FOOD FOR THOUGHT...
Over the past century of rapid technological progress, we've figured out how to manufacture and package food and mass-produce animals, producing huge profits without regard to the health, humane, or green consequences. Our government's laws, subsidies, and diet education efforts are seemingly driven more by lobbyists for the beef, grain, and dairy industries than by unbiased scientific evaluation and concern for human health. It's unsettling how much decision making power is controlled by corporations that spend billions of marketing dollars molding and shaping conventional dietary wisdom in the direction of profits with little regard for health. Wisdom about grains is being battled by billions of dollars in corporate and government propaganda pushing us to conform to dietary habits that we are not suited for, do not nourish us, and are downright destructive to human health.
Stepping back for a moment to grab a wide-angle view of the wide angles in the buffet line at a Vegas casino, it's evident how ridiculously out of control this situation has become. Americans look like one giant yard of fattened cattle ready for slaughter, complete with a significant percentage of 'downers' (a term for sick cattle that can't stand up; they are dragged with forklifts to slaughter) If you are an "above-average" American family, you can congratulate yourselves while remembering that "average" is actually borderline obese (64% of American adults are classified as overweight, of which one-third are classified as obese) America is heading steadily down the pop charts while larger, hungrier, more strategically minded societies such as China and India will soon surpass our economy. Poor investment in education and technology in favor of billions spent on military are some key reasons for our impending downfall. Imagine if the money recently spent on bank bailouts had been channeled into diet, fitness, and health education.
Career men in their 40s and 50s take prescriptions left and right, families frequently feel that life is too hectic and stressful to align with the broad definition of health, and teenagers often feel overpressured and disconnected from parents. Today's kids have too much body fat and too little physical fitness. We eat too much beige stuff and not enough green stuff. We avoid exercise and sit at desks all day staring at a screen in the name of increased productivity. We go home at night and stare at a bigger screen in the name of relaxation. We stay up too late and then awaken to the stressful screech of an alarm clock. We are stressed by bills, traffic, air, noise, digital pollution, the future, and all kinds of anxiety we manufacture in our restless minds. Our first line of defense when our genes react by these lifestyle habits is prescription drugs.
While you can clearly discern my passion throughout this book for a more Primal way of life, I don't wish to be judgmental and assert that there is a right or wrong way of life for you. If you are drawn to a life of inactivity, big-screen TV's, lavish desserts, and microwaveable meals, we can still be friends. While I have dedicated my career to promoting health and being a motivational force in people's lives, I want to temper my enthusiastic message with the understanding that I'm simply presenting you a specific blueprint of choices and explaining the benefits of choosing them or the possible ramifications of disregarding them.
-Mark Sisson
For more information on Mark Sisson, please visit his website at Marksdailyapple.com
"When you see the Golden Arches, you are probably on your way to the pearly gates." -William Castelli
Over the past century of rapid technological progress, we've figured out how to manufacture and package food and mass-produce animals, producing huge profits without regard to the health, humane, or green consequences. Our government's laws, subsidies, and diet education efforts are seemingly driven more by lobbyists for the beef, grain, and dairy industries than by unbiased scientific evaluation and concern for human health. It's unsettling how much decision making power is controlled by corporations that spend billions of marketing dollars molding and shaping conventional dietary wisdom in the direction of profits with little regard for health. Wisdom about grains is being battled by billions of dollars in corporate and government propaganda pushing us to conform to dietary habits that we are not suited for, do not nourish us, and are downright destructive to human health.
Stepping back for a moment to grab a wide-angle view of the wide angles in the buffet line at a Vegas casino, it's evident how ridiculously out of control this situation has become. Americans look like one giant yard of fattened cattle ready for slaughter, complete with a significant percentage of 'downers' (a term for sick cattle that can't stand up; they are dragged with forklifts to slaughter) If you are an "above-average" American family, you can congratulate yourselves while remembering that "average" is actually borderline obese (64% of American adults are classified as overweight, of which one-third are classified as obese) America is heading steadily down the pop charts while larger, hungrier, more strategically minded societies such as China and India will soon surpass our economy. Poor investment in education and technology in favor of billions spent on military are some key reasons for our impending downfall. Imagine if the money recently spent on bank bailouts had been channeled into diet, fitness, and health education.
Career men in their 40s and 50s take prescriptions left and right, families frequently feel that life is too hectic and stressful to align with the broad definition of health, and teenagers often feel overpressured and disconnected from parents. Today's kids have too much body fat and too little physical fitness. We eat too much beige stuff and not enough green stuff. We avoid exercise and sit at desks all day staring at a screen in the name of increased productivity. We go home at night and stare at a bigger screen in the name of relaxation. We stay up too late and then awaken to the stressful screech of an alarm clock. We are stressed by bills, traffic, air, noise, digital pollution, the future, and all kinds of anxiety we manufacture in our restless minds. Our first line of defense when our genes react by these lifestyle habits is prescription drugs.
While you can clearly discern my passion throughout this book for a more Primal way of life, I don't wish to be judgmental and assert that there is a right or wrong way of life for you. If you are drawn to a life of inactivity, big-screen TV's, lavish desserts, and microwaveable meals, we can still be friends. While I have dedicated my career to promoting health and being a motivational force in people's lives, I want to temper my enthusiastic message with the understanding that I'm simply presenting you a specific blueprint of choices and explaining the benefits of choosing them or the possible ramifications of disregarding them.
-Mark Sisson
For more information on Mark Sisson, please visit his website at Marksdailyapple.com
"When you see the Golden Arches, you are probably on your way to the pearly gates." -William Castelli
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