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Northern Spring 2026
Food for Thought
What does healthcare mean to you in 2026? Here is one opinion.
The 21st century accelerated healthcare toward bigger business. With a steady supply of new and continuing customers, this robust sector of industry is ripe for investment and not retreating any time soon. From administration and pharmacy to nurses, physicians, techs, and assistants, options abound for careers providing salaries outpacing overall economic growth and the rising cost of living, including those health insurance premiums nearing the sums of mortgage payments. Americans are indoctrinated to uphold the credence 'it is just the way it is the way it has to be', equating an individuals ill health to another's economic success.
During several recent experiences, I witnessed medical treatments represented with irrational motivations, justified through narrow statistics, however totally contradicted by solid new science. Huh? That is what I asked amid my confusion.
- How can we be expected to self administer drugs with side effects more debilitating than the actual malady warranting some relief?
- Why should we be expected to pay a weeks wages every month for medical insurance to alleviate woes resulting from the inability to spend that much money on nutritious food?
- When are we going to relate inactivity and the food supply to resulting poor health and the need for care with commercial motives?
We shouldn't, but will, we shouldn't, but do, and not any time soon as long as government officials and industrial professionals continue casting misinformation attached to personal biases and monetary gains. The recommendations of the new (inverse) food pyramid is a prime example of the disregard for human health, science, and the planet.
Food for Thought
Today's healthcare is similar to any business selling products and/or services, dependent on promotion. Wether selling arts, leisure, or consumer goods, to have commercial success requires advertising, including products for health and medicine. And aside from the assurance of capital outlay, unlike other enterprise, most health products and services can dispense of the express warranty and require waiving any right, claim, or privilege.
The business success of healthcare not only lies within its limited liability, it placates an individuals discomfort and fear with 13,000 named diseases, 23,000 approved pharmaceutical drugs, nearly 90,000 nutritional and health supplements, well over 100,000 medical procedures for diagnosis and treatment, and has the average American visiting a doctor 3 times a year and undergoing at least 9 procedures in their lifetime, most of which is 20th century practice dismissing 21st century science.
Today's most prevalent health issues arise from modern lifestyles, aligning each individual accountable for their health or disease. We live in the information age, able to query any question we may have if we make the effort. We can find out what may have made us sick and the best course of action, beginning by filtering the misinformation represented through advertising, coupled with advertising, or tied to industry or politics. Make your health and well being your business.
- Carmine
Do you know?
Other than its prevalance, what do you know about obesity?
Do you know how long humans have been searching for safe and effective weight loss drugs? Here is a quick look at their history-
Do you know what the functions of fat cells are? Let's hsve a quick review-
Do you know the relationship between fat cells and toxins. We can quickly find out here-
Query just three questions to see weight gain is easy and weight loss complicated. And, when it comes to the human body and fat, fat has a mind of its own. Now let's correlate some of this information to current trends.
We hear exercise is key to weight loss. Well sort of. It is known that excess calories can be stored as fat; and to use the energy in a few hundred excess calories, can take an hour of intensive aerobic exercise or days of calorie deprivation in the absence of exercise. So is it lack of exercise or excess calories or both attributing to weight gain?
We also hear metabolic disease influences weight gain. Again, sort of. It is now known what we inhale or ingest influences genes and the balance and diversity of our gut biome, therefore regulating metabolic function. So, is it really disease or unhealthy behaviors and environments attributing to weight gain?
We hear too, intermittent fasting and high protein diets can aid in weight loss. One more time, sort of. It has been shown that when fasting or relying on protein for fuel, the body burns stored body fat to supply necessary energy. However, it is also been shown that the body's stopgap to prolonged calorie deprivation or excessive protein intake is alterations in gene expression, turning some genes off and others on to increase efficiency--starvation mode--reducing non life threatening functions--disorder mode--and the accumulation of more fat as calories become available--weight gain.
So what does all this tell us. Many scientists would tell you not enough, more research is needed. But what more do we need to know when there is sufficient evidence to say people need to pursue a lifestyle that does not include processed food, food additives, chemical products or environments, unsafe drinking water, polluted air, modern recipes for food...and make daily living require exercise and real human food all there is.
Save yourself and save the world. With years of experience in human health, exercising regularly, focusing on a plant-forward diet for adequate nutrition, for you and your biome, and avoiding exposure to environmental chemicals will have you arriving at a healthy weight.
We are human. It's what a human needs to be human.
- Peter
< Tiger Lily
Get to Know Nature
Knowing and embracing nature will inspire us, as citizens of the world, to be conscientious individuals: protecting environments, consuming sustainably, and respecting the human ecosystem.
Tap image to view scientific names and descriptions and uses.
IF I WERE QUEEN or KING: -
IF I WERE QUEEN, the health and welfare of the Earth and its inhabitants would be my first priority.
Send us your ideas to make the world a better place, if you were a Queen or a King
Good Reads to Borrow
These selected books and media were chosen by advocates for their contribution to understanding the world they occupy, available free through libraries in a variety of formats.
Politics: DRUGS and the FDA, Safety, Efficacy, and the Publi's Trust, Michael A. Sekeres, 2023
History: The Generals, Thomas E. Ricks, 2012
Biography: Dickens A Life, Norman and Jeanne Mackenzie,1979
Memoir: The Thorn of Lion City, Lucy Lum, 2007
Great Courses Audio:
Crashes and Crisies: Lessons from a History of Financial Disasters, Professor Connel Fullenkamp, 2018
Why Insects Matter, Earth's Most Essential Species, Professor Scott Solomon, 2022
How Digital Technology Shapes Us, Professor Indre Viskontas, 2020
Documentaries to Stream:
Life on Our Planet, 2023
Glacier Lily ^
Statistics to Ponder
Statistics grab our attention with numbers.
As people move toward a healthier lifestyle, awareness is needed as to the sustainability of new food choices. More than 100 billion bananas are already consumed each year. How often will you choose to eat a banana?
Long road to a sustainable bananas trade READ >>
Agricultural Outlook 2025-2034 READ >>
Whether purchasing a single serving water, kombucha, soda, coffee, or beer, know your contibuting to these numbers in DAILY waste.
1.3 billion plastic bottles
1.2 billion aluminum cans
1.6 billion paper cups
Prarie Smoke >