12 Ways to Prevent Disease

12 Ways to Prevent Disease — page 1 — A Healthy Diet Prevents Many Diseases For most of American history children were rarely obese But in the 1980s eating habits started to change People began eating more processed foods These are foods that come in packages They are often convenient and cheap Today pressure and clogged blood vessels Blood pressure is the force of blood surging through blood vessels Eating too much salt causes the body to hold on to extra water And this increases blood pressure straining the heart Eating unhealthy one third of American children are fats can increase levels of fat in obese What are the causes One blood This blocks blood flow to of them is processed foods These the heart And that can lead to foods are high in sugar salt and fat a heart attack Obesity can also weaken the immune system The Obesity can lead to several health problems These include high blood immune system fights infections Fruits and vegetables are the best choices for a healthy

12 Ways to Prevent Disease — page 2 — Processed foods I may be convenient but most of them are unhealthy 205 207 99 and cancers With a weak immune system a person has a higher risk of getting other diseases 303 as 305 anSOL Fortunately there's good news A healthy diet can help prevent these diseases The key is eating more fruits and vegetables Whole 40m grains are important too And it's always best to eat foods without added salt and sugar TV FOOD ADS AND OBESITY 77 The more TV a child watches the more likely he or she is to become Percent of salt in a typical American's diet that comes from processed and restaurant food overweight This is partly because the person is sitting not and exercising It also happens because TV watchers tend to snack on Americans eat large amounts of sugar salt fats and processed foods unhealthy foods These are often the foods advertised on TV In one study researchers studied kids who watched shows with food This has contributed to obesity and related diseases commercials These kids ate 45 Children rarely had these diseases before the percent more snack foods than kids who watched shows 1980s without food commercials A healthy diet can prevent diseases

12 Ways to Prevent Disease — page 3 — Keep tabs on Your Health Heart disease is the number one killer in the United States But to keep tabs on your health For example you should get regular blood pressure readings Another good idea is to get a blood test for most cases can be prevented One way is to keep a healthy weight Another way is to control high blood pressure and high cholesterol cholesterol and blood sugar These conditions often have no A blood symptoms That's why it's important pressure test is a quick and easy way to keep tabs on your health 6 EO

12 Ways to Prevent Disease — page 4 — To keep cholesterol in check choose fruits instead of high fat foods One in three Americans has high blood pressure Unfortunately many do not know it There are several ways to lower blood pressure One way is to exercise regularly Another way is to avoid smoking Cutting back on salt also helps Cholesterol is fat in the blood There are two types of cholesterol One type is good and one is bad High levels of bad cholesterol can clog arteries In time this can lead to a heart attack On the other hand 80 good cholesterol cleans out the bad cholesterol There are ways to raise Percent of people with type 2 diabetes who are overweight levels of good cholesterol You can exercise You can cut back on foods high in sugar and fat In people with diabetes high blood sugar damages heart cells It also increases the risk of diseases in several organs The organs include the heart kidneys eyes and those Many people do not know they have high blood pressure High blood pressure damages blood vessels and strains the heart High cholesterol clogs blood vessels and can cause heart attacks Uncontrolled diabetes damages many organs It's important to monitor and control these conditions in the nervous system There are ways to prevent these problems You can control blood sugar through exercise and diet Medications from the doctor can help

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