US life expectancy declined in 2015 due to rising fatalities from chronic diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and dementia, as well as drug overdose and accidents. The number 1 killer is heart disease, for which a plant-based diet has been shown to be highly effective (https://goo.gl/Equh6q).
Per the American Heart Association, heart disease, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases account for about one in every three deaths in the US. This, despite the availability of increasingly more sophisticated medical procedures and medications to treat people with cardiovascular diseases. The problem is we are avoiding the one intervention that has been proven to reverse heart disease – a plant based diet. Healthcare providers do not put enough emphasis on educating patients about their ability to control heart disease through diet. Moreover, the cultural tendency to eat fast food and prepared foods beginning in early childhood, makes it difficult for Americans to embrace healthier plant-based choices and has helped to shift these diagnoses to increasingly younger people.
This short video explores the data showing the decline in US health expectancy.
Video courtesy of Lenny Bernstein of The Washington Post December 8, 2016
