Why America Is So Unhealthy (And How To Fix It) | Documentary

from my earliest clinical rotations as a medical student up until my fourth year as an attending physician in clinical practice I noticed the disheartening Trend among not only the patients I've seen but also the larger population in the United States and the trend is this over the years in general the American people seem to be getting sicker you probably noticed this trend as well even if you don't work in healthcare you notice that every time you go to the grocery store or simply walk about town or your local community Americans just seem to be declining in vitality and energy even when compared to just one or two decades prior at first I thought that this could just be the observational bias of a single physician but when I looked into this more deeply I have found that the data very much supported what I've been seeing with my own eyes the health and quality of life in America has clearly and steadily been worsening obesity has been steadily increasing especially in just the last two decades and this trend isn't stopping a 2019 study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health projected that 50 of Americans will suffer from obesity by the year 2030. furthermore over the past few decades cardiac disease and high blood pressure have both been rising depression and anxiety diagnoses have been increasing along with prescriptions for antidepressant medications such as ssris substance abuse has also been rising in fact the CDC estimates that 51. 8 percent of All American adults live with some type of chronic disease yes more than half but why is this happening is it because our Health Care system is broken this is one factor of course though our country may be the most powerful in the world in terms of economic power and Military might our country's frequently listed far behind most other developed countries in terms of quality and access to health care in fact depending on the source and what metrics are evaluated the quality of U.

S health care ranks anywhere between a paltry 30th and 37th in the world as having worked in healthcare for more than the past decade I can say that our system is almost hopelessly broken in so many ways our system is full of competing interests inefficiencies in delivering care slow Innovation due to group think Petty corporate politics poor communication both between and within Health Systems complex and bewildering insurance and payment system to name but a few of the flaws even as a physician I will admit the U. S Health Care system and its Myriad of problems are too extensive for me to even fully understand much less come up with unifying solutions for reform but our Health Care system and its complex problems are not the focus of this video in fact I would even argue that our health care System should not even be the focus of our efforts furthermore I think that the actual role of our Health Care system is much misunderstood by our entire Society at Large health does not begin with the doctors and nurses of our health care System it does not begin with surgeries and prescription medicines our Health Care system in actuality is much like a last line of defense when a patient is suffering from obesity diabetes and extensive coronary artery disease and has been admitted to the ICU for a second heart attack the doctors and nurses rushing to care for this patient are part of a rescue effort aimed at preserving a patient with problems that have been brewing for decades quite simply the Health Care system is not meant to be utilized to the extent at which it is being used today the Health Care system is meant to be merely a Capstone Upon A much larger structure that promotes the health and well-being of Americans and what is the broad Foundation of this structure meant to be prevention is an aspect of Health that has been thoroughly neglected by politicians Health System administrators insurance companies and our society as a whole yet every wise physician knows that prevention is infinitely more valuable than treatments since even our modern treatments for most chronic diseases are not only incredibly costly but also are designed to be predominantly management tools and are not Curative and what exactly constitutes good prevention it is a nation that Embraces a healthful lifestyle and culture yes the health of a Nation begins with the culture and Society itself it is the absolute Foundation upon which the health of the American people rests and unfortunately to say that the foundation of American Health is crumbling will be very much an understatement in the simplest terms modern American life has an absolute excess of factors detrimental to health and is increasingly becoming devoid of the things that promote health take a moment and take a step back and try to view our society from a bird's eye of you in almost every aspect modern American culture promotes illness and not health now before I move on with this film please understand I'm not saying any of this to be judgmental or negative in any way towards the American people in fact I would say that the patients I saw through the years were on the whole the most wonderful and down-to-earth people a physician could ever hope to care for however I do believe that you need to fully and accurately identify a problem before you can propose meaningful Solutions and anyone who is paying attention is able to see that there is an absolute Health crisis in modern America that needs to be addressed as an American you need to know that your health is absolutely under attack from multiple fronts and I believe that all Americans need to learn exactly what is happening and how to fight back the first chapters of this film will thus be spent identifying the aspects of Health where our society is absolutely failing the later parts of this film will discuss how to make positive changes in each of those areas and hopefully begin to help our nation begin its Journey back to health and vitality once again now