Spain was numero uno. Italy second. Iceland third. Japan fourth. Then came Switzerland, Sweden, Australia, Singapore, Norway and Israel. 

 England was 17th, which surprised me. I thought they'd be worse than the Yanks. Their food was fairly disgusting when I was there three years ago. We struggled to find either fresh or modern-style food, with one meal at a pub so ridiculously loaded with potatoes, peas and huge broiled ugly lamb chops, I couldn't get through even a quarter of it. It was bland, boring and out-of-date. At least, in America, you can get fajitas, tacos and salads, even if the rest of their diet is a heart-attack waiting to happen. 

 We have some of the freshest food in the world, here in Australia. Also, influences from imaginative countries like Japan and other Asian nations. We have good restaurants, stringent hygiene laws, a climate conducive to outdoor dining and fairly clean waters to harvest fresh fish. Our cattle are relatively disease free, and our sheep produce some of the tenderest lamb in the world. So, it's not surprising we figure high on the list.

 Scandinavian countries peppered the top of the list, with their diet of fish and their encouragement of healthy pursuits in all that unpolluted air. Countries like The Netherlands also figured highly, with bicycling a huge preference, over cars. 

 So...in a country with such a wonderful reputation, why are we having problems with obesity?

 

 

 so long as it's not too long.

 The French will tell you that their version of a 'siesta' is even more beneficial...lol...

  

Healthy food and good exercise will only get a person so far.  For things that are beyond the power of healthy living to prevent, the UK has the NHS.  The US has a disorganized, very expensive mishmash of privatised and public care that leaves many people stuck in the bind of "do I pay my electric bill or take my child to the dentist."

People in the US regularly die from self-rationing health care due to cost. Insulin for Type 1 diabetics (an autoimmune disease that cannot be prevented by healthy lifestyles) is one of the more common things that people will ration due to cost and that causes people to be sicker and die younger.  Epinephrine injectables cost up to $300 US per pen...that's a car payment.  In New Zealand it costs $50 for an Epi-pen.  

 We ended up ordering one meal only and shared.  3 of us.

 I don't think they ever heard of the minimalist food era...

  

 it's a never-ending wonderment that the supposedly greatest country in the world has one of the worst health systems.

 But the American diet leaves a lot to be desired.

  

Only if you look at it from a purely economic standpoint, and ignore the impact of systemic racism in the USA.

The reason the USA doesn't have a national health system, or even a state system similar to what Australia or Canada have, is that white Americans in positions power have epic tantrums at the idea of providing government services to black people.

 I didn't want the thread to be about politics and health systems. It was meant to discuss actual diet and lifestyles, which can lead to either a healthy life or early death.

 In Scandinavia they eat a lot of oily fish and exercise in very cool conditions, which promotes good health. In Spain and Italy, the consumption of olive oil and outdoor dining is a factor. 

 In Australia, we have all the advantages of good food and relatively clean air (when the RFS isn't burning off or bushfires aren't raging). Yet, despite our high ranking on the world health chart, we still seem to have more obese children, who will grow into obese adults. 

 Why?

 

FORE

 Most other vitamin supplements are generally unnecessary, with a healthy diet.

  

 true as that may be, not everyone has access to enough vit D from sunshine. Experts are now saying that perhaps our reliance on sunscreen to filter out ultraviolet rays is also leading to the increase in vit D deficiency.

 

  

Has anyone else read Dr Norman Swan's book So You Think You Know What's Good For You? He

(not surprisingly) pulls together truckloads of research and science into bite-size summaries.

In short, the Med diet comes up trumps but it's boosted by their lifestyle of growing their own food and gardening/farming into old age.

And he says it's not just the olive oil but the vinegar too. 

Anyway, I'm back to my paddock slashing, fresh air and copious vit D (sorry stayer  )

This is true, I am or we are versed on Vitamin D, My BH has studied it for a long time. Unfortunately living further south limits your intake of Vit D, also certain times of the day are preferable, when your shadow in smaller that you is the most beneficial, though we are told not to go out in the sun in the middle of the day due to skin cancer! Having a session in the sun with a lot of your body exposed  for 10 -20 minutes depending on the time of year is a very good source of Vit D, but sunscreen will stop the absorption.

A skin specialist once told me not to use sunscreen, he doesn't put it on his children as he thinks the chemicals in it are harmful. He said, just get a bit of sun and cover up with a hat and long sleeves.

I currently take Bronson Vitamin D3 - 10,000 IU during the cooler months when I am too chicken to sunbathe!

You must also take K2 at a different time of day or eat very freshly picked greens. K has a half life of about 8 hours in vegetables.

Too much D can cause your calcium to build up in the wrong places and Vit K with ensure it is laid down in the bones.

