Latest Trustworthy News from Dr. Mercola - delivered straight to your inbox!
st patricks sale st patricks sale

Americans Are Outlived by People in Poorer Countries, and the Gap Is About to Get Bigger

  • March 02, 2017

As if we didn’t need another reminder that Americans are on the downslide when it comes to the state of their health, a new study has come out showing that U.S. life expectancy is on the decline, with poorer countries outliving Americans. New York Magazine cited lack of universal health care as one reason for this.

But, unless Americans ditch processed, sugar-laden foods and adopt a healthy lifestyle that includes fresh, whole, real foods, no amount of universal health care is going to make us live longer. An astonishing 60 percent of the food Americans eat is ULTRA-processed, and these foods account for 90 percent of the added sugar consumption in the U.S.

The dangers of eating this way are well-established. Research shows that as much as 40 percent of American healthcare expenditures are for diseases directly related to the overconsumption of sugar, with more than $1 trillion a year spent on treating sugar and junk food-related diseases, which runs the gamut from obesity and diabetes, to heart disease and cancer.

My new book, “Fat for Fuel,” will teach you how to get off the sugar train and hop on the road to health and a longer life. One of the keys to long-term weight management is healthy metabolism and mitochondrial function, a core concept for optimal health and disease prevention that is the focus of my book.

To improve your mitochondrial function through diet, the key is to eat in such a way that your body is able to burn fat as its primary fuel rather than sugars — and my book will show you how this works.