let's break it down to the main pillars of health and how each one is under unrelenting attack great health and prevention are actually quite simple and can be thought to rest upon four main pillars these are nutrition exercise sleep and mindset let's start with nutrition okay well if a patient's disease are caused by food what's causing the food it's the food system and like what's causing the food system it's our food policies like what's causing our food policies it's the food industry that's lobbying Congress it's got money it's the biggest Lobby group in Congress is agriculture and food far like by twice as much as the next uh Lobby Group by gas and oil or whatever yeah exactly right and it's like what so then I began thinking well if I'm going to help my patients I can't do it in my office like I can it's like it's like I'm like in the boat bailing the boat with a hole instead of plugging the hole right you're not going to the source right so then I'm thinking okay well what do I need to do as a functional medicine doctor I need to go to the root cause right the root cause and why and then it became clear to me that it's it's our agricultural system that's driving so much the problem so let's say they started out as corn you know that corn has been hydrogenated or reconstituted down to nothing so then additives are put back in to make fake food taste real additives you know think things like preservatives coloring flavoring emulsifiers trans fats everything you need to give food that basically doesn't exist flavor what impact are they having on our health well you know one of the most striking things about this study was not only that half of our calories come from these Foods right think about it half of the calories in the American diet you could buy at 7-Eleven but even more striking ninety percent of the added sugar that we get in our diet comes from this type of food now we know added sugar directly causes weight gain and obesity and then that opens up the constellation of all of the health problems that come from those from overweight and obesity right from there so the top problems that affect us today heart disease diabetes cancer high blood pressure high cholesterol human body can be seen as an infinitely complex and elegant biological machine after four years of studying in medical school it is almost impossible not to see the human body as a miracle of divine engineering as such it stands to reason that a sound and healthy body absolutely requires the proper building blocks and fuel in order to function properly this means that the human body to sustain itself properly it requires the proper intake and balance of macronutrients such as proteins fats and carbohydrates as well as vitamins and minerals and other micronutrients most people do not realize how finely calibrated the human machine is they do not realize just how critical the proper balance of each nutrient and chemical component is to the human body let's look at one common example most people think little about vitamin C and their fruit and vegetable intake however what happens to people who completely lack this vitamin in their diet a disease known as scurvy occurs which commonly plagued the sailors of centuries past Sailors with scurvy would suffer from bleeding lethargy fevers convulsion and eventually death take a moment to think about this death was a result from Simply the lack of fresh fruits and vegetables in the diet for a period of several months there are a number of other serious diseases that result from the lack of a nutrient that we take for granted iron deficiency leads to anemia vitamin D deficiency leads to rickets which involves poor bone development and bowed legs in children thiamine deficiency can lead to heart failure various forms of nervous system disease including confusion and deranged mental function iodine deficiency leads to goiter hypothyroidism muscle weakness and fatigue these are but a few examples illustrating how the lack of a single micronutrient can prove disastrous and even life-threatening nutrition is often an afterthought in the collective mind of our modern world but I cannot emphasize enough how critical nutrition is to the proper functioning of the human machine while extreme cases of specific forms of malnutrition are mainly seen in the third world and not in the United States this does not mean that the average American is getting optimal Nutrition By Any Means in fact a trend I noticed among so many patients was this they were simultaneously overweight and undernourished at the same time it is a phenomenon happening throughout the so-called developed world and was even described in the Lancet as a double burden of malnutrition that is concurrent obesity and under nutrition more and more people are getting an excess of cheap calories from poor quality food leading to weight gain yet not getting anywhere near the amount of optimal micronutrients that are needed to thrive let's take a closer look at what is off termed the standard American diet to see why this is the case most people in modern day America are relying predominantly upon fast food and prepackaged foods to form the bulk of their diets take a drive through any typical American Town throughout our nation what do you see fast food restaurants are abound you can't drive very far before you run into one or more likely multiple healthy food options are quite difficult to find and take a great deal of effort to seek out walk down the aisles of any typical American Grocery Store packaged and processed foods fill the majority of the aisles and are usually the much more affordable option fresh fruits vegetables meats and fish take up a relatively small portion of the grocery stores and are also considerably more expensive again the healthier options are just not as prevalent and also are more difficult to purchase from an economic standpoint so in modern day America poor quality food is easy to come by in cheap and healthy food is harder to find and more expensive the incentives