DRUGS:
Doctors in the US are given special gifts, trips, and vacations by the pharmaceutical companies so in turn the doctor will “push” the drug and more money is made at the expense of the patient. I actually had a doctor tell me that he had a “New Drug that he was giving out like candy”
I am always surprised to hear when co-workers complains that “I have to go see my doctor because he won't give me another prescription for my pain killers.” They are usually really angry at this point because they are coming down off of their addiction. I believe most of the people addicted to drugs in the US are getting prescriptions from their doctors. It may have started because of a bad back or an injury, but they manage to talk the doctor into another and another and if the doctor refuses they just find another doctor that will.
Marijuana is not addicting, but it is helpful for several medical issues like glaucoma and nausea from chemotherapy and it helps patients from loosing too much weight because it makes them want to eat. There are some states here that allow “Medical Marijuana” There was a huge propaganda campaign in the 50's that said marijuana made people into killers. Not true by the way.
OBESITY:
Like the story of the scientist that created the Monster Frankenstein, the US creates FrankenFood and it is all about Money. How much money can food manufacturers make if they sell just one more bag of cookies. These manufacturers hire scientists to find out what to add to the food to make people want to eat more and therefor buy more. Food in the US is engineered, created, manipulated and changed beyond the point where our Grandmothers would not recognize it as food.
Highly Processed and Engineered food devoid of nutrients makes people crave more food, But what they are really craving is nutrients.
Adding High Fructose Corn Syrup, chemicals, preservatives and ingredients like MSG which is also called Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein makes the food addicting by triggering the brain the same way as tobacco. For millions of people, modern food is simply impossible to resist because it has precise combinations of fat, sugar, salt and texture. Foods manufacturers make products "hyper-palatable" to trigger a "bliss point" so when people eat certain products it leaves them hungry for more.
In hundreds of studies around the world, scientists in the 50's were creating obese mice and rats to use in diet and diabetes test studies.
No strain of rat or mice is naturally obese, so the scientists had to create them. They made these morbidly obese creatures by injecting them with this chemical when they are first born. The MSG triples the amount of insulin the pancreas creates, causing them to become obese. The scientists even have a title for the race of fat rodents they create: "MSG-Treated Rats"...look it up.
Food Scientists Genetically Modify food by changing the DNA structure to make it resistant to bacteria, pesticides, herbicides and ripen without softening so food can be transported without damage and will last a long time without going rancid or changing the flavor.
Companies market specifically to children and busy mothers with TV advertisements and beautiful packaging. Companies also buy shelf space in the supermarkets so their product is eye level to children and adults. The supermarkets also orchestrate where products are placed to maximize the selling potential. Of course there is a reason the candy is at the check out stand eye level to the little ones.
This food is cheap and easy to fix by just opening a can or popping it in the microwave and with the combination of all of the above you have a recipe for obesity. It is much more expensive for a family to buy fresh fruits and vegetables, meat and dairy than it is to buy 10 boxes of macaroni and cheese, a box of cereal, and a bag of chips.
Another sad note to add is that most families have both parents working at least one if not two or three jobs and do not have time to cook and sit at the dinner table. It is very rare that the mother is able to stay home to raise the children. The US also has a large population of divorced parents and that adds to the lack of consistency with food choices and the time it takes to prepare meals. This comes right back around to Money. There are many that don't have any choice but to buy the cheapest food they can find.
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