Image by Dan SanDonkey via FlickrI know but apparently they don't know that there are countless people who have a problem with gluten who are asymptomatic. I also know that gluten sensitivity affects up to 144 million Americans, so if you think you are among the lucky it doesn't affect, I sure hope you have tested yourself every which way possible to try to rule out a gluten issue.
In case you are still skeptical that our food is wreaking havoc on our bodies, here are some eye-opening, slap-you-silly statistics that might make you consider your diet and how it can be improved. I am not saying bad food choices cause every single one of these ailments but I am saying that what you eat plays a major role in how you feel. I find it depressing that as a nation we are so very sick.
I've gathered this information from my library of health books, almost all of which are written by M.D.s or from websites such as the Center for Disease Control:
- Depression affects up to 18 million Americans yet 27 million Americans are taking antidepressants.
- 24 million Americans have diabetes (and that number seems to increase by the minute).
- The number of Americans with Type 2 diabetes has TRIPLED over the past 30 years.
- 75% of the world's population is lactose intolerant. 50 million Americans suffer from lactose issues.
- 50 million adult Americans suffer from heartburn at least once a month.
- 34% of Americans are obese.
- 11% of children aged 2-5 are overweight.
- 89% of Americans will develop hemorrhoids at one time or another in their lives.
- Autoimmune thyroid disease is the most common autoimmune disease in the nation.
- More than 12 million Americans have a thyroid condition and as many as 60 million are estimated to have a thyroid problem.
- By 2016, less than a decade from now, the number of American adults (those 22 and over) with autism is expected to be nearly 1.5 million.
- Autism affects as many as 1 in every 110 children in the United States.
- 80,700,000 people in the United States have one or more forms of cardiovascular disease.
- 73 million Americans have high blood pressure.
- 16 million Americans have coronary heart disease.
- 5.3 million Americans have heart failure.
- 6 million men and women of reproductive age in the USA are affected by infertility.
- 2.1 million Americans have Rheumatoid Arthritis.
- 1 out of 5 Americans suffers from Irritable Bowl Syndrome. It is one of the most frequently occurring gastrointestinal disorders.
- More than 25 million Americans will develop a peptic ulcer at some times in their lives.
- Crohn's Disease has spread like an epidemic since 1950 and it affects up to 1 million Americans.
- By the age of 55, 1 in 5 American women will have their uterus removed.
- 11 million Americans have cancer.
- 555,500 Americans will die from cancer, corresponding to 1,500 Americans a day.
- 1,284,900 new cases of cancer are diagnosed each day.
- An estimated 205,000 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed each year, with an estimated number of deaths at 40,000.
- 28 million Americans have migraines.
- An estimated 26% of Americans ages 18 and older — about one in four adults — suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year.
- Approximately 20 million American adults, or about 9.5% of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year, have a mood disorder.
- Bipolar disorder affects approximately 5.7 million American adults, or about 2.6% of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year
- Approximately 2.4 million American adults, or about 1.1 percent of the population age 18 and older in a given year,11 have schizophrenia.
- Gastritis accounts for more than 2 million doctor office visits each year in the U.S.
- More than 19 million Americans have chronic esophagitis.
- More than 1 million Americans have recurrent seizures.
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Wow! Really makes you stop & think what you are putting in your mouth every.single.bite.
ReplyDeleteKim
Hi Kim. The sad thing is, I got so depressed writing down all of the many ailments we all suffer from that I quit mid-way. The autoimmune disease increases + the huge amount of heart problems in this country is a huge, huge wake up call but I think most of the country just hits the snooze and never really wakes up when it comes to what foods they are putting into their mouths.
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