My health care letter to President Obama

[BanzaiBonnie]

I really want this to be one of the ten letters he reads every day. Do you think it has a chance? And were they email letters or postal letters?


Dear President Obama,

I am writing you today about health care. There are many facets to addressing this issue, including my own opinion that some form of single payer health care should be an option, but the most important part of health care reform must be self-responsibility.

It all begins and ends with what we eat. Proper nutrition holds the key to our health. But most people haven’t a clue. We are eating ourselves to disease and early death. Change is in order. While personal behavior is not something we want to go after with the big stick of law, we can do much to support those who want to change.

This is where you can help. As much as possible, support local, organic food production. Make nutritional education a high priority. And help get high fructose corn syrup, a chemical, out of our food. There appears to be a big, bold correlation between when HFCS began to be added to almost all foods and the increase in obesity. (When we began reading labels my husband found HFCS in saltine crackers)These factors play into our health on the most basic level.

The implications surrounding obesity in our population are grave, with a connection directly to all of the following:

• Coronary heart disease
• Type 2 diabetes
• Cancers (endometrial, breast, and colon)
• Hypertension (high blood pressure)
• Dyslipidemia (for example, high total cholesterol or high levels of triglycerides)
• Stroke
• Liver and Gallbladder disease
• Sleep apnea and respiratory problems
• Osteoarthritis (a degeneration of cartilage and its underlying bone within a joint)
• Gynecological problems (abnormal menses, infertility)


I’ve had rounds with four of the above. And yet no doctor had ever mentioned my weight as a factor! And now I’ve learned that it’s not even so much weight as it is nutrition.


According to my BMI, I am obese. That puts me at risk for the primary diseases plaguing our nation. But only last month when I went to the doctor about the deterioration of my knee cartilage (osteoarthritis) did a doctor tell me I needed to lose weight. No doctor in the last thirty years EVER mentioned my weight as a disease factor. I knew my weight was a painful struggle on a personal level, but had not really made a definitive connection to the associated diseases.


Over the last few years, in our search for good health, my husband and I have taken a number of steps to change our lives for the better. First we cut out all soda and replaced it with water. Then the next year, all we did was cut out as much of the high fructose corn syrup as possible. Last fall, we purchased a Wii Fit and began weighing in every day and exercising regularly. My husband is doing step aerobics. I enjoy the hula hoop and downhill skiing. A bit after that, we got a dog. She walks us at least thirty minutes every day.

In December I went to see a naturopath about a couple of issues. She got me started eating more nuts, seeds and taking fish oil, among other things. Then my husband went to her for a couple of minor health issues and she had us both start on the anti-inflammatory diet.

This has not been easy, but both of us feel better after only a few weeks. It does take time and effort to learn to cook in a new way, but it is so worth it. I’ve also put a fair amount of study into this since beginning our new way of eating. The key thing I’ve learned is that inflammation underlies every disease on the above list.

I understand you are struggling with kicking tobacco. That’s something I’ve never had to face, but I know plenty of people who have and I understand it’s excruciating. I applaud your efforts. If you face this with us, we can get through it together. It will be helpful to get a good three liters of water into yourself daily as you quit smoking. Water is the universal solvent and is essential to clearing the toxins from your body.

It will take time, but I will be a healthy weight and you will be free from tobacco.

Thank you for taking on the big job of being President. I appreciate you more than you will ever know. I’m afraid my family may get tired of hearing it, but every day I say, “I love our President”. I am so happy you are there to lead in doing what’s right for this country.


With great respect and much affection,

[glowing]

1. I think they know a bit about this.. they were worried about their little one.

that's when they cut out the HFCS in their own lives.. I really believe it needs to be removed from all foods.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. Yes, but more needs to be done

There are a lot of folks who are miserable because they have food allergies and they don't even know it! My niece was depressed and miserable-and then found out she is gluten intolerant. I sent her a ton of gluten-free recipes, and she's back at university doing quite well. At our clinic, we had a patient who came in because the horrid blisters on his feet and hands made it impossible for him to work. We gave him a food antibody test and found out he was very allergic to dairy products. Once he cut them out, the blisters disappeared and he was able to go back to work. Food antibody profile tests cost around $250 (we charge our patients a little less and allow them to pay it out over time or, if they are unemployed, give them the tests for free), which isn't much to pay to find out what is making you sick.

Best sweetener for folks to use who have blood sugar issues is stevia, btw. Won't raise blood sugar. The non-profit Foundation where I work does a lot with this sort of thing, and have helped a lot of people.

[BanzaiBonnie]

4. Ahhh, food allergies is what the anti-inflammatory diet

is all about.

No wheat, dairy, potatoes, tomatoes, sugar, caffeine, and a bunch of other stuff. One month free of most of the offending foods. Then you can introduce things back and if you find anything that is a problem, voila... you know what you need to cut out permanently.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

7. We use that

when folks can't afford the testing. But I feel that the testing, if you can afford it, is important, because you know exactly what isn't good for you and what you can tolerate a little of. That you can rotate in and out of your diet (like have every three weeks or so). Some items, like casein, can be "hidden" in a lot of foods--to know right away you need to avoid it can help a lot in fixing your diet. And, as I said, folks that come to us are often in dire shape--they need to know what's going on faster than the time it takes to do the diet.

[BanzaiBonnie]

6. This is what I would consider support to health

Naturopaths rock.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. Kudos on your steps to good health

at the Foundation where I work, we stress these three factors as true preventive medicine:

1. Proper diet for the individual
2. Proper exercise for the individual
3. Proper supplementation for the individual

Note the key is individualization. Our MD and Naturpathic Physician and Personal Trainer work together to find out exactly what the individual patient needs to eat based upon their family's health history, their own health history, and certain lab tests.

I know this works, because I have gone through the program. You can see my before and after photos (and more information on the program) here: http://www.futurevisionsfoundation.org/wl.html

And the neatest part of all, I think, is that we are a non-profit. We try and make all our services as affordable as possible, and sometimes donate services.

[Grey]

5. A great letter and

I hope he gets to read it.

[Honeycombe8]

8. I totally agree with your concept. Totally. Many illnesses are caused by lifestyle.

But I disagree with some of your causation listings. For example, there's no proof that non-organic food is linked to any illness. Second, altho I stay away from HFCS, there is conflicting evidence that it is related to the obesity epidemic.

I think it's more basic stuff: MAINLY exercise, lack of eating veggies (w/o fat and salt), the use of salt (aggravates hypertension, heart conditions), the over-use of sugar (directly related to dental problems, which in turn, cause other illnesses), too much fat, not enough fiber.

Very basic stuff to be healthy. An education program would be helpful, and reinstating P.E. in schools nationwide. He mentioned in his speech this week that parents should turn off the T.V. (he was talking about education and doing homework, but that works for increasing kids' physical activities, too).

I disagree that people don't know most of this already, though. The line of folks at McDonald's or the bakery (most of whom seem to be obese, the few times I've been in recent years) know that stuff is bad for you. They know they should get some exercise. They have chosen a different lifestyle, though. I don't know that a government can change that.