are the complete reverse of what they should be and so it is no surprise that so much of the population subsists on such a poor diet across the United States most Americans are getting an excess of refined sugars and refined carbohydrates hydrogenated oils and trans fats high fructose corn syrup artificial sweeteners preservatives and other synthetic chemicals and most Americans are deficient in the foods that promote vitality and wellness they are lacking in fresh fruits and vegetables they are also lacking fresh sources of healthy protein such as grass-fed beef poultry pork lamb and wild fish and to top it all off much of the food supply in the United States is lading with increasing amounts of toxins much of our nation's agriculture is sprayed with profuse amounts of pesticides and herbicides in fact many of our modern crops are genetically modified organisms otherwise known as GMOs now changing a plant's genetics to increase the size and yield is not inherently bad by any means and humans have been selectively breeding for the best crops since the beginning of civilization however many modern GMOs are engineered specifically to be resistant to pesticides and herbicides so that much larger quantities can be used which certainly does not bode well for humans furthermore plastic containers and other materials ubiquitous in our environment contain chemicals that leach into our food and water supply these are chemicals like bpas and phthalates these toxins have various harmful effects on the human body over time for example glyphosate is the most widely used weed killer in the world and has been around since the 1970s and is the main chemical in Roundup there exists considerable evidence that glyphosate is a carcinogen meaning that it increases the risk of cancer in fact a study by the University of Washington that reviewed epidemiological data and animal studies concluded that exposure to this compound increases the risk of Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma by 40 percent furthermore the international Agency for research on cancer iarc which is part of the World Health Organization came to the conclusion that glyphosate was most likely a carcinogen to humans after reviewing hundreds of studies in fact this evidence was strong enough that several European countries created strong legislation against its use including Austria Germany Denmark Belgium and many others interestingly the United States EPA did its own review of the literature and did not think that there was robust enough evidence to back the iarc's claim personally I obviously side with the iarc and the European stance on this particular issue but the most important thing is that you understand that this issue exists and you do your own research and make up your own mind about what is going into your body that's because the school groundskeeper says Roundup caused his cancer a California jury agreed Carrie Gillum is a local investigative journalist and author of the recent award-winning book whitewash she's been tracking the debate and scientific studies concerning the main ingredient in Roundup which is glyphosate I think that we need to be more protective of Public Health we need to be more precautionary and we need to look at the risks as well as the rewards of these pesticides that we're using on our Foods and in farming Gillum points out this isn't about one man in one trial Monsanto actually faces thousands of lawsuits from people who blame Roundup for their cancers the World Health organization's International Agency for research on cancer the iarc said the key ingredient in Roundup glyphosate is quote probably carcinogenic to humans now moving on glyphosate is not the only suspected culprit there have been a number of studies linking common pesticides such as organochlorines and DDT to increase cancer risk as well in addition these are not the only effects of the chemicals in modern food products many of these chemicals are also thought to be obesogens and diabetogens this means that repeated exposure increases the risk of becoming overweight and developing diabetes one example is TBT which has been widely used as a fungicide on crops and also as a fungicide in industrial Water Supplies furthermore it is also present in some PVC Plastics this chemical has been clearly shown to induce obesity in multiple animal models researchers found that TBT promotes specific proteins that activate genes responsible for increasing fat cell production this is also known as an epigenetic mechanism a term you may have heard elsewhere lastly many of the chemicals in plastic packaging such as bpas and phthalates are known to be endocrine disruptors this means that they interfere with the normal functioning of the human hormonal system usually by mimicking the effects of natural hormones produced by the body it has been shown that these endocrine disrupting chemicals can disrupt the functioning of estrogen testosterone thyroid hormones as well as the hormones that regulate hunger this can lead to issues in both male and female reproductive Health as well as metabolic disease and even cardiovascular disease lastly the combination of toxic chemicals in much of American food in combination with the imbalanced nutritional profile of these Foods is thought to have an adverse effect on the gut microbiome that is the digestive system of a healthy person has an adequate balance of microorganisms in the gut that have a symbiotic relationship with humans these good microorganisms help humans digest and absorb nutrients properly and also help protect people from Bad microbes there is increasing evidence that highly processed foods select for unhealthy bacteria that promote inflammation and metabolic disease this is an area of intense scientific interest and needs a great deal of further study to fully understand but there's already mounting evidence that poor diet leads to a deranged gut biome which has a multitude of effects upon the human body and overall health the next pillar I want