Stop it, 

 very interesting, Gaj.  My daughter has to use sunscreen as she burns easily, but in the same breath, certain sunscreens cause her skin to inflame. We have had to resort to baby lotion. 

 On Vit D. The recommended dose is 1000 IU to 2000 IU, but some studies say that these doses are too low to be of real benefit. 10000 IU, though, shouldn't be taken over too long a period or can lead to toxicity. 

I started on 30000 a day and come down to 10000 which is one tablet. We have looked into toxicity and Vitamin D, some studies may come up with that and others not, One of the products available has 50000 iu in one pill !

I know how good I feel when on it and honestly haven't had as much as a sniffle since taking it.

It is also a good mood lifter for people who suffer from anxiety and depression.

I guess that's why holidays in the sun are so popular!

As for sunscreen, I think zinc based ones from the health store maybe safe for your daughter, they would be free of nasty stuff I'm sure.

I had a melanoma about 20 years ago, and at that stage not aware of vitamin D, told by my mother and grandmother to stay out of the sun and look after your skin or you'll age quickly!

Every cell receptor in your body needs vitamin D.

So many illnesses later, breast cancer thirty one years ago, the above mentioned etc started me on the search for better health.

What can survive without the sun? apart from some creepy crawlies!!

Hi Shawy, yes that can happen because you may be wearing a hat, long sleeves, sunscreen etc.

Get naked, lay out there like star fish for 20 minutes

An old friend of mine was diagnosed with breast cancer a few years ago,  was found to have very low vit D even though she was outside all the time with her ponies.

Sleeved and hat, sunscreen etc - her husband a Professor! took Vit D daily as he spent his time indoors didn't see the need for his wife to be on it?

Sadly she passed away.

If you look up Grass Roots health there is a lot of information on the benefits of good levels of Vit D and its function in the prevention of many serious ailments.

Good sensible advice from, GAJ!

I'm highly photosensitive, which sucks for someone with a rural lifestyle and horses. Plus I'm reactive to many chemicals - even other people's perfume!

Zinc-based sunscreen is a lifesaver but does reduce your ability to absorb the good stuff from the sun. As does covering up with long sleeves, pants, big hat etc

So get your gear off Shawy - safely of course! 

 A couple of pages to have a look at AA, just about making sure you have some K2 with your D to make sure your calcium goes to the right place -- your bones. having it away from the D is also a better way to have it, I take the D in the morning and the K2 at night.

https://info.dralexrinehart.com/articles/vitamin-d-and-vitamin-k2-benefits-connection" rel="nofollow - https://info.dralexrinehart.com/articles/vitamin-d-and-vitamin-k2-benefits-connection

and one about ----

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32768697/" rel="nofollow - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32768697/

 

PT said to shoosh. You’ve been cancelled despite your valid comment 

Wasn’t there a QLD trainer who had breast cancer and used a heavy vitamin D treatment that cured her?

I was told after bone scans that I was osteopenic, meaning I had the potential to get osteoporosis. This, after a lifetime of living in the sun, being a swimmer, playing golf without a hat etc.  Was put on Vit D supplements. On a dose of 2000 IU, I eventually developed bone pain in my left femur, which scans couldn't detect anything wrong with. I stopped taking the D and the pain gradually disappeared. 

 As a test, I went back on the Vit D, taking only 1000IU. After about a month, the femur pain came back. Since new tests showed my bone density problems had been resolved, I went off it altogether until the femur pain disappeared again. These days I just take an occasional 2000IU, but get out in the sun at every opportunity, which is often difficult in winter. 

 Gaj saying that calcium can deposit in the wrong areas could be the answer to the femur pain. 

 

brave_ponies wrote: GAJ what about comfrey for aa? I've healed many a horse-related injury by slathering it on the affected parts and it's great for my arthritic permanently rein-bent hands

Yes, for sure a great bone healer, so much one can do , so lucky to have the internet in some ways.

PEMF treatment is good also.

We have a machine here, it can speed up the healing in broken bones and tissues.

A aged friend came here daily for a month and used the machine for 30minutes a day on his knee after surgery (he fell off a ladder), the results were amazing.

Yes, that is right JJ, it happens to me if I forget my K.

About your daughter and the sun. You have probably heard of Astaxanthin!

An algae, a super food antioxidant. It will take a month taking it but will help protect her skin when she goes outside.

https://www.biospherenutrition.co.nz/blogs/astaxanthin/astaxanthin-for-sun-protection

I take the Bio-Astin 12mg Astaxanthin daily as I have fair skin, but it has allowed my skin to get a slight tan rather than red patches!!!

Wow, who was that?

 Within 24 hours of taking them off, the pain returns in spades, so they go back on...pronto...

 

 magnets

on horses too

Ultrasonic ?Gaj.

