The US government spends billions of dollars for farmers' subsidies but on the other hand, 70% of American adults, ages twenty years and above, are overweight including the obese, as CDCP data says. What is wrong with American food?
Americans have bad eating habits and perhaps, most do not even know that the food they eat can make them obese at some point in the future. This is because of the hidden firing of unmanageable carbs from the subsidized commodities.
According to JAMA Internal Medicine, the high consumption of subsidized commodities is linked with adverse cardiometabolic risk among US adults. People who eat subsidized commodities tend to become obese, have high blood sugar, and abnormal cholesterol.
Among the products that are feared to have the undesirable effects to the body are soybeans, wheat, corn, rice, dairy, sorghum, and livestock. These are processed to come up with refined grains, high-fat/high-sodium foods, soft drinks, and high-calorie juices.
According to ScienceDaily, Karen R. Siegel, Ph.D., of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, worked with her coauthors to study this issue. In the report it is stated that:
"Siegel's group used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2001 to 2006 to calculate an individual-level "subsidy score" for consumption of subsidized food commodities as a percentage of total calorie intake. The authors used body mass index (BMI), ratio of waist circumference to height, circulating high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (a marker of inflammation), blood pressure, non-high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol level, and glycated hemoglobin to characterize cardiometabolic risk."
Results suggest that those with the highest subsidy scores had a 37% higher risk of being obese. Obesity is not just a threat to one's physical aesthetics but more importantly for the body system's health. Emotional and psychological problems linked to obesity are often inevitable. Obesity is a disease in the society that has been there for decades and it is about time that America stands to eliminate it.
To stop obesity, one should activate his or her power to discipline himself or herself while continuing to be educated about this issue. Do not be part of the 70% overweight Americans. Start this pursuit today.
