Do you know how to reduce your risk of getting one of the chronic diseases that older Americans will often get and are responsible for the majority of deaths in our country such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer? ……

From a New York Times article by Michael Pollan:
“According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, three-quarters of health care spending now goes to treat “preventable chronic diseases.” Not all of these diseases are linked to diet — there?s smoking, for instance — but many, if not most, of them are. ……

Are the risk factors for cardiovascular disease higher for our African-American friends because of a lack of sufficient vitamin D levels in their systems? ……

As if being obese isn’t bad enough with all the problems it brings to our human psyche and physical bodies. How really discouraging it can be to be so overweight. It’s not just our image that’s taking a bad rap, but the human body we live in suffers tremendously by having to try to function normally under all that extra poundage. Lets try and get those excess pounds off as soon as possible! There’s nothing, and I mean NOTHING good about being so fat!!! ……

Most of us want to know…what is it that causes belly fat, technically called, “visceral fat” to accumulate? Our biggest health care concern is that having a fat belly has been proven to be a significant risk factor for heart and cardiovascular disease. We’ve been taught that getting a fat belly for the most part only occurs in middle-aged women, after having gone through menopause. ……

There is such controversy over whether or not a person should take statins because of their safety factor. I will just give you the point of view from the doctors at Johns Hopkins. You decide for yourself. ……

Did you know that if you go through the whole process of menopause from beginning to end quickly you are at increased risk for a higher rate of cardiovascular disease? I don’t know if there is a way to slow this down. I haven’t read anything about that. ……