American Food Will Never Be Healthy

by Wally Bishop | Dec 26, 2023 | Healthy Food

Last time, we talked about a few reasons why cheap processed food isn’t cheap. Today, we want to dive into more details on why American food will never be healthy. You’re eating government-funded food. Big Brother doesn’t want you to be healthy. He only cares about taking care of big business. Read this, and then decide for yourself who really benefits from these policies.

Government-Funded Food

Every time you see a TV commercial for pizza, dairy, beef, pork, poultry, or pastries, odds are, it may have been funded in some way by the USDA’s Dairy Management department. Additionally, the USDA’s food policies benefit big farms, giving them an unfair advantage while putting smaller farms out of business. These smaller farms typically receive no subsidies.

Dairy Management’s budget is about $140 million annually. Their job is to increase the consumption of pizza, dairy, beef, pork, poultry, or cereals. In contrast, another department of the USDA is the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (The Midget), which promotes healthy diets and lifestyles; their total budget is a whopping $6.5 million. We have $140 million to promote disease and illness-causing foods (big agriculture business) and $6.5 million to promote health and wellness. Geez, I wonder what is most important to them?

The USDA has the task of increasing the sales of illness-promoting unhealthy foods and America’s health through consumer education and advocacy. Something smells fishy, and there is a fly in the ointment.  Hopefully, you can see the huge conflict in this situation. There is something rotten here. Sorry, those are all the puns I could come up with. But this is a severe conflict of interest and a misuse of our tax dollars. You’re eating government-funded food.

Government-Funded Illnesses

There must be a reason the government wants to make processed foods so cheap. Just think about this for a moment. Making unhealthy foods very cheap will push the public, particularly the lower-income and indigent, into buying unhealthy foods because of the tax (yes, it’s a form of tax) on healthy foods. They can’t afford healthy foods that build healthy bodies. Who benefits from promoting illness in America?

What would happen to America’s health if the government shifted the dollars in subsidies to healthy foods and took it away from unhealthy foods? Could we see a decrease in many of America’s diseases? Subsidies make foods less expensive. These current subsidized foods end up in processed foods, which are full of toxins and have little nutrition, causing poor health.

Sadly, the truth is that you cannot afford to keep eating governement-funded, processed, fried, and refined foods. It is costing you much more than you think. You will pay for it with your health and pocketbook sooner than you think. Healthy food costs are much cheaper than you may think. Our friends at Spark People did a blog back in 2016 comparing different meal values for fast and processed foods versus healthy food of the same value.

To help your body build real health, eat a diet rich in real foods, particularly organic plant-based foods, and cut or eliminate toxic and inflammatory foods. And drink Vive Shake! Contact us today at 877-878-3009 or info@viveshake.com for more information.

Vive Shake and the recommendations contained on this site and our blog are not and should not be considered medical advice. They are for informational purposes only. Always consult with your doctor before making any dietary or lifestyle changes. Never quit taking prescription medications unless advised to do so by your doctor.

Cheap Processed Food Isn’t Cheap

by Wally Bishop | Dec 19, 2023 | Healthy Food

Last time, I shared some tips to buy healthy food at lower prices. However, some people don’t realize that while processed food looks so cheap in the grocery aisle, the long-term cost is much higher.

The American Diet – Cheap Food

Processed and junk foods are the largest source of calories in the American diet. Topping the list are grain-based foods such as bread, pasta, pastries, and pizza, as well as desserts like cookies, doughnuts, granola bars, and dairy desserts like ice cream. These foods are also among Americans’ top 10 sources of calories.

The sad thing is that those types of foods are what’s advertised to the American public. The advertising budget for these processed and junk food giants is over $ 4 billion annually!

Why Is Healthy Food More Expensive?

We have the cheapest processed and refined foods of any country on this planet, so it’s easy to think that healthy foods are more expensive. Processed foods are cheap because our government subsidizes the manufacturing cost to make the foods. (You should be asking why they would do that.) On the other side of this food issue is that very few funding subsidies exist for healthy foods like produce, fruits, nuts, seeds, beans, lentils, and whole grains. These policies make those foods more expensive to buy.

If we review this situation, a few points become apparent.

• Processed and refined foods are cheaper. That’s a given. But the dollar menu is really the billion-dollar menu because of the billions in health care costs it causes.
• Studies show that the consumption of processed and refined foods are the root cause of most illness and disease for Americans.
• Our most recent data indicate that 75% to 80% of Americans are suffering from a preventable illness or disease. Preventable means a choice could have been made to prevent the illness or disease.

Recent studies also indicate that less than 12% of Americans eat the government-recommended three vegetables and two fruits per day. (Even that amount isn’t enough to promote a healthy body. It’s just enough to prevent some illnesses.) If only 12% eat the recommended five a day, then 88% eat nutrient-depleted and toxic chemical-laden foods.

75% of Americans are suffering from illnesses and diseases such as heart disease, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis, IBS, depression, anxiety, obesity, eczema, and psoriasis. I see a relationship between these facts, do you?

In the long run, the overwhelming cost of medical care outweighs the cost of simply buying healthy food. Although food may be cheap, your health costs you in doctor’s visits, medications, and eventually quality of life. Pay for it now, or pay for it later. I’d rather choose to eat healthy now and not be dependent later on artificial medication and doctors to maintain my lifestyle.

You can help out your body by drinking nutritionally rich Vive Shake. Contact us at 877-878-3009 or info@viveshake.com for more information. Next time, I’ll dive into more details about why American food will never be healthy.

Vive Shake and the recommendations contained on this site and our blog are not and should not be considered medical advice. They are for informational purposes only. Always consult with your doctor before making any dietary or lifestyle changes. Never quit taking prescription medications unless