"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food." - Hippocrates When the father of western medicine, Hippocrates, gave us this quote back in the times of Ancient Greece, he was providing one way of solving the public health crisis of our time. I like what Dr. Albert Schweitzer said even better, "It's supposed to be a secret, but I'll tell you anyway. We doctors do nothing. We only help and encourage the doctor within." Marcia Upson, RN, MS, FNP-C, founder of Naturally Slim, has shared that the average American got 4 ounces of sugar in the 1800s. In 1948 we took in 15 pounds of sugar a year. In 2000, our sugar intake rose to 170 lbs and today we believe each of us consumes over 200 lbs of sugar a year.
This is why our industry is preparing for studies that predict 95% of all Americans to be overweight or obese in two decades and for one in three of us to be diabetic by 2050. As astute business owners, it is why we are providing employee benefit solutions to address these highly predictive trends, regardless of where you fall on the metabolic risk continuum. For earlier posts on this topic, please read: Fed Up! / Trends Not So Sweet.
Diabetes and Cake photo
Source: Photo credit - Kristen Werner