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Can RFK Make America Healthy Again?

Heaven knows America needs to be healthier. No citation needed--you can leave your house and see that lean, fit people are the exception. But our new Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy, wants to change that. His plan includes (according to GROK, X's AI feature) investigating the root causes of chronic disease, scrutinizing food and water additives, revising the dietary guidelines, tackling environmental toxins, ensuring vaccine schedules are based on sound science, addressing the revolving door from health agencies to big pharma, and banning ultra-processed food from school lunches and SNAP (food stamp) eligibility.

Some Americans eat like this every day. Maybe that's a problem. Photo from Pexels.

All of these are good things--especially ending the pipeline of regulators who go on to work for the companies they were supposed to be regulating. But it ignores the elephant in the room: 60% of America's diet is ultra-processed food. That's compared to 14% to 44% in Europe. Ultra-processed foods, as defined by the Nova classification, are packaged foods made with non-culinary franken-ingredients. "Common UPFs includes soft drinks, snacks, processed meats, cookies, and candy," but even canned goods and yogurt can include ingredients that make them ultra-processed.  

This tracks with what I see at the grocery store. Typically at Kroger, people's carts are full of boxed foods and soda and a little bit of milk, meat and produce. Nobody looks well--most of the shoppers look like they just got up from a bad night's sleep. 

The franken-ingredients aren't the only problem with ultra-processed food. Soda, snacks, cookies and candy--also known as junk food--are empty calories whose easily digested carbohydrates can cause blood sugar swings. Those roller coaster blood sugars can make you tired, cranky and hungry--and eventually lead to weight gain, diabetes and heart disease.

The good news, though, is that you don't have to wait for change from Washington DC. Avoid junk food, avoid industrially made seed oils (like corn, canola, soybean and sunflower), and avoid emulsifers. Avoid grains and sugar, too.  

There's a lot more you can do for your health, but doing this (along with taking supplements lacking in food and water today) solved most of my health problems. 

Sources:

Ultra-processed food staples dominate mainstream U.S. supermarkets. Americans more than Europeans forced to choose between health and cost (preprint)
Bertrand Amaraggi, Wendy Wood, Laura Guinovart Martín, Jaime Giménez Sánchez, Yolanda Fleta Sánchez, Andrea de la Garza Puentes
medRxiv 2024.02.16.24302894; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.02.16.24302894

Mertens E, Colizzi C, Peñalvo JL. Ultra-processed food consumption in adults across Europe. Eur J Nutr. 2022 Apr;61(3):1521-1539. doi: 10.1007/s00394-021-02733-7. Epub 2021 Dec 3. PMID: 34862518; PMCID: PMC8921104.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nova_classification
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