to discuss is exercise it is common sense that everyone that exercise is critical to Sound Health when I was working as a rehabilitation resident in New York I saw extreme examples of lack of any exercise and the profound detrimental effects upon the human body many of my patients during that time have recently been discharged from a lengthy stay in the ICU for some type of critical illness this means they have been bed bound for weeks and sometimes even months these patients literally had to learn how to walk again once they were discharged to the rehab unit in the most extreme cases they didn't even have enough strength to sit up unsupported as a physician working in these circumstances you learn a very simple Concept in the absence of exercise and movement the human body will simply wither away now while most Americans are certainly not bed bound they certainly are not getting anywhere near the amount of exercise they require for Optimal Health in fact according to the CDC only one out of every four adults is getting enough physical activity and only one out of every five high school students are getting enough physical activity in other words the vast majority of American kids and adults are just not moving enough sadly though the CDC is well aware of the hazards of physical inactivity stating that the lack of exercise is costing the American Health Care System approximately 120 billion dollars each year and markedly contributing to chronic disease later in life they seem to be doing very little about this it has been Common Sense knowledge for Millennia that exercise and regular physical activity has fantastic health benefits in fact the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates was noted for often prescribing exercise for his patients as a form of Medicine in modern times the amount of research supporting the multitude of benefits of exercise is as expected absolutely overwhelming strengthen cardiovascular training combat's overall functional decline in older adults increases bone density increases lean muscle mass improves blood and lymphatic circulation prevents diabetes decreases visceral fat decreases blood pressure and a Litany of other benefits the ancient Greeks were right exercise is not only a form of medicine in many ways it is the ultimate medicine yet the sedentary lifestyle has become a norm in modern day America in fact it has been said that Americans spend more time sitting than ever before in the nation's history since the 1950s sedentary jobs have increased by 80 percent furthermore not only are Americans not moving they are spending much of their time in non-ergonomic positions placing a great deal of repetitive stress on their necks and low backs this has led to an overwhelming amount of neck low back and musculoskeletal pain in the American population which I saw firsthand in my pain medicine practice so the effects of widespread poor diet are compounded by the lack of exercise and physical activity obesity itself is already a major health concern but when coupled with insufficient lean body mass and a poorly trained cardiovascular system the results can be quite devastating quite simply the modern sedentary lifestyle has left the majority of Americans far less robust than the men and women of preceding Generations Americans on average simply do not have the same strength speed and endurance that they once did this brings me to the next pillar of Health I want to discuss sleep the people of modern Western Society are the most sleep deprived population in all human history in the modern era we are surrounded day and night not only by electric lights alone but an infinite number of sources of entertainment and stimulation in the form of the internet television and video games in just the last decade all the most addictive forms of electronic stimulation are readily available on a single device that has taken over the entire Globe the smartphone a device that rarely leaves our hands or is more than a few feet away from us at any given moment the smartphone is changing our entire Society in various ways and has become entangled in every aspect of Our Lives to the point where it may even be changing human consciousness it also has a profound negative effect on how much sleep Society is getting as well screens emit Blue Light which has been shown to suppress secretion of a hormone known as melatonin which is critical for regulating sleep and a healthy circadian rhythm mentality that is often pushed by modern day hustle culture is that sleep is for the weak and that you should sacrifice sleep for productivity unfortunately this sentiment is very much misguided and I think a few people understand the profound importance of sleep in regard to health and well-being DrMatthew Walker is a research scientist who has spent his career studying sleep and has called sleep deprivation in modern society a silent epidemic he has stated that no aspect of our biology is left unscathed by sleep deprivation and that sleep unfortunately is not an optional lifestyle luxury sleep is a non-negotiable biological necessity it is your life support system he has years of data to back up these assertions there is a wealth of research showing that chronic sleep deprivation can cause a multitude of health issues lack of sleep decreases the brain's abilities to form new memories and hence can be disastrous for adolescents and their neural development it also greatly decreases reproductive Health in young men sleep deprivation can decrease testosterone levels to that of someone a decade their senior furthermore it also decreases immune function especially natural killer cells this point is especially important because these specific immune cells are critical for targeting and destroying cancer cells the link between sleep deprivation and cancer have become so apparent in recent years that the World Health Organization has classified night shift work as a probable carcinogen sleep deprivation also increases blood pressure and worsens blood