So what is the Western diet? The Western diet is our food culture today and both ends of its spectrum are damaging our health, from eating more of whatever nutrient is the current diet fad to living a sedentary lifestyle full of fatty foods and solitary, hurried eating. What we know for sure is that people who eat the archetypical western diet, high in processed and refined foods as well as snacks and separate dinners, end up with substantially higher rates of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and obesity then people eating traditioanl diets. They essentially develope what is called today the metabolic syndrome, beginning with obesity "(a BMI over 25), continuing on to hypertension, type two diabetes, heart disease, and finally stroke. We also know, as is seen in Kerin O-Dea's study, is that people who eat a traditional diet are healthier and live longer then even the westerners who are eating only what they belive to be good for them. However, there are several changes that can be made to reverse the onset of the western disease. One is "{avoiding} food products containing ingredients that are a. unfamiliar, b. unpronouncable, c. more then five in number, or that include d. high fructose corn syrup," another, "{eating} more like the French. Or the Italians. Or the Japanese. Or the Indians. Or the Greeks," and, "{doing} all your eating at a table." Easy, simple ways to completely avoid the western disease and all its negative effects. I incorperated all of these into my meal.

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