All illnesses affect the human body, but some of these can really take their toll. You may not think much about them now, but they’ll hit harder as you age. Even younger people aren’t safe from the dangers that disease brings.
The current pandemic houses one notable example: COVID-19. Since the first confirmed case on U.S. soil last year, the disease has claimed nearly 600,000 lives—men, women, and children. If it continues at this rate, it’ll be the leading cause of death in the country in no time.
But COVID’s not the only one out there. The illnesses on this list have been changing lives for the longest time, even with centuries of medical advances. Fortunately, they’re all preventable with a combination of a healthy diet, regular exercise, and maybe a bit of luck.
Fatty Liver Disease
The liver is responsible for breaking down and balancing nutrients in the blood as it passes through it. Any excess or waste gets expelled through a substance called bile, which also helps break down fats. But when there’s too much of a good thing, especially fats, the liver will struggle to keep up. If it contains more than 5% fat, you’re looking at fatty liver disease.
You don’t even have to be a hard drinker to get this. An estimated two in five cases are non-alcoholic, where symptoms are almost non-existent. You won’t even feel that you have it until your skin and eyes start turning yellow (buildup of bilirubin, which the liver also processes), among other abnormalities.
Weight loss is a standard preventive treatment, but recent studies have shown a liver keto diet can help. One randomized clinical trial in South Korea in 2018 showed the low-carb keto diet had significantly reduced liver and abdominal fat. That’s because the diet encourages the body to draw from excess fat stores, a process called ketogenesis.
Obesity
This disease needs little introduction, given that around 40% of Americans suffer from it. Not only your body stacks up on fats and sugars, but it’s also unable to burn them all off by being physically inactive. Even worse, obesity is linked to the other diseases on this list, including fatty liver disease.
The BMI or Body Mass Index is the most common indicator of obesity, where the formula is body weight over height in meters squared. A BMI between 25 and 29.9 means overweight according to CDC and any higher means obesity. However, remember BMI alone doesn’t tell you everything, as it doesn’t measure how much fat a person has.
Steering clear of foods with unhealthy amounts of fats and sugars is a start, but it won’t be enough. The American College of Sports Medicine suggests engaging in 250 minutes of moderate physical activity every week to cut weight drastically. After reaching your weight goal, you need to perform 150 minutes of exercise every week to maintain it.
As for your diet, you can consider low-sugar or sugar-free foods for your meal. Eating raspberries for dessert, which only has five grams of sugar per cup, is a healthier alternative to downing a can of soda with over 30 grams.
Cancer
As of this writing, COVID is the third leading cause of death in the U.S. It comes just behind two of the illnesses on this list: heart disease and cancer. Here’s a look into the latter.
Whether or not you lead a healthy lifestyle, cancer is, for the most part, inevitable. The process of cell proliferation isn’t prone to errors, as research has discovered over the past few years. A handful of typos in DNA copying will slip through, resulting in malignant cell growth. There’s no way to prevent these mistakes, meaning you shouldn’t blame yourself for getting cancer.
That doesn’t mean fighting cancer is pointless. While inevitable, factors such as excessive drinking and smoking can increase your risk. Continue your healthy routine (or start one as soon as possible) to protect yourself from other diseases that can exacerbate your risk. Early detection through scans and testing is also essential.
Heart Disease
One in four Americans die from heart disease, the most widespread being coronary artery disease. This illness can be described as clogged plumbing, with fatty deposits lining critical vessels leading to the heart. Without the oxygen and nutrients carried by incoming blood, the heart will gradually suffer from failure.
As this article has already established, too much fat and sugar hardly do anyone’s well-being good. The last thing you want to happen is for a crucial artery to become closed to all traffic. While your heart can create another path to circumvent the blockage, it won’t be able to deliver as much blood.
Since heart disease is linked to obesity, preventing or mitigating it is the same. Avoid eating foods that contain unhealthy fats and added sugars, and include healthier options in your diet. Don’t be too quick to dismiss fats in general, as some with high-density lipoprotein can help curb your risk.
Type-2 Diabetes
The pancreas makes sure your blood has the ideal amount of sugar. It produces and releases insulin when blood sugar levels are high and glucagon when they’re low. But like the liver, the pancreas can only keep up for so long. When it reaches the point that in-house insulin has barely any effect on sugar-laden cells, you have type-2 diabetes.
Treating such a disease (or even preventing it) demands a significant lifestyle change. You’ll have to follow the strict diet plan your doctor has drawn and follow it to the letter. It can include lots of good carbs and fiber to help control your intake, as well as sugar substitutes to regulate your blood sugar levels.
Conclusion
No matter how old you are as you read this, it’s never too late to take the route to good health and long life. Have faith in the power of a well-rounded diet and regular exercise. The cost of a hearty meal and a few laps around the block still dwarfs a day or two confined at a hospital. In the end, healthy lifestyle and regular consultation with a doctor could help you with early detection and medical treatment.
