85% Undernourished

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today released the results of a recent telephone surveyed involving 356,112 people which found that less than 15 percent of the population were actually eating enough fruits and vegetables and getting enough exercise. And this government survey only used five servings of fruits and vegetables as the target goal (the new HHS recommendation is actually nine).

The exercise questions were on moderately intense exercise for at least 30 minutes a day, five days a week, or vigorous exercise for at least 20 minutes a day, three days a week.

The survey found that only 14.6 percent of those surveyed were getting both enough exercise and enough fruits and vegetables. This broke down into 16.6 percent of women and 12.4 percent of men.

Sorting the results by ethnic group, the researchers found that American Indians and Alaska Natives scored the best, with 19.6 percent of women and 17.5 percent of men getting enough vegetables and exercise. In contrast, only 17 percent of white women, 14.8 percent of Latino women and 12.6 percent of black women met the government standards, along with 12.6 percent of white men, 11.7 percent of Latino men and 11.2 percent of black men.

This report underscores the need for any new government healthcare plan to focus on lifestyle improvements including daily exercise, improved dietary habits and daily supplementation with a full-spectrum multiple to address nutrient deficiencies associated with DNA breakage, innapropriate gene transcription, and the progression of chronic degenerative diseases, on which 75 percent of our healthcare dollars are spent according to the most recent statistics.

Worlds oldest man

Tomoji Tanabe, celebrated his 112th birthday last week (Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2007) in the southern Japanese city of Miyakonojo, in Miyazaki prefecture. Born Sept. 18, 1895, Tanabe was named world's oldest man after the death of the Puerto Rican Emiliano Mercado Del Toro, who died aged 115 last January.

How did he do it? Tanabe is a former city land surveyor who lives with his son and daughter-in-law. He is in good health and is a milk drinker. He also keeps a diary, avoids alcohol, and does not smoke. He believes his lifelong avoidance of alcohol has led to his good health and longevity, and he remains active by working in his dairy and taking walks near his home.

Japan has one of the world's longest average life spans, and the growing number of Japanese centenarians is often attributed to the nation’s traditional diet rich in fish and rice. But part of the reason may be an overall improvement of the Japanese diet, with greater emphasis on variety of foods with more attention to vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Exercise is also important in the Japanese lifestyle.

The number of Japanese living beyond 100 has more than quadrupled in the past 15 years, with the once-exclusive centenarian club soon expected to surpass 28,000, the government has announced. The increase underscores both positive and negative sides of the country's aging population. While experts say there are more active centenarians than ever before, the rapidly graying population adds to concerns over Japan's overburdened public pension system.

The increasing longevity in Japan may be due to several factors, including, in addition to the traditional diet of fish and rice, the growing popularity of multivitamins, minerals and antioxidants, in addition to regular exercise.

We could all learn from the Japanese.

Inflammation 101 - Steve Whiting, PhD

Our esteemed scientific advisory board member, Steve Whiting, PhD, does a fabulous job of explaining why inflammation can be your best friend or your worst enemy. He also discusses the importance of choosing a natural anti-inflamatory whenever possible.

Questions for HIllary Clinton

I just received Mrs. Clinton's proposed American Health Choices Plan to ensure that all Americans have affordable, quality health insurance. This plan covers every American - finally addressing the needs of the 47 million uninsured and the tens of millions of workers with coverage who fear they could be one pink slip away from losing their health coverage.

1. She is proposing the same choice of health plan options that members of congress receive for everyone (Federal Employee Health Benefit Program (FEHBP) - that seems fair.
2. She is promising lower premiums and increased security by reducing costs and insurance discrimination - that seems reasonable.
3. She is promoting shared responsibility by ending discrimination based on pre-existing conditions and requiring individuals to keep this high-quality affordable insurance - that would be a very good thing.
4. She is proposing refundable insurance tax credits for working families - seems very fair.
5. She is proposing small business tax credits for job-based coverage - love that idea.

She is also proposing a choice of health plan options and, as a condition of doing business with the federal government, insurers must cover high-priority preventive services that experts agree are proven and effective. This focus on prevention will improve health and lower costs in the long run. Now we are talking!!!!!

My questions:

1) Nowhere in the shared responsibility plan did I see anything about affordable health care coverage requiring individual citizens to be responsible for making lifestyle choices that help prevent disease.

2) Nor did I see anything in the plan about the reasonable possibility of funding this universal health care coverage by dramatically raising taxes on corporations that knowingly promote disease.