?? WHY U.S. Healthcare Costs $4.5 Trillion Per Year!

And learn how functional medicine can make all the difference.

Welcome back to ZigZag Nutrition.

This is my professional newsletter that I dedicate to sharing education, information, inspiration, and empowerment to my community (that’s YOU!).

Connecting the dots in Holistic & Integrative Health to empower us to grow in a healthier direction with a more informed and collective culture of health, prevention, nutrition, psychiatry, sleep, functional medicine, fitness and so much more.

Today I’m speaking off the cuff and going to cut right at the heart of this issue.

Let’s Dive In!

It's too bad they don't know about disease reversal or how functional medicine minded physicians treat, prevent, and put chronic conditions in REMISSION.

The United States boasts the most expensive healthcare expenditure in the entire world and yet our health outcomes don’t show us the ROI one might expect.

While countries around the world may have less technology and less scientifically advanced or extensively trained physicians, they seem to be doing just as good in their longevity and quite likely even better in their healthspan.

Yet, here in America, costs only continue to go up while increasing drug prices are poised to bankrupt many small and medium sized businesses if we don’t get costs under control in the next few years.

More costs and while more people get more sick. How beautiful.

And if you didn’t already know… 90% of our 4,500,000,000,000 is going to so called "chronic" conditions.. ??

Chronic diseases account for most illness, disability, and deaths in the United States and are the leading drivers of health care costs. - CDC

?? The House is Burning ??

Notes directly from the CDC.

Nothing kills more Americans than heart disease and stroke. More than 934,500 Americans die of heart disease or stroke every year—that's more than 1 in 4 deaths.3 These diseases take an economic toll, as well, costing our health care system $251 billion per year and causing $156 billion in lost productivity on the job. Costs from cardiovascular diseases are projected to top $1 trillion by 2035.

Each year in the United States, 1.7 million people are diagnosed with cancer, and more than 600,000 die from it, making it the second leading cause of death. The cost of cancer care continues to rise and is expected to reach more than $240 billion by 2030.

More than 38 million Americans have diabetes, and another 98 million adults in the United States have prediabetes, which puts them at risk for type 2 diabetes. Diabetes can cause serious complications, including heart disease, kidney failure, and blindness. In 2022, the total estimated cost of diagnosed diabetes was $413 billion in medical costs and lost productivity.

Obesity affects 20% of children and 42% of adults, putting them at risk of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers. Over 25% of young people aged 17 to 24 are too heavy to join the U.S. military. Obesity costs the U.S. health care system nearly $173 billion a year.

Arthritis affects 53.2 million adults in the United States, which is about 1 in 5 adults.7 It is a leading cause of work disability in the United States, one of the most common chronic conditions, and a leading cause of chronic pain. Arthritis costs appear to be increasing and were estimated at over $600 billion in 2019.

Alzheimer's disease, a type of dementia, is an irreversible, progressive brain disease that affects nearly 7 million Americans, including 1 in 9 adults aged 65 and older. Two-thirds of these older adults (4.1 million) are women. Deaths due to Alzheimer's disease more than doubled between 2000 and 2019, increasing 145%. The cost of caring for people with Alzheimer's and other dementias was an estimated $345 billion in 2023, with projected increases to nearly $1 trillion (in today's dollars) by 2050.

In the United States, about 3 million adults and about half a million children and teens younger than 18 have active epilepsy—meaning that they have been diagnosed by a doctor, had a recent seizure, or both. Adults with epilepsy report worse mental health, more cognitive impairment, and barriers in social participation compared to adults without epilepsy. In 2019, total health care costs (epilepsy-attributable and other health-related costs) for noninstitutionalized people with epilepsy was $13.4 billion, of which $5.4 billion were directly attributable to epilepsy.

Cavities (also called tooth decay) are one of the most common chronic diseases in the United States. One in six children aged 6 to 11 years and 1 in 4 adults have untreated cavities. Untreated cavities can cause pain and infections that may lead to problems eating, speaking, and learning. On average, 34 million school hours are lost each year because of unplanned (emergency) dental care, and almost $46 billion is lost in productivity due to dental disease.

According to the CDC, the top 3 Greatest Risk Factors for Chronic Disease include Smoking Cigarettes, Drinking Alcohol, and Physical Inactivity.