cholesterol levels a good night's rest is the time for the circulatory system to reset and if it isn't given that opportunity it can definitely worsen blood pressure over time increasing the risk of a lifetime heart attack furthermore sleep deprivation of course also increases the risk for depression and anxiety as well also lack of sleep is associated with increased rates of diabetes weight gain as well as pain disorders thus getting healthy sleep is incredibly important I would argue that it may even be more vital than the prior two pillars I spoke about yet for most people today it is no more than an afterthought even people who are high Achievers and very health conscious often neglect this particular aspect of their health a strong willpower can overcome sleep deprivation in the short run but doing so does come at considerable cost to your body in spite of all the negative effects of poor sleep the modern societal Norm is a sacrifice sleep for just small increases in productivity or in many cases just the perception of increased productivity sadly in modern American society there's a stigma with getting healthy amounts of sleep as it is often seen as lazy or unproductive yet what could be more productive than optimizing your body and your health unfortunately depression rates have been increasing in the United States during the past decades among both adults and adolescents this increase has become even more pronounced since 2020 for obvious reasons given the society wide stressors and social isolation prescription for antidepressant medications have obviously been rising in response in addition to this very sadly another societal response to this has been increasing abuse of recreational drugs and alcohol being used as a form of self-medication and escape this is obviously horrible because it means that people who are already in poor health are routinely putting addictive poisons into their body making their situations far worse people may not realize this but beyond just resulting in sadness and increased risk of suicide decreased energy levels and decreased productivity the effects of depression extend far beyond just the mental sphere major depression is strongly associated with a number of chronic medical conditions including heart disease high blood pressure arthritis back pain asthma and migraine headaches the mind-body connection is something I witnessed firsthand every single day in my medical practice and I'm sure that many other Physicians could attest to the same that being said this is an extremely complicated phenomenon and while I doubt anyone could deny the profound effects the mind has on the body and vice versa I think that modern medicine is far from being anywhere close to fully understanding the mechanics behind this however just from a common sense standpoint it makes sense that people suffering from depression would have higher rates of physical illness because they have less energy and motivation to engage in all the healthy behaviors that were discussed earlier they have less energy to take the positive actions that protect and improve their health like exercising and improving their nutrition furthermore looking at it through the lens of traditional medicine disciplines and from a more spiritual perspective I personally believe that the mind and Consciousness have Direct physiologic effects on the body even beyond the more concrete examples I described above and may influence aspects of the body like inflammation blood pressure hormonal balance and even epigenetics and gene expression in either case whether you believe in the spiritual side of this phenomenon or not it is well established that depression leads to increased rates of a variety of physical diseases of course this becomes even more problematic because it often leads to a vicious cycle when a patient suffers from worsening physical health for example worsening back pain or worsening numbness due to diabetic neuropathy this will obviously cause the depression to worsen which will lead to more unhealthy behaviors and so on as you can see from the examples above mental health is extremely important to overall well-being depression anxiety PTSD these conditions are all so much more than just isolated feelings of sadness and stress these conditions have profound effects on physical health as well in spite of this mental health is very much neglected in modern society I mean Beyond just oh you're depressed here have an SSRI I'll see you back in six months next patient please now of course keep in mind I am not in any way against the use of antidepressants in fact I prescribe them quite often in my practice especially for patients who suffer from concomitant depression and neuropathic pain they are useful tools that definitely have their place however these medications are just not a replacement for robust social support networks consisting of strong familial relationships and deep friendships most people in America just don't have the same powerful support systems that earlier Generations had in so many ways American society has become so compartmentalized and so atomized though in some respects it is easier to keep in contact than ever before with the Advent of social media I don't think there has been any other time in history that people have been so lonely this compounded by the stressors of recent Global events has led to unacceptably high raids of depression and anxiety in the United States so I have explained all of the ways that Health in the United States is under absolute multi-front attack so how do we begin to improve it I think a great place to start is to look to the healthiest and longest lived cultures in the world and see what they are doing and then start to strategize about how to model their behaviors in our own Society two cultures that are famous for their longevity happiness and great health are the sardinians and the okinawans in Okinawa there is even a stone marker with a quote written in Japanese that says at 80 you are merely a youth at 90.