Take Your Vitamins, On Pain Of Pain

dacap writes "The American diet continues to deteriorate. In the news is the exacerbation of bone disease from a deficiency of vitamin D. Too little vitamin D also causes muscle pain and joint problems. How is it that we let something so easily remedied affect us? Details are in USA Today. The ultimate solution to this and many other health-related problems that techies suffer is a proper diet coupled with a multivitamin supplement and regular exercise. Too bad that these choices are so unpopular. A sound mind and sound body go together."

Comments

Let me just translate...

[FinestLittleSpace]

Translated:
"Americans are, as a whole, fat, unhealthy, lazy, arrogant bastards"

(I'll go find some exceptions in a few minutes)

This isn't really too suprising

[eXtro]

Even in high school physical education hardly any time was spent on learning about caring for your body. You'd learn various sports, spend a bit of time learning to dance and a little bit of time learning how to not knock up a girl. No time that I can recall was spent on learning how to stretch or how to build a meal that has all the nutrients you need. I've learned a lot of these things on my own but most of the other engineers I work with never did and just bitch and moan that they're sore after 30 minutes of water skiing, don't have any energy while pounding a Big Mac, fries and a gallon of Coca-Cola into their mouths.

Although...

[Otter]

The American diet continues to deteriorate.

That's the spin in the article but there's no evidence given of any factor that has changed. Or even numbers to support a rise in rickets.

My guess is that a combination of kids' drinking less milk in favor of Mountain Dew and Big Gulps and their spending less time outside makes up a large part of the problem, but who knows? Clearly, a lot of it is simply that the UK and northern US simply get so little sun that the risk is always there.

Don't drink Milk or get multivitamines ?

[Lord Satri]

Well, benefits of milk are largely contested. Generaly, only north americans drink milk during their mature life. Montignac's last book (I never read any of his books) discuss the milk myth.

On the multivitamin issue, these are really "dangerous" if taken everyday. This was the result of an study I made many years ago. The reason is simple, multivitamins added to normal meal might give you too much of liposoluble vitamins and makes you sick ! (liposolubles are elements that goes in the body fat and stays and accumulates there, may eventually generate problems...)

I guess the trick is easy, just eat a balanced diet. (but what is balance ? ;-)

It's not just the USA

[Zocalo]

Funny this should come up today, because in yesterday's paper here in the UK was a picture of a toddler from behind (I'd guess about 2-3 years old). She had quite severe ricketts (which is also caused by Vitamin D deficiency) such that her legs had a similar degree of curvature to a banana.

You can blame Margaret Thatcher for stopping children's milk in our schools way back when if you want, but the problem is far more serious than that, I think. With all the faddy and medically unproven diets such as Atkins being bandied about, how many parents are foisting those diets on thier children without any idea of the effects? I will not be at all suprised if medical disorders developed by bad diets in childhood are going to become as much of a problem for the health services as smoking related illnesses are now.

Re:It's not just the USA

[pmz]

Putting a child on a fad diet is asking for disaster. The only reason adults can tolerate such things is that our brain is more or less done growing, as is our bodies.

Kids need whole foods in adequate but not excessive amounts, more than anything. If only seafood didn't have so much pollution in it, tuna would be awesome brain food for a toddler. Peanuts aren't a bad second choice, though. Whole wheat bread has minerals what white bread doesn't. And so forth. I wonder how many kids are growing up brain-damaged, because of 10% fruit juice, white bread, french fries, etc. Goddamn stupid parents (and shifty advertisers...).

WHAT?

[Bastian]

You mean I can't just cut all the bread out of my diet and get healthy eating nothing but beef and cheese? I have to eat vegetables and go for walks!?