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ARTICLES

Is Your Diet Killing You?

Okay America, it is time to put down that monster burger and down size your steak. Americans currently consume more red meat than any other food group, even though excessive red meat consumption has been linked in multiple scientific studies to increased rates of cancer.

A recent long-range study of older Americans, conducted by the National Cancer Institute, found that over a decade, eating a quarter pound of red meat daily gave men a 22% higher risk of dying of cancer and a 27% higher risk of dying of heart disease compared to those who limited their red meat consumption to just 5 ounces per week.

To make things worse, we are eating less of the good stuff. Americans eat fewer servings of fruits and vegetables today than they did at the start of the decade, according to a report released this month by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The CDC estimates that in 2009, just 32.5% of American adults consumed fruit two or more times per day, and a paltry 26.3% consumed vegetables three or more times per day. Those numbers show a noticeable decline since 2000, when 34.4% of Americans reported eating fruit more than twice a day, and 26.7% ate the recommended three or more servings of vegetables.

Many people do not realize the importance of eating enough fruits and veggies throughout the day. The reason that it is recommended to eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day is not to turn you into a vegetarian (although it would help you live longer). Fruits and vegetables are processed quickly by your body and the nutrients from them cannot be stored like protein and fat. By eating several servings throughout the day, you can keep that supply of nutrients coming.
Meat does not need to be eaten throughout the day because it is processed much more slowly by your body. It basically sits in your stomach and rots away as your stomach acids break it down.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates, Americans consume more than 220 pounds of meat per year per person — that’s more than twice the global average. The amount of meat the average American eats each year has increased more than 50% since 1950, when yearly consumption was measured at just 144 pounds per person.

In short, your diet may be killing you. This shift to more meat and less plant-based food, along with an excess of processed foods has resulted in the average lifespan becoming shorter for the first time in history. People in Japan and similar environments that still eat plant based diets are living longer than ever before. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. It will kill you in the end.