Limitations Of Eating SAD
The standard American diet (SAD), characterized by consuming large amounts of processed foods, sugary soft drinks, and unhealthy fats, has been a major contributor to the alarming rates of diabetes, obesity, and heart disease in the US. While convenient, SAD often lacks essential nutrients like fiber, vitamins, minerals, and healthy fats and provides calorie-dense and nutrient-poor choices. Chronic disease prevention has been linked to 4 lifestyle factors in 78% of cases, including smoking, obesity, lack of daily exercise, and unhealthy eating. Improving these four factors may significantly reduce the risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and cancer. Body mass index (BMI) measures body fat based on height and weight. A normal BMI averages between 18.5-24.9, while overweight and obese categories are seen at BMIs of 25 and greater than 30, respectively.
What does a healthy diet look like?
A balanced diet, full of fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, whole grains, and healthy fats, is crucial for optimal health and wellness. This includes replacing foods that contain trans fats, added salt, and sugar. Trans fats are known to raise cholesterol, contributing to heart disease risk, while added salt can lead to hypertension (HTN), kidney disease, as well as heart disease. Trans fats can be reduced by cooking butter substitutes with no hydrogenated oils, looking for 0g trans fat labels, and limiting fried foods and baked goods.
The upside of GLP-1s
Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is a hormone produced in the small intestine in response to food intake. GLP-1 stimulates pancreatic beta cells to secrete insulin, promoting cellular uptake and glucose storage as the body's primary energy source. GLP-1 agonists are a class of medications that simulate this hormone and are utilized mainly to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus and obesity. GLP-1s also have been shown to reduce cardiovascular risk factors and events by improving left ventricular ejection fraction, coronary artery blood flow, and cardiac output. In addition, this category of medications delays gastric emptying and increases satiety through activating the hypothalamus. Studies have revealed that GLP-1s can lower hemoglobin A1C (HbA1c) by 0.8%-1.5% and lower total body weight % by up to 10% to 20%.
What is wellness?
Definitions of wellness vary from person to person. Universally, however, wellness is a holistic state of well-being comprising physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. Wellness transcends the absence of disease and includes a sense of vitality, purpose, and fulfillment. Wellness involves actively making choices that advance a healthy lifestyle, such as nutritious eating, regular exercise, adequate sleep, stress management, and social connection. Prioritizing wellness, therefore, can enable an individual to enhance overall quality of life and achieve a greater sense of happiness.
The pathway to wellness
SAD has contributed to a significant health crisis in the US. Adopting a balanced diet that emphasizes whole, unprocessed foods and limits salt, sugar, and trans fats has innumerable health benefits. Moreover, by incorporating a GLP-1 agonist, individuals can take proactive steps to improve health and achieve wellness by reducing total body weight % and overall cardiovascular risk factors. The expanding role of GLP-1s in the American diet offers a promising treatment modality for addressing weight management, preventing chronic disease, and achieving a healthy and fruitful life.
