Staying Healthy in the Fast Lane

staying healthy in the fast lane

tamin D daily and see your dermatologist or skilled primary care
physician for a skin exam yearly or biannually. Again, look at the
“Blue Zone” cultures that live a long time and don’t get cancers in
general. They are not housebound and sun avoiders (nor sunbath-
ers) lathering on sunblock. They also don’t eat highly processed
foods but rather nutrient-dense and antioxidant-rich foods that
can protect their skin from sun damage and cancer in general.

Reducing the Diabetic Epidemic

Without urgent action, diabetes-related deaths worldwide will
increase by more than 50 percent in the next ten years.^19 To help
prevent type 2 diabetes and its complications, people should:^20

• achieve and maintain a healthy body weight.


• be physically active (at least thirty minutes of regular, mod-
  erately intense activity on most days). More physical activity
  is required for weight control.

The recommendations by the WHO for diabetes reduction are
very simple and familiar: normalize weight and get exercise. Nine-
ty to ninety-five percent of diabetes in the United States is type 2
diabetes (five to ten percent type 1).^21 Even though there is a ge-
netic predisposition to type 2 diabetes^22 and there is data relating
persistent organic pollutants (POPs)^23 and abnormal gut bacteria
to the incidents of diabetes,^24 type 2 diabetes is very much a life-
style disease that is preventable and treatable, almost always with
weight normalization and physical activity. In fact, type 2 diabetes
is reversible most of the time, and this epidemic need not exist. We
should not be using the mindset of “controlling” type 2 diabetes
with a little lifestyle change, a lot of medicine, and more research.
We should expect the eradication of type 2 diabetes by getting lean,
physically active, and consuming an unprocessed, whole-food diet
that is high in fiber, low in fat, and rich in complex carbohydrates
from beans, fruit, vegetables, whole grains, small amounts of nuts
and seeds, and small amounts of free-ranged animal foods if you