diabetes
Abstract
Much of our money is spent eating out. Our food is processed, refined, concentrated, sugared, salted and chemically engineered to produce high-calorie, low-nutrient taste sensations. This problem is unique to westernized peoples. Rural populations in China, Japan, and Southeast Asia who have little access to rich foods experience few heart attacks. Similarly, most people in rural Africa and South and Central America have little fear of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Yet in North America, Australia, New Zealand, and the increasingly affluent countries in Europe and Asia, where diets are rich in fat, heart disease and diabetes are epidemic. The villains: low fiber and high fat, take their toll by damaging the body’s vital oxygen-carrying arteries and by upsetting important metabolic functions. Education is the key. Since we are the frontlines in health, we nurses can help educate people about nutritional diet. As people learn that refinement robs food of most of its fiber and nutrients, and processing adds calories, subtracts nutrition, and contributes scores of chemical additives, many are willing to make changes.
Keywords: Diabetes Mellitus, Nurses, Education, Fast Food Chains, Calories, Nutrients
Introduction
One hundred years ago, a small percentage of our people died form coronary heart disease and strokes. To day it’s triple or quadruple that figure. That’s also true with those who died of cancer. This isn’t nature’s way. We weren’t meant to die in such numbers from heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, and colon and breast cancer. Significant cardiovascular disease began to emerge sometime ago. While we eat to live, what we eat is killing us. The statistics are pretty convincing. Soon it became really rampant as people could afford diets rich in animal products, and when the food industry began producing highly processed foods crammed with calories and emptied of nutrition.
Our cattle are fattened in feedlots without
Much of our money is spent eating out. Our food is processed, refined, concentrated, sugared, salted and chemically engineered to produce high-calorie, low-nutrient taste sensations. This problem is unique to westernized peoples. Rural populations in China, Japan, and Southeast Asia who have little access to rich foods experience few heart attacks. Similarly, most people in rural Africa and South and Central America have little fear of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Yet in North America, Australia, New Zealand, and the increasingly affluent countries in Europe and Asia, where diets are rich in fat, heart disease and diabetes are epidemic. The villains: low fiber and high fat, take their toll by damaging the body’s vital oxygen-carrying arteries and by upsetting important metabolic functions. Education is the key. Since we are the frontlines in health, we nurses can help educate people about nutritional diet. As people learn that refinement robs food of most of its fiber and nutrients, and processing adds calories, subtracts nutrition, and contributes scores of chemical additives, many are willing to make changes.
Keywords: Diabetes Mellitus, Nurses, Education, Fast Food Chains, Calories, Nutrients
Introduction
One hundred years ago, a small percentage of our people died form coronary heart disease and strokes. To day it’s triple or quadruple that figure. That’s also true with those who died of cancer. This isn’t nature’s way. We weren’t meant to die in such numbers from heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, and colon and breast cancer. Significant cardiovascular disease began to emerge sometime ago. While we eat to live, what we eat is killing us. The statistics are pretty convincing. Soon it became really rampant as people could afford diets rich in animal products, and when the food industry began producing highly processed foods crammed with calories and emptied of nutrition.
Our cattle are fattened in feedlots without
References: American Diabetes Association. (2008, January). “All about diabetes”. Retrieved July 29, 2013 from http://www.diabetes.org/home.jsp. Black, J., Hokanson Hawks, J. (2005). Medical- Surgical Nursing. Missouri: Elservier Inc. Gwen, H. (2008). Structured education in diabetes. Journal of Practice Nurse 36(5); pg. 35 Wilson, J. (2008). New diabetes nutrition guidelines. Nursing 25(7) pg. 2 Saurabh, S., Prateek, S., Jegadeesh, R. (2013, March). Journal of Diabetes & Metabolic Disorders, 12:14. Retrieved July 17, 2013 from http://www.jdmdonline.com/content/12