any case, heart, lung disease and stroke were leading causes meaning humans have a built in expiration date regardless of significant environmental factors.

Causes of death in developing countries Number of deaths Causes of death in developed countries Number of deaths

HIV-AIDS 2,678,000 Ischaemic heart disease 3,512,000

Lower respiratory infections 2,643,000 Cerebrovascular disease 3,346,000

Ischaemic heart disease 2,484,000 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 1,829,000

Diarrhea 1,793,000 Lower respiratory infections 1,180,000

Cerebrovascular disease 1,381,000 Lung cancer 938,000

Childhood diseases 1,217,000 Car accident 669,000

Malaria 1,103,000 Stomach cancer 657,000

Tuberculosis 1,021,000 Hypertensive heart disease 635,000

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 748,000 Tuberculosis 571,000

Measles 674,000 Suicide 499,000

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_causes_of_death_by_rate

You will pay for the fat and lazy folks especially under a health reform so enjoy watching them kill themselves on your dime. We'll ensure they live longer and require more healthcare in their old age.

You're right, of course exercise is another huge component. Yes, humans do have a natural way of expiring... CVD is a rampant Early death though, not for those who die of old age combined with CVD

[Peikko 1,575]

Hey, perhaps you guys want to implement a questionaire before you get health insurance? If you tick too many unhealthy choice boxes, you can't get health insurance - or you have to pay an exhorbitant premium? That would maybe fish out all those people you are currently paying for...of course, you'll probably have to pay for terminal care for them which is very expensive or just let people die. That'll improve the longevity statistics for the USA

[FortLaudy 10]

Of course, since there are just so many healthy eating choices in the US or in our schools. The quality of fresh food I used to purchase at a regular grocery store in AUS, must be purchased from wholefoods here, at 10 times the price.

EXACTLY what I'm seeing here Booyah, the complete lack of fresh produce or if available ridiculously expensive and Imported... #######...?

In France my aunt Walks to the farmer's market to buy fresh fish and produce, my uncle owns a plot that he grows fresh fruit and veg on... My dad alway made the point of keeping an awesome veggie garden so I grew up with eating only organic produce, since moving here I could not believe what people were eating and how unhealthy their lifestyles were and how stubborn they were to change their ways...

[Ali G. 37]

You are paying for this now - what's funny, in a black humour kind of way, is that the average American consumer of health care pays approximately 20% more for worse coverage than the average citizen in a country that has universal health care. Suck on that.

Of course, those with money in any country can get better care than the average consumer so let's not go down the 'best in the world' red herring #######.

Actually more than that.

Scroll through this interactive article I noticed yesterday. The two things to look at in particular are the interactive map regarding America's waistline and the option illustrating how the US compares to others around the world. For example. The US spends over ~$7,200 per capita vs Australia's $3,100 or Japan's $2,300, yet life expectancy for Americans' is just 78.1 vs 81.6 and 82.1 respectively.

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/sto...nt/flyp_ibm_07/

[FortLaudy 10]

Free gym memberships paid by the gov't! And there's a fine if you don't go 3x a week!

The insurance I have does not offer a free gym membership, so we have to pay for it seperately. A girl I know here is a teacher, so she gets some sort of health insurance that gives her free gym membership... and she doesn't ever go, neither does she cook... needless to say she beat anorexia pretty well too.

[Ali G. 37]

EXACTLY what I'm seeing here Booyah, the complete lack of fresh produce or if available ridiculously expensive and Imported... #######...?

In France my aunt Walks to the farmer's market to buy fresh fish and produce, my uncle owns a plot that he grows fresh fruit and veg on... My dad alway made the point of keeping an awesome veggie garden so I grew up with eating only organic produce, since moving here I could not believe what people were eating and how unhealthy their lifestyles were and how stubborn they were to change their ways...

