Chapter I
WARNING: THE GOOD LIFE
CAN BE DANGEROUS TO
YOUR HEALTH
If you are an average American， you are committing a very slow form of
suicide. It is called \"nutritional roulette，\" and it is a much more dangerous
game than Russian Roulette， because all the chambers except one are loaded.
Even though the United States has the best that modern science， medicine， and
technology have to offer， it is very difficult to find your way to proper diet and
physical fitness amid junk foods， high-fat \"gourmet\" dinners， chemical addi-
tives， fad diets， and the sedentary life style.
Malnutrition in this country has reached alarming proportions -- and it is
not just the poor who are suffering; it is also the affluent， who have the money
to buy whatever foods they want and the time to get the proper exercise， but
who choose instead an inadequate diet and a daily routine that encourages
physical deterioration.
\"Malnutrition\" does not mean simply \"insufficient food.\" It refers
specifically to the lack of nutrients in the diet and to an improper and in-
adequate balance to keep the body functioning. Starvation is not the only form
of malnutrition. You can be 20 pounds overweight and yet not have the nu-
trients your body needs to do its job of upkeep.
It has been estimated that six out of every ten people in the United States
over the age of twenty-five are overweight. Of those six， three are \"overfat，\"
which means that fat tissue has infiltrated the muscular tissue and the tissues of
the vital organs. This condition is not always easy to recognize just by looking
at a person. Someone may be only 10 percent overweight， while being 20
percent overfat because of inactivity. For example， a man who should weigh
150 might weigh 165 and look presentable; however， he could be 20 percent
overfat and endangering his health. Unfortunately， most people do not worry
about their diet as long as they maintain a good appearance; they are less
concerned with their health than with how they look.
It is interesting to consider how \"prime\" meat is produced and to compare
that process with what we are doing to ourselves. Prime beef is obtained by
confining cattle in small pens to keep them from getting exercise and by
force-feeding them with a rich high-calorie diet， so that- after they are
slaughtered and sold as prime meat -- every cut is laced with a fine webbing of
fat. If you are overweight， and if you are considerably less active than you
ought to be， picture a nice juicy， fat-filled steak as you see it in the supermar-
ket. That is how your own muscles may look if you are the typical American.
What you cannot see are the fat deposits under the skin and surrounding the
|
内容加载中，请稍后...
商品评论（0条）