We live in a culture of excess. I would like to believe that this is slowly changing, but I'm not quite convinced. In the realm of food, excess is the norm (Have you eaten out recently and noticed portion sizes? Have you ever watched Man vs. Food?) and because of this our health as a nation is paying the price.

In all the comments, opinions, and craziness that was voiced during the deliberations around health care policy last year, I rarely (if ever) heard one thing about improving the diets of Americans to reduce health care costs. If people would simply reduce the excessive portions they eat and include vastly larger amounts of fruits and vegetables, I believe we would notice a difference in disease trends and health in general. I could go on and on about this topic but I want to share a brief passage from the website of John Robbins (The Food Revolution) that says it better than I could:

"It’s striking to me that in all the heated debates we have had about health care reform, one basic fact has rarely been discussed, and that is the one thing that could dramatically bring down the costs of health care while improving the health of our people. Studies have shown that 50 to 70 percent of the nation’s health care costs are preventable, and the single most effective step most people can take to improve their health is to eat a healthier diet. If Americans were to stop overeating, to stop eating unhealthy foods and to instead eat more foods with higher nutrient densities and cancer protective properties, we could have a more affordable, sustainable and effective health care system."

Seems pretty logical, doesn't it? So why is it so hard to do this?

To read Robbins' blog entry in full, follow this link: http://www.johnrobbins.info/blog/just-how-bad-is-mcdonalds-food/