Why do we as Americans make healthy living so difficult

[Harmony Blue]

when the rest of the world knows that it is so simple?

http://www.veria.com/shows/a-model-guru/?tab=show

Before the woo hall monitors descend why have we lost so much knowledge from our ancestors and ancients? I talk to most people and most do not know that you can treat a bee or wasp sting with an onion to relieve the pain or how cinnamon and ginger are really helpful to drink with warm water to help with a multitude of symptoms causing discomfort.

[Marrah_G]

1. greed

Every single American should be living a healthy and wonderful life. We have the resources to make that happen, but greed keeps it from happening.

[YarnAddict]

2. Personal freedom??

We can make the choice to not exercise, to eat junk food, to smoke and drink if we want.

[tridim]

3. Because our government has been lying to us about proper nutrition since the 60's.

For instance, this popular chart...



... is completely wrong, and if you follow it you will likely develop type-2 diabetes.

[Agschmid]

4. Your OP isn't woo.

[MineralMan]

5. A lot of people know those old folk remedies.

Others choose other methods. One doesn't need to visit a website that sells these alternative methods or asks people to sign up to watch videos to discover folk remedies that work.

For me, a wasp or bee sting stops hurting after a few minutes, whether I do anything or not. As for your cinnamon and ginger remedy, you can use those for relief from some symptoms or select from a wide range of other products that will also relieve them. None of those remedies will cure any serious disease, though, that is causing the symptoms. They're just temporary measures for symptomatic relief.

There is no single path to healthy living, I'm afraid. There are multiple paths.

[Sivafae]

6. Poverty.

I don't own a car. I believe this to be part of my healthy living responsibility. However, most everything in my life behaves as if I do own a car. Union meetings are not usually accessible by bus, and even if they were I would have to travel for an hour plus to get to them.

I have a Whole Foods within 2-ish blocks of my house. But living in San Francisco on $29000 a year makes it unaffordable. And so I have to travel, by bus, to the Foods Co. that is a mile away. The closest bus that takes me to and fro is about 2 SOMA blocks from my house about .4 of a mile according to Google maps.

If I go anywhere outside of San Francisco, I have to travel pretty long distances for someone without a car to get anywhere because the whole planning is based on the use of a car. So what would take someone a brief 10 minutes to get to by car would take me up to an hour because of bus transportation (or the lack thereof). Even still, sidewalks are not always available.

I would love to live somewhere where I can afford the rent AND have proper public transportation, but the two rarely coincide. Plus, I don't make enough money to save up to leave, let alone own a car in a city that is famous for its anti-car polices. I borrowed my mom's car for a week and I got a ticket for parking on the street, in front of my dwelling, on a Saturday for more than two hours and the ticket was $74.

The reality of people's lives do not always fit our ideals about what we thing they ought to be.