 

 

Shawy38 wrote: Survived my 20 minutes in the Sun. few of the native wildlife looking at me funny, but will keep giving it a go

Good one you Shawy, we got sprung by the courier once when he came down our driveway unexpected! trouble is he had his grand daughter with him, poor child, seeing two naked bodies running for cover.....

 I likened it to Nazi interrogation torture and declined having it a second time.

 I'd rather put up with the neck pain than go through it again.

 

It was Gillian Heinrich but not vitamin D. It was a treatment of Hyperthermia and Vitamin C infussion

Pulsed electromagnetic field Therapy Carioca,

This is our main one     https://www.pemf120.com/product/

we have small micro pulse units, very handy and inexpensive.

and an earth pulse machine for the horses, I have used the big one on the horses but it is too heavy to cart down to the stables on a regular basis.

Don't know what causes the spurs  - ouch JJ you've been through the mill.

My Sister developed spurs on operation sites, it became and endless line of operations until the muscles were so damaged they had to leave it there.

IV Vitamin C I'm guessing, love Vitamin C, got into after having BC.

Used the magneto pulse machine on one of my horses 40 years ago Gaj , the breaker dropped him of at my stable after his last bit of work at the track , couldn't believe it when I went down to see him a hour later , his front joint had blown up like a football , X-rays taken , a cracked sesamoid  had to box him for 3 months with plaster caste , being a colt he gave me a hard time , 6 months in the paddock after rehab , had to bring him in and geld him as he was getting too big , more time off , but in the end it was the magneto pulse machine ( and good training lol ) that kept him right , 50s into 12s and 14 into 6 ( both in town ) kept my owner happy.

Prune juice - I don't think I've ever drunk it but I bought a 1l bottle from Woolies only because it was the only 1l glass jar I could find in the store and I need a 1l glass jar. Now I've heard of prunes reputation but it did not occur to me that prune juice would have same effect. So I drank the whole litre in an hour or less and soon after I was badly bloated. An hour and a half after that, after much belly gurgling, diarrhea.

Oh, man - lesson learned.

Bickfords brand the purest brand apparently 

 I'm sorry, Tlaz...but I giggled all through this...

 my mother ate prunes with custard, just about every day of her life. One of the healthiest foods you can eat...so long as it's in moderation.  

 

 

 I love pears and pear cider. Not sure it has ever interfered with my digestive tract.

 Black cherry juice is good for a lot of things, too...but becoming more difficult to obtain a vintage bottle...

 

Prune juice, I remember senior members of the family having a shot a day to stay regular!

Tlaz, sounds like you had an accidental bowl prep!!

My Better half has found an App to measure the sun and Vit D, it can tell you how long to stay in the sun, depending on what part of the world you are in and how much of your body is exposed.

It is called Dminder.

takes the guess work out of your exposure in the sun.

So you were spray painting the walls with your naked bottom in the air Macca?

What were you thinking? Did the neighbors complain?

a. record yourself as having private health insurance; or

b. mention your political inclination.

 

 More and more Australians are on Vit D supplements, mainly because we block so much natural Vit D from the sun by over-use of sunscreens. 

A tongue in cheek comment JJ, if you examine the context.  Either get a sense of humor or simply get over it.  

I’m not but I need to be careful the numbers don’t creep up at times to be borderline 

Had very good results with a “vitamin “ called Chromex

 my comment was edited. I also don't want Macca's revolting prune-juice stories clogging up the thread, either. 

 I saw the humour in your comment...

 

 see...this is what I'm talking about. 

 1. I'm not preaching. I'm interested in how people maintain a healthy lifestyle with so much conflicting information out there. Until you came in, we were having a fairly intelligent discussion. 

  2. Unlike yourself, none of my problems are diet related or self-inflicted. They were acquired by mis-fortune or from a vector. 

  3. Unlike yourself, I sympathise with people who have health problems, be they congenital or familial or inflicted without permission.

  4. Your humour is of a particularly nasty variety. You cover the vileness by claiming it is a joke, when the intent is merely to amuse yourself at another's expense.

 5. I retreat to bed at 6pm because my back can't hold up any longer. That's the problem when your spine is disintegrating...but, hey...let's make fun of the poor woman in pain. Anything is good for a laugh. 

Go to sleep, old man. It's past your bed-time...

 

   

 

 this is more to the point. A good subject.

 Do you have a family history of diabetes? 

 

 I was talking to SC, not you...and swimming in a pool with child pee is possibly more worrying that fish excrement.

 

 I'd be interested in your opinion of men taking control of contraception...

 or is the subject too personal?

 

 population explosion...

 

Only my grandmother 

As I mentioned I’m not diabetic but could easily become so if I let my diet rip as I would like

 My husband was type 2 diabetic. His son from his first marriage is also now T2 diabetic. 

 it could be familial, but more likely they both had rubbish diets.