Sarah Adams / Staff Writer
When the city you live in has been deemed the fattest city in the United States, it is reassuring to have a sensible stand on nutrition and health without superficial confusion. I have been called skinny all my life and a lot of times it is said with negative connotation that I wholeheartedly believed I was somehow at fault for. It was extremely confusing to learn of the food pyramid at young age only to grow up and bring veggies to a party with a reaction of pure shock. As if none of my piers accepted the knowledge offered to us in health class or anything before that on how we were supposed to treat our bodies.
Not only is it my city, but my country that is feeling the effects of the obesity epidemic and it is also my country that is profiting from this sickness. The more unhealthy we become, whether it be physically or mentally, the more money pharmaceutical companies make while they force medication ads down our throat and suggest that they are the solution but I must be honest and disagree with this position. Pfizer, a pharmaceutical company based out of the U.S., is responsible for such drugs like Lipotor, used for lowering cholesterol, Lyrica for neuropathic pain, Viagra and Celebrex for inflammation and is currently valued at $67.42 billion. Pfizer has settled four accounts of healthcare fraud with its most recent being in September 2009 for illegally marketing the arthritis drug, Bextra that was not approved by the FDA and settling at $2.3 billion to U.S. Department of Justice. Although it was a record sum, it still amounts to less than three weeks of Pfizer’s sales. The message that they are sending is that they will put anything on the market if it will sell. It is a trap conspired for monetary gain and nothing more. The sad part is we trust these companies with our lives, literally.
And why shouldn’t we? I mean they are the experts, right? I’m sure they are but that doesn’t mean they have your best interest in mind. It is up to us as individuals to start making the calls on our bodies and that must start with nutrition. The reason we take vitamins and even consider nutrients is because our body and our brain need them. When your brain is hungry or starved of its nutrients, it affects the entire body and these effects are usually attributed to something else. Stress is a big one that doctors like to blame health issues on but think of it like this: Stress is just a message from the brain to you telling you that it is lacking something. So when nutrient levels drop, you get heart disease, chronic back pain, digestive problems, concentration problems and especially mood fluctuations. This is where eating those veggies comes in because they are packed with vitamins that are easily broken down by the body thus revitalizing the body in a healthy way rather than a quick fix like coffee.
Vegetables and fruits also bring color to your skin, clear up acne and increase the quality of your hair. This is part of our evolution; when we see pretty people we know they are healthy therefore we get closer in attempt to extend our own self. Being healthy and pretty are not superficial trends, they are qualities that are necessary for our survival. It is not hard to become healthy with a little bit of self-education and conscious decision on what you are doing to your body. Take out anything processes and replace with something natural and within a few weeks you too will see a huge difference in your energy levels, the appearance of your skin and even mood peaks. Let’s end the chunky trend with one veggie at a time.
