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The same low-fat diet may lengthen the life of
everyone. The logical conclusion is that if, as we have seen,
coronary atherosclerosis is already extensively present in the entire
population, then this normal-weight-through-diet health program
would give an over-all additional five years to every person in the
nation.
The amazing advances of American medicine since
1945, with all the new wonder drugs, surgical innovations, improved
treatment techniques, and public programs, have resulted in extending
the average American's life five years. This was achieved by the
creative genius of many researchers and the expenditure of billions of
dollars. Now similar results can be accomplished by a simple,
intelligent health program, aimed at proper nutrition for controlling
weight and at the same time providing better health.
Ideal weight can add more "bonus" years of life.
But you cannot expect to receive this "bonus" without working to
earn it. Success will come through careful study of the low-fat
diet as well as the careful and consistent application of this type of
food plan. And it is never too late to begin.
If you are 50 years old and markedly overweight,
how many years can you add to your life by reducing to normal weight
and staying that way? If you are more than 30 per cent overweight, you
could add a little over four-and-a-half years to your life.
What about younger people? Studies all point to
the same conclusion: Excessive weight put on in young adulthood, and
maintained through life, carries the risk of shortening life by a
frightening number of years. Let us say, for instance, that you are in
your early twenties, and are markedly overweight. If you do not reduce
to a normal figure, and stay that way, you are sacrificing over fifteen
and a half years of life! Whatever your age, if you are obese, it is
important to get your weight down as quickly as it is safe to do so.
This does not mean that you should "fall" for the
widely advertised but ineffectual and even dangerous diet pills that
promise to "melt the fat off" within a few days without much dieting.
The safe way, the effective way, is through a low-fat food program. The
low-fat way is the healthy way, the way of longer life.
Author:
Gail Metcalf writes about the issues of being overweight. Her site, Healthy You is dedicated to publishing information leading to a healthier life.
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