Snack and Die Early!
“Snack and Die Early” is one bold headline that I am sure the author of the article I read earlier today meant in it’s entirety. After all, he is an Medical Doctor who is concerned for the health and well being of his fellow citizens – much like we are here at David’s Way to Health and Fitness. I really thought the article read like something I would write – bold and to the point without glossing anything over in order to not make anyone feel badly about their health. The point is, it matters not if you agree with Dr. Barke or not, he makes a few really good points in his article that is based on the reality in western society today. We have become soft and too heavy, and we really need to change the course of our ship, lest we crash on the rocks as a society.
From the article:
Recently, I sat in my airplane seat before takeoff and watched a parade of the obese squeeze down the aisle. Many seemed barely able to shuffle through the narrow space; how they would maneuver their bodies into the 18”-wide seats that awaited them was another mystery.
Never was it more evident to me how unhealthy our society has become than witnessing that performance. I estimated that at least half the passengers on the airplane appeared sufficiently overweight to be clinically obese. How did this happen?
In a not so distant past, this display of obesity was not the norm as it has become today. In fact, the airlines are still designing their seating to where people of a healthy body fat percentage would not be crowded. My friends, you are not crammed into an airplane like cows in a cattle car in order for the airline to make more money. You are feeling crammed because you have allowed yourself to get over a healthy body fat percentage for yourself. Dr. Barke estimated that at least half the passengers were sufficiently overweight or clinically obese. Next time you are out in public take a look around and observe the people around you – I guarantee that you will notice the same observation as the doctor.
How did it happen?
“Something to drink, sir?” asked the polite flight attendant as she passed my row. She placed the famous Southwest snack mix package next to my water. I studied the ingredients: Canola oil, soybean oil, corn syrup along with sugar. There were at least 40 separate ingredients listed, some of which I couldn’t pronounce, a few I didn’t even recognize.
It happened as a result of food companies creating highly palatable, processed, and refined foods that are also usually convenient and cheap. Think about how many times in a week you or someone you may know eats from a fast food drive through on a regular basis. Or consider how many have come to regard cooking as throwing something in the microwave, or a processed, ready to heat meal into the oven. Next time you pick up a snack food, take a look at the nutrition and ingredient labels and ask yourself if you really should be putting any of it into your body.
Many years ago, I woke up to the realization that the food industry and the government agencies that oversee them do not seem to have our best interests at heart. All you need to do to verify this point is look around you to see what the overconsumption of processed, highly refined foods has done.
Seriously, I do not place much belief into conspiracy theories, but being intellectually honest, there is no one out there who could with a straight face argue the doctor’s point. I can’t argue with him, these are the same things that we have written about in numerous articles at David’s Way. Indeed, the overconsumption of processed, highly refined foods has been the driving force behind our obesity epidemic and the health issues associated with obesity.
It has led to a pandemic of chronic illness, autoimmune problems, heart disease, diabetes and more. Mix this ingestion of inflammatory chemicals with putting 70+ doses of different vaccines into every school age child’s arm, encouraging mothers to formula feed (when they can find and buy the product), and surrounding ourselves with new powerful electromagnetic fields and you begin to see the danger.
Big pharma has contributed to this new world of chemical engineering by providing and advertising a drug for every ailment. And many of the largest pharmaceutical companies are also in the food business as well.
Hence here in lies another component to the obesity and health crisis, “Big Pharma providing and advertising a drug for every ailment”. Seriously, a sizable percentage of people nowadays will go to their doctor and want to be prescribed a medication to make their problems disappear without themselves having to make any permanent lifestyle changes to prevent the recurrence of their illnesses. Yes, this concept is absurd, but if you are obese, ask yourself how many times have you done this. How many times have you totally disregarded your doctors advice in regards to your being overweight or obese?
“many of the largest pharmaceutical companies are also in the food business as well”
Can we see a conflict of interest?
With a little effort each of us can improve our nutrition and take greater control of our health. Start by reading labels. If there are words you don’t understand, it’s probably best to pass on that food item. Next, avoid all products containing processed seed and vegetable oils. They are very inflammatory, designed to make food last a long time on the shelf, and used to enhance a product’s taste so you will want more.
Next get rid of all kinds of other sugar! Not just the sugar found in cookies, candy, and cakes, but all those sugars found in such products as Southwest’s Snack and Smile mix. You will only know what you are eating when you read the list of ingredients.
If the author of this article was not a Medical Doctor, I would swear that he has been reading our articles here at David’s Way. He is giving the exact same advice as we have been giving our readers over the last five years. Ditch the processed, refined foods and SUGAR!
Excerpts from the comments section:
While some points may be good (obesity) the “holier than thou” attitude is over the top.
People always think this kind of advice is “holier than thou”, that is until their nutritional lifestyle is killing them with a slow death. Snack and die early is a reality that too many refuse to accept.
I’ll pass on his recommendations. I have tried his “healthy” regimen. Life is too short.
Yes, life is too short, why make it shorter and of a lesser quality than it has to be?
To each his opinion, to each his life. Years ago I read about a Harvard longitudinal study covering thousands of Harvardians over a period of (I don’t recall exactly) about 50 years. The researchers were expecting to find a vast increase of lifespan among the eat-healthy-and-exercise people compared to the fat-sedentary-what-me-worry crowd. The dif, IIRC, was about two years. No doubt the former felt better, but did that mean the latter did not enjoy their steak and lobster?
This commenter apparently does not understand the importance of having a better quality of life as we age. Who wants to be in a nursing home prematurely when they can no longer get on and off the toilet without assistance. You can enjoy all the foods you now eat to your hearts content, but at some point your unhealthy lifestyle could have an impact on the loved ones around you.
I’m 73 and prolly won’t croak until my eighties, as did both sets of grandparents. If I dropped dead right now I wouldn’t have a complaint. I’m fat but wasn’t always this way. My life’s been lively and fun.
We can all point to someone in our lives, grandparent, uncle or aunt, cousin or whatever who lived to a ripe old age and had several vices that should have cut their lives short. However, if you are overweight or obese and are already having any type of metabolic health issues as a result of the way you eat, you are not going to be one of these outliers. The odds are stacked against you, and whether you want to admit it or not, you know this to be true.
Is any junk snack food worth your life, or it’s quality?