Healthy eating plan: Your strategy to live longer healthier

Healthy eating plan could be one of the major solution to the coming demographic and sanitary issue.

National statistic leads us to believe that our lifespan is increasing. Most men and women in UK are expected to live more than 80 years. It certainly raises the question of who is going to provide for a growing ageing population. The government? I think we all know the answer to this question.

Our children? Is that really the end goal we had in mind when we had our kids: ensure that somebody will provide for mum and dad, assuming they can find a decent job?

How are our children going to provide for their own kids if we become a financial burden to them?  Let’s face it. How satisfying is that to depend on the next generation?

The answer to those very fundamental questions lies in ownership and provide for ourself a healthy eating plan. Let’s take responsibility for our choices as we might and even will have to invent a new way of living beyond “retirement age.” The next coming retired generation will most certainly need to be healthy, alert and productive.

The demographics are changing the very way our society currently functions. New needs and demands will have to be taken care of. This is actually a massive opportunity provided we prepare for it. Are we really prepared? Statistics only shows us one side of the coin: yes we will live longer but not necessarily healthier. As a society, most of us are living longer with chronic disease and pain. Diabetes and heart diseases, two of the worst killing diseases are even developing in children. A lot of us will have developed cancer, dementia, heart disease and diabetes before reaching the age of 70. Hardly an exciting picture!

How much control do we really have over our destiny? How are we imagining our retirement, especially if our condition makes us dependent on a crumbling and uncertain social care system? Evidence suggests that we can easily reduce our risk of chronic illnesses like heart disease and other conditions and seriously improve our quality of life and work out a healthy eating plan.

A healthy eating plan: the most obvious solution

THE CHOICE WE ARE NOW MAKING WITH RESPECT TO OUR DIET AND LIFESTYLE ARE THE SINGLE STRONGEST DETERMINANT OF THE HEALTH WE WILL BE EXPERIENCING LATER IN LIFE.

A healthy eating plan could be implemented from a young age so it becomes a life style rather than a “healthy eating plan”. Even if you are passed your youngest years, it is never too late to switch for a healthy eating plan.

The official and influential healthy eating plan

Over more recent years, the government and big food corporations have included healthy eating plan within their communication and marketing. These “healthy eating plan” may not be necessarily driven by the people’s best interest. It is quite obvious that the government does not ensure any real healthy eating plan or that we are making the right choice; although it would certainly provide some efficient answers to the burden of our health care system. Sometimes, official information even contradicts the latest scientific opinion.  The healthy eating plan from the NHS choices website includes dairies, starchy carbs, food high in fat and sugar to be largely responsible for obesity and diabetes 2 among the younger generation.

The food industry is largely dominated by a few giants like Unilever, Coca-Cola, Danone, Kellogs, Nestle, Mars, General Mills, Associated British Food, and a few others, controlling around 70% of our food and everyday products (households and toiletries included). These companies influence our habit consumption and our very life through advertisements and powerful lobbying. They are also using our fantasies and driving our desires and expectations through celebrities. The beautiful and so ever popular Beyonce is lending her nice figure to sell Pepsi contributing to Diabetes 2 and obesity epidemics among youngsters, hardly a part of a healthy eating plan or example for our kids.

One rule is certain in lobbying – the bigger the lobbying is, the greater the influence will be. The Europe- wide association such as FoodDrink Europe, which represents Big Food industry, wiled the lion’s share of influence. Their communicate through mixed signals

Smaller and independent associations need to work very very hard to be heard and recognized. What can we do against big corporation? Well actually, as big as they may be, they are absolutely nothing without us.  Stop buying from them and you disempower them as well as you empower yourself.

We can reduce their influence by reducing our dependence from them and make space for other labels, work out our own healthy eating plan. Stop buying processed food, fizzy drinks and unhealthy toiletries. Go local, register with a weekly supplier of organic products to be delivered to your door, look online for alternative solutions.

While you may pay a premium for such food, the final cost may be better in reality because you buy less than when wandering in a supermarket. It’s actually reducing wastage. Break free from the big ones.  They have much to loose and you have much to gain, and in particular a healthier, more energetic purposeful longer life.