It’s radically sad that food is the leading cause of diseases. Chronic ailments such as heart disease, diabetes and premature death are destroying the American Middle Class. In our continued series on the effects diet has on our health and well-being, let’s explore the financial impact diet has on our pocketbook too!
Social insurance spending reached $3.3 trillion dollars in 2017 based upon estimates from the Center for Medicare Services (CMS). Spending is expected to keep on developing at a rate of 5.5 percent through 2025. The treatment of chronic diseases attribute to a noteworthy piece of that spending. There might be no imaginable closure, but the hope for those enduring these unending maladies is closer than before reported.
Food is the leading cause of diseases that are destroying America’s Middle Class.
A chronic disease, as defined by the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, is a disease lasting three months or longer due to one or more chronic health conditions. About 60 million Americans are limited in their usual activities due to chronic diseases. Obesity is the leading cause followed by high blood pressure (hypertension), hyperlipidemia, (excess fat in the blood stream), lower back pain, anxiety and depression, and strokes. These are diseases related to poor diet and are highly preventable!
The American Medical Association (AMA) has asked private and public payers to fund chronic disease management programs. Accessing health care because of diet-related disease is a leading cause for patient’s seeking care. Doctor’s offices are often packed with people looking for new medications and treatments. Health insurance companies have become creative in shifting cost from payer company to patient. Some companies have tried to hide the true cost of medical care by not revealing it until the bill arrives in the mail. Shock and panic begin to surface when you open the bill. You’ve met your high deductible; paid the high out-of-pocket expense, plus inpatient deductible and “specialty drug” co-payments. Now, you learn that another unexpected ridiculous amount has been added to your bill that you cannot pay. Adding to this insult is your recovery may take months or years and you are now medically unable to work. The middle class is eating itself into financial ruin.
We are bankrupting our nation by eating way too much of everything that is bad for our health. Every month there is a new diet plan that is “guaranteed” to help you lose weight and keep it off surfaces. The $3.3 trillion spent on treatment for diabetes, heart disease, strokes, and cancer is expected to increase this year and next. In two years, we will be spending $5.2 trillion on health care.
Americans are frustrated and rightly so. The $3.3 trillion dollars each year we spend on health care, we have little to show for it.
Food Caused the Problem and Food is the Solution.
The solution is not to spend more on treatment because all we’re doing is making treatment more expensive and less available. We spend less than fifty billion dollars a year on prevention. The solution is to spend more money on prevention!
When tackling obesity, the solution is not going to be in medication and there will never be a magic “diet pill” that will help lose weight. Seventy percent of adults over the age of 40 and young adults age 12 to 25 are considered obese and now take one or more medications to manage their condition. Seventy-eight percent of these people miss three or more days from work or school each month. Employees on medical disability for 30 or more days now total in the millions. You can go into any business in America and find three or more employees missing work every day because of illness. According to the Department of Health and Human Service, disability claims have increased ten percent each year since 2002. The solution is educating employees on the dangers hidden in food. We are bankrupting our nation by eating way too much of everything that is bad for our health. The solution is as simple. Companies can educate their employees on making better food choices and better eating habits. Foodology has been doing that for more than ten years with remarkable results!
When we give professional development seminars on healthy nutrition, diet and weight loss, the usual reaction we get from the audience, is one of complete shock. Employees are stunned at all the hidden ingredients in the food we buy. We have pointed out some commercial products that have over 300% of the FDA recommended daily allowance for salt. Other “foods” have as much as 30% added fat. Misleading labelling leads to over consuming, weight gain and chronic diseases. When we showed our audience the actual calories in one can of soda, fruit juice, or energy drink, they were stunned!
When employees leave our wellness classes, they never look at food the same way again. Grocery shopping becomes a whole new experience as they make better food choices, ask important nutritional questions and make selections that are truly healthy and good for them. About 60 million Americans are limited in their usual activities due to chronic diseases. Obesity is the leading cause of chronic diseases. As a result, the financial cost of foodborne illness is leading to the bankruptcy of our nation. One in five American households has at least one metabolic disease. We have the solution to this run-away health care disaster.
Along with some the most brilliant medical minds in the country, we came to realize that the pandemic that was sweeping across the country and wreaking havoc on corporate health insurance plans could be fixed. Corporations shell out millions of dollars for employee health benefits that could be reduced if employees were healthier. We made it our mission to educate.
Learn All About:
-5 Simple foods that burn calories and improve your health.
-What exercises fire up your metabolism.
-The truth behind “negative calorie” foods.
-How diets can be dangerous!
-How you can nourish your cells and live a healthier life.
Let our Dieticians, Nutritionist and Exercise Physiologist come and change your bottom line. Contact us to learn how you can reduce your risk of diet-related health problems by 90% by arming yourself with knowledge from our wellness education program! Wellness Begins with food!
