Americans eat way too much salt. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 90% of Americans consume more sodium than the recommended 2,300mg per day. This is a huge public health problem because excess sodium leads to high blood pressure, which increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. While many of us know to limit the amount of salt we sprinkle on our food, this will do little to address the problem because 70% of the sodium in our diet comes from packaged and restaurant foods. If we want to reduce sodium consumption, we should focus less on how we prepare food for ourselves at home and worry more about what companies put in our food. But how do we get them to change?
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Many people have experienced a decline in mental health and well-being during the pandemic, with a recent survey suggesting a 30% increase in adults experiencing anxiety or depression compared with early 2019. This mental health decline may have potentially been compounded by gyms shutting down to adhere to public health mandates. There are many psychological advantages of exercise, but there is little widespread awareness of these mental health-related benefits. Countless studies have shown that people who are more physically active experience a “mood enhancing effect” from exercise.
In parallel with the childhood obesity epidemic, chronic metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes (T2D) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are on the rise among youth worldwide, with a staggering 18.5% prevalence of one of these conditions among adolescents and young adults in the U.S. While the behavioral and biological causes are complex and multifaceted, a “Western diet” high in refined carbohydrates and unhealthy fats is recognized as a key behavioral risk factor. One biological mechanism linking a Western diet to obesity and obesity-related conditions is metabolic endotoxemia, or the translocation of the gut-derived endotoxin bacterium lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and its binding protein, LPS binding protein (LBP), in blood. In short, this happens when bacteria (or parts of bacteria) move from the inside of the intestine into the bloodstream where they do not belong. The presence of the endotoxin bacterium in the bloodstream is concerning because it results in insulin resistance, causes inflammation, and can alter how the body handles fat or lipids.
Growing up, I was hyper aware of the risks associated with food allergies, as my mom has a severe peanut allergy. She always carried an epi-pen, inquired about ingredients at bakeries and restaurants, and was uncomfortable on airplanes when peanut snacks were served. Despite being cautious, a wayward peanut snuck into a baked good or sauce a few times and these incidents were very scary as I witnessed my mom’s breathing become difficult and we rushed to the emergency room. My mom is not alone in this experience; today peanut allergies, which are often severe, are currently estimated to impact 1-2% of children and have increased from affecting .4% of people in 1997 to 1.4% in 2008.
Over the last several decades, public health researchers have been exploring the various ways malnutrition might worsen health among those experiencing an infectious disease. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), malnutrition is the state of too little, or too much, consumption of energy or nutrients. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the effects of malnutrition and inadequate access to healthy foods have been paramount, and were particularly prominent in children and communities of color.
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