Poor Diets Threaten National Security
Advanced Back and Neck Care • May 23, 2024
Poor diets threaten US national security — and it’s serious.
America’s poor diet isn’t just bad for us. It’s now considered a threat to national security.
Diet-related illnesses are a growing burden on the United States economy, worsening health disparities and impacting national security, according to a white paper published Monday in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Poor nutrition is the leading cause of illnesses in the US, with unhealthy diets killing more than half a million people each year, a group of experts who have formed the Federal Nutrition Research Advisory Group wrote in the paper.
About 46% of adults in the country have an overall poor-quality diet, and this number goes up to 56% for children, according to the paper.
Meanwhile, US healthcare spending has nearly tripled from 1979 to 2018, from 6.9% to 17.7% of the gross domestic product. These increases in health spending, the advisory group said, affect government budgets, the competitiveness of the US private sector and workers’ wages.
Diet-related health disparities affect minority, rural and low-income communities.
“While social and economic factors such as lower education, poverty, bias, and reduced opportunities are major contributors to population disparities, they are likewise major barriers to healthy food access and proper nutrition,” the paper reads.
“Poor diets lead to a harsh cycle of lower academic achievement in school, lost productivity at work, increased chronic disease risk, increased out-of-pocket health costs, and poverty for the most vulnerable Americans.”
Lack of proper nutrition is also a threat to national security, the paper said, stating that diet-related illnesses are harming the readiness of the US military and the budgets of the US Department of Defense and the US Department of Veterans Affairs.
Seventy-one percent of people between the ages of 17 and 24 do not qualify for military service, with obesity being the leading medical disqualifier, the paper said, citing numbers from a 2018 report.
Need for more investment in nutrition
The paper’s authors called for the expansion of federal investment in nutrition science by creating a new Office of the National Director of Food and Nutrition or a new US Task Force on Federal Nutrition Research, with the goal of improving coordination within the agencies that budget for research in this topic.
The paper also called for “accelerating and strengthening” nutrition research within the National Institutes of Health by creating a new National Institute of Nutrition.
“Every day, our country suffers massive health, social, and economic costs of poor diets,” said Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, co-author of the paper and dean and Jean Mayer Professor of Nutrition at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University.
In a statement, Mozaffarian called for a “major national effort to address current nutrition challenges, generating the critical science to rapidly treat and prevent diet-related diseases, improve health equity, increase population resilience to Covid-19 and future pandemics, and drive fundamental and translational discoveries for better lives.”
Originally posted on January 30,2023, this article has been updated on August 24, 2024 to reflect the latest research and statistics. Our editorial team has ensured you’re viewing the most current data on this topic. Need help or have a question? Email us.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the United States. For years, dietary cholesterol was implicated in increasing blood cholesterol levels leading to the elevated risk of CVD. To date, extensive research did not show evidence to support a role of dietary cholesterol in the development of CVD. As a result, the 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans removed the recommendations of restricting dietary cholesterol to 300 mg/day. This review summarizes the current literature regarding dietary cholesterol intake ...
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At the very least, you'll want to keep this to a minimum. Inflammation is often visible—think red skin or a swollen knee. However, inflammation can also occur on the inside, and it's not always so easy to detect. "Inflammation is a physiological process involved in the defense of our body and the repair of tissues," says Jenna Stangland, RD , a Momentous advisor. Stangland explains that inflammation can be triggered by infections, trauma, toxins or allergic reactions. Sometimes, it becomes chronic in the muscles and tissues. Unfortunately, Stangland says chronic inflammation carries risks. "Chronic inflammation can end up stimulating the development of cardiovascular diseases, autoimmune disease, neurological disease or cancer," Stangland says. "This type of inflammation can last several months as a result of inability to combat and reduce it." Diet isn't a cure-all for chronic inflammation or the diseases it can trigger. However, it's an important tool. "Diet plays a significant role in inflammation, as certain foods can either promote or reduce inflammation in the body," says Michelle Routhenstein, MS, RD, CDCES, CDN , a preventive cardiology dietitian at EntirelyNourished.com . One food in particular is worth avoiding. RDs shared the food to limit if you have chronic inflammation. Related: The One Diet That Will Actually Lower Your Heart Attack Risk, According to Cardiologists
What does the medical peer reviewed literature say may be at the root of the following diseases: Metabolic Syndrome/Insulin Resistance/Diabetes Cardiovascular Disease Cancer Obesity Depression Autoimmune Disease Neurodegenerative disease (Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease) Osteoporosis Immunosenescence (the progressive decline in immune function with increasing age) The Answer is: INFLAMMATION
18 or 80 most anyone can do these. Remember create a habit first. Perform these exercises just twice a week.