My dad did the same thing too... He used to have quite a decent size garden (16 * 7 meters) and used to love growing a range of fresh vegetables, which he distributed to neighbors and relatives. Now given, Australia has some excellent fresh produce that you can purchase straight off the shelf and for a ridiculously cheap price. Such produce is so popular that they still have fruit shops and butchers and Deli and so on, that purchase fresh produce from local markets.

Farms here are focused on things like Corn, cotton or soy. Which is unfortunate because the US has an excellent climate and landscape for growing fresh produce but it just does not utilize it because the demand is not there. People are just so used to eating processed rubbish, which is of ####### quality anyway. One of the biggest things I miss from Europe and Australia is the quality of the food there. Even the processed food is of great quality. Anyone who has drunk a glass of milk in Europe or Australia and then compares it to what we receive here gets what I am talking about.

When you look at various documentaries discussing how livestock is raised in this country, you realize that animals are treated as a machine and housed accordingly. I am the furthest from a hippie liberal yank, but I strongly believe that a stressed and mistreated animal releases hormones accordingly into their meat, milk and eggs etc. It's why I only purchase livestock products that are ethically raised. Furthermore, get to graze in the open and in natural environments.

Edited February 20, 2010 by Booyah

[FortLaudy 10]

My dad did the same thing too... He used to have quite a decent size garden (16 * 7 meters) and used to love growing a range of fresh vegetables, which he distributed to neighbors and relatives. Now given, Australia has some excellent fresh produce that you can purchase straight off the shelf and for a ridiculously cheap price. Such produce is so popular that they still have fruit shops and butchers and Deli and so on, that purchase fresh produce from local markets.

Farms here are focused on things like Corn, cotton or soy. Which is unfortunate because the US has an excellent climate and landscape for growing fresh produce but it just does not utilize it because the demand is not there. People are just so used to eating processed rubbish, which is of ####### quality anyway. One of the biggest things I miss from Europe and Australia is the quality of the food there. Even the processed food is of great quality. Anyone who has drunk a glass of milk in Europe or Australia and then compares it to what we receive here gets what I am talking about.

When you look at various documentaries discussing how livestock is raised in this country, you realize that animals are treated as a machine and housed accordingly. I am the furthest from a hippie liberal yank, but I strongly believe that a stressed and mistreated animal releases hormones accordingly into their meat, milk and eggs etc. It's why I only purchased ethically treated and raised organic livestock products.

Yup, and isn't it funny that the older we become the more we value the things our parents did or mimic them and want to return to a more simple lifestyle?

Sometimes at public places such as the dogpark the topic of food will come up and everyone is always so surprised that I have a veggie patch in our backyard and we cook everything from scratch every day, it's such a foreign concept to them... they always ask me if I spend all day in the kitchen cooking... lol... so silly !!!

[Ali G. 37]

Yup, and isn't it funny that the older we become the more we value the things our parents did or mimic them and want to return to a more simple lifestyle?

Sometimes at public places such as the dogpark the topic of food will come up and everyone is always so surprised that I have a veggie patch in our backyard and we cook everything from scratch every day, it's such a foreign concept to them... they always ask me if I spend all day in the kitchen cooking... lol... so silly !!!

Tell me about it. I remember I used to plead with my folks to stop because others didn't do it. Nowadays, my old man could sell the organic produce for top $$$.

[FortLaudy 10]

Tell me about it. I remember I used to plead with my folks to stop because others didn't do it. Nowadays, my old man could sell the organic produce for top $$$.

Exactly ! Whole Foods is making a killing selling very very simple products... the stuff you put in the ground and water.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

I think it's a dumb decision to put clothes on dogs. Maybe that should be regulated also.

Putting clothes on one's pet has no adverse cost effect on anyone else.

[Marzy 1]

Why is bad food so cheap? That's what I'd like to know.

Because it's so expensive to hire people, and other needed to grow organic plants/foods. Also, people that eat it, deserve what they've got.

Edited February 21, 2010 by Fresgal