Gingrich on the health care mandate

[PLC1]

well its mainly tradition but recently I'm reading that these traditions are fading and health issues we have that are lifestyle related are on the rise there straining their healthcare systems unlike years past.

no never have. looked into it, saw this...



more instances of our incomplete understanding of science it seems : )

if I were to guess I'd bet that they have become more sedentary over time changing the paradigm with a little more detection thrown in along the way. Americans used to eat high fat diets with little (apparent) trouble til we moved away from an agrarian country. trouble is we LIKED those eggs, butter, pork etc and just kept consuming mass quantities.

There is a wealth of information we don't have about health and the human body, for sure.

There is some evidence that red wine in moderation is good for you, but that is far from proven. There is also a negative correlation between moderate drinking of alcohol and heart disease.

I doubt any doctor would tell you that Americans in general get enough exercise. I'm not sure about the French, but why would they get any more than we do? Modern man has become quite sedentary in general.

We evolved to travel long distances on foot, gathering whatever food was available. We didn't live long in those days, but then we had no health care at all.

and little protection from predators, two legged and four.

 

[dogtowner]

There is a wealth of information we don't have about health and the human body, for sure.

There is some evidence that red wine in moderation is good for you, but that is far from proven. There is also a negative correlation between moderate drinking of alcohol and heart disease.

I doubt any doctor would tell you that Americans in general get enough exercise. I'm not sure about the French, but why would they get any more than we do? Modern man has become quite sedentary in general.

We evolved to travel long distances on foot, gathering whatever food was available. We didn't live long in those days, but then we had no health care at all.

and little protection from predators, two legged and four.

I'd be willing to bet that the average Jean Claude walks a lot more than the average Joe. We probably have a greater incidence of elevators. Our two countries are rather different in terms of elbow room which serves, outside of very large or very small towns, to the need to drive places instead of walking. Little things to be sure but they can add up.

 

[Dr.Who]

I really don't think it works that way. The WHO would not have rated France's health care system #1. .

The WHO rating is a jay Oh Kay Eee. Seriously it is over a decade old and completely politically biased - not even worth the approximately 50 characters you used to type about it. But if one were inclined to accept a seriously flawed report from the WHO then that report ranked the US #1 on the only measure that really mattered - how well we make people get better when we can.

 

[Dr.Who]

more instances of our incomplete understanding of science it seems : )

Which is exactly why what we do not need is central planning. Central planners have a strong tendency to take incomplete science and make grand sweeping policy changes that restrict our lives based on it. Hence the attempts to regulate salt intake when for the vast majority of people salt poses zero risk of anything.

http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/politics/10007-fda-proposes-regulating-salt-in-food

 

[Dr.Who]

I'm not sure if the French make better lifestyle choices than Americans do, but maybe. Have you ever heard of the French paradox?

Over the years I have seen various discussions of he french paradox and have eventually decided that it never was a paradox at all.

The french consume more saturated fat and are healthier - maybe because of red wine consumption. I don't think so Tim.

More likely saturated fat is not as bad as our government food pyramid tells us it is. Maybe just eating fish for breakfast is what is really healthy. Maybe eating smaller portions is what is really healthy. Maybe having less fast food restaurants is what is really healthy. Maybe it is eating more leafy green vegetables. All these things are true of the French. Just maybe it is all of these things are factors and our countries' proclivity to use the data to sell wine is a symptom too.

 

[Gipper]

Over the years I have seen various discussions of he french paradox and have eventually decided that it never was a paradox at all.

The french consume more saturated fat and are healthier - maybe because of red wine consumption. I don't think so Tim.

More likely saturated fat is not as bad as our government food pyramid tells us it is. Maybe just eating fish for breakfast is what is really healthy. Maybe eating smaller portions is what is really healthy. Maybe having less fast food restaurants is what is really healthy. Maybe it is eating more leafy green vegetables. All these things are true of the French. Just maybe it is all of these things are factors and our countries' proclivity to use the data to sell wine is a symptom too.

Yes we are being lied to by our government about many things, but certainly when it comes to diet. The low fat diet is extremely harmful, but it does make money for some.

One of the biggest lies being perpetrated by government and the food industry is the recommendation to eat grains. Grains are carbs and turn to sugar in the body. Very bad. The huge rise in obesity and diabetes is directly related to the consumption of grains, particularly wheat.

My personal experience: I stopped eating wheat a little over 2 months ago and lost 15 pounds, while eating everything else in sight. I am sleeping much better and have more energy. Please try eliminating wheat from your diet and ultimately all grains. You will be doing your body a HUGE favor.

 

[Dr.Who]

Yes we are being lied to by our government about many things, but certainly when it comes to diet. The low fat diet is extremely harmful, but it does make money for some.

One of the biggest lies being perpetrated by government and the food industry is the recommendation to eat grains. Grains are carbs and turn to sugar in the body. Very bad. The huge rise in obesity and diabetes is directly related to the consumption of grains, particularly wheat.

My personal experience: I stopped eating wheat a little over 2 months ago and lost 15 pounds, while eating everything else in sight. I am sleeping much better and have more energy. Please try eliminating wheat from your diet and ultimately all grains. You will be doing your body a HUGE favor.

I believe you are correct that we would not be as well eating six servings of grains per day as recommended and that it would be better to eat far far less. Unfortunately I do not believe we could feed the population of the world or even the country if we did not eat a lot of grains. Fruits and vegetables are too expensive, too perishable, and there are just not enough of them. Therefore those conscious of health can eat them and the masses can be told to eat corn flakes with BHT.

 

[Dr.Who]

Did you know that France pays about as much for their entire health care system as the US pays for Medicare for seniors?

as a percent of GDP, that is.

Interesting little bit of data.

Do you suppose that if the French cut their budget in half that they would suffer as a result? Would their health care system be as good with half as much spent on it?

Perhaps the cost of keeping fat slob smoking lazy violent stressed out Americans healthy that we pay more for a more luxurious health care system that also does a better job of curing many diseases. Perhaps we cannot be healthier and spend less?

I think we can spend less and be healthier but the answer is not more gov control of the system that is mostly broken exactly because of gov control that at every turn divorces the payer from the payee so that we are not even aware of how much we are spending when we get a treatment.

 

[dogtowner]

I believe you are correct that we would not be as well eating six servings of grains per day as recommended and that it would be better to eat far far less. Unfortunately I do not believe we could feed the population of the world or even the country if we did not eat a lot of grains. Fruits and vegetables are too expensive, too perishable, and there are just not enough of them. Therefore those conscious of health can eat them and the masses can be told to eat corn flakes with BHT.

well at least eat whole grains. otherwise its kind of like eating lard, too rich.