We're living longer, but not healthier

Hot on the heels of my posts about giving the healthy gut bacteria some credit for disease (particularly obesity) prevention is the latest news from laureate professor, Alan Lopez of Melbourne University. Australia is now number five in the world for life expectancy. Females' average lifespan is almost 84 and males' nearly 80 and that’s a significant increase from 80 and 74 respectively in 1990.

But Lopez is quick to point out that obesity and the multitude of co-morbidities are not only a huge burden on health costs, but they will become more prevalent unless strong prevention strategies are implemented.

Couldn’t agree more! We need to not only encourage, but reward people who exercise regularly and put whole, fresh, unrefined produce on the top of their shopping and eating lists. We need to make it attractive, for those who take personal responsibility for their own health and that of their family without constant recourse to the healthcare system. But for those who are struggling with a legacy of several generations of inappropriate diet and lifestyle choices, burdened with the profound trans-generational effects thereof, we need to give them foundation nutritional support (e.g. probiotics) before we send them out to exercise and change their eating habits, especially if they're planning to start a family.