Do you want to hear something amazing?
In Canada, chronic diseases account for 89% of all death in Canada!
Doesn't that astound you? And given that doctors, scientists, politicians and pretty much EVERYONE agrees that most chronic illness is 100% preventable, what the heck are we doing? Yes, of the illnesses that are killing us, it is estimated that 80% of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes is preventable through diet, exercise and lifestyle changes, and about 40% of cancer.
Beyond the obvious cost to us on a social level, amazingly, this also costs us financially, as a society. It is estimated that we lost 500 million dollars in 2005 alone in national income just from premature deaths.
Does this disturb anyone else?
So, here at Prana, we are starting a movement. The World Health Organization estimates that if we reduced chronic illness by just 2%, over 10 years Canada would save 1 BILLION DOLLARS!
So what if we, as Edmontonians (interestingly, Edmonton is about 2% of the national population) did our part and reduced chronic illness here by 2%?
Join Prana Holistic's 2% Initiative. Do your part to reduce the incidence of chronic illness in Canada TODAY (it is about PREVENTION, emphasis on the "pre").
Here is what you can do:
- exercise for 3.5 hours a week, which reduces your incidence of all chronic disease by about 50%!!!!
- eat more vegetables. I know some of you out there are saying "they change what's healthy every week". Let me tell you - no one has ever said broccoli isn't healthy. Eating just 2 servings more of veggies a day, especially leafy greens, will reduce your incidence of chronic illness by about 15-40%!
- STOP SMOKING!!!! The National Cancer Institute predicts that even at the age of 50, stopping smoking reduces your risk of dying prematurely by 50%.
- cut down on sugar. New research shows what natural health practitioners always suspected: high intake of sugar raises your risk for high blood pressure, high cholesterol and liver disease (not to mention diabetes, which we already knew). Those are major factors in your risk for developing a chronic illness.
- keep your BMI below 30. Research shows this has the greatest influence on your risk for developing a chronic illness. To calculate your BMI, take your weight in pounds and multiply it by 703 and divide that number by your height, in inches, squared.
So Edmonton, let's embrace good health and turn our noses up at chronic diseases. The changes I suggested are simple, and really - What do we have to lose?
Kristi Shmyr
Prana Holistic