But sadly, there is ZERO mention of the American dream having been littered with ultra-processed foods and corrupted science agendas over the last 50-70 years.

There is no mention about the obesity epidemic and its causative agents such as the overconsumption of ultra-processed foods, endocrine disrupting chemicals found in every household and literally 100% of fast food samples tested have been found to possess heavy metals like lead & cadmium. Most supermarket shelves are stocked full of pho food, egregiously designed for addiction and hyper-palatability and not at all produced with the health or wellness of American citizens in mind.

It is literally poisoning us slowly… not only the food but also the way it is processed, manufactured, packaged, and how the minimal food ingredients used are grown.

Common baby foods have heavy metals. (Thank you rice puffs and “fruit” juice)

Common cereals have loads of glyphosate. (Thank you Cheerios)

Common pastas do too. (Thank you Banza)

The highest level of glyphosate in gluten-free food tested was in Banza Chickpea pasta. The level of 2837.19 ppb was the highest amount of glyphosate in human food the lab has recorded. - Moms Across America

I’ve been speaking about these issues since I was a teenager, and it seems that STILL nothing large scale is being done to protect American families because too many small amount of multinational conglomerate companies are stacking profits too high for anyone to see clearly on what undeniably needs to be done to actually protect American welfare in this country.

Dr. Hyman has been right.

No, kids on food stamps should not be handed a 1-Liter bottle of Coca-Cola.

No, teenagers should not be marketed to by vape companies, energy drink brands, or be given the chance to drink hundreds and hundreds of milligrams of caffeine “charged” lemonades. It’s disgusting and deplorable. It’s the menace of the machine that becomes so voracious that empathy no longer exists. It’s addicted and it doesn’t know how to stop. So if we don’t stop it, there will be no recovery.

The bicycle has no brakes and is speeding downhill. Something has to stop it in its tracks. Shall we throw a stick in its spokes or would a tree falling down in front of the bicycle work better? We’re headed for a cliff, as we have for many years as many whistleblowers have been shouting about for decades.

Intervention is required. Intervention is essentially our only way out.

Intervention by those who care enough to make a difference at a large scale and have the power to do so. Intervention by those who care enough to make a difference in their own lives in light of having no actual power or influence over larger groups or organizations.

Every household. Every family. Every school. Every hospital.

They all need intervention.

And it’s up to all of us to see it through…

So, here’s to me and you… ?

As informed citizens who have the knowledge and power to change our lives and possibly even the lives of those around us.

I’ve helped people heal through every single disease mentioned above save for Epilepsy. But we know that for this condition the Ketogenic Diet is a tried and true method that CAN help many. In addition, it can help people with complex brain and personality conditions as well. Food may not be cure, but food can certainly be part of active treatment. Yes, this is why we describe it as “Food is Medicine” or “Food as Medicine".

From Type 2 Diabetes to Hypertension, to Poor Gut Health and constant GI visits, to Autoimmune diseases and so much more... I’ve seen the healing power of lifestyle and functional medicine to help people who are SICK get back to better health.

"If only they knew..." we might think…

… but then again, maybe they do and they choose to not talk about it.

Wouldn't it be the greatest news if the American Diabetes association recommended a functional medicine approach to healing patients? Or perhaps the American Heart Association could do the same? What about the American Cancer Society?

Perhaps they don't know? Perhaps they don't care that better care does exist. Perhaps it would hurt their bottom dollar. Perhaps they too have grown so large that the beast has eaten the initial moral values that sparked these organizations to exist in the first place (if we want to be optimistic here).

Fortunately, we don’t need them to distract us. Fortunately, many of us in this space don't give out bandaids. We provide solutions for better care with a root-cause perspective to treatment.

There is so much more we could do. This is just one example of my work with people who have been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. Getting them off medications. Getting them back to feeling vital and more human than they've felt in a very long time.

Check out this page dedicated to helping people Type 2 Diabetes here. https://jonathanisbill.com

ZigZag Nutrition represents the pursuit we share as we strive to live this life as best as we can, learning and growing, flexing and adapting along the way to better align ourselves to the most nutritious life and lifestyle that meets our needs and nourishes our body, mind, and spirit - together.

Thank you for being here. Please consider sharing this story with a friend or use it as a catalyst for conversation. See you next time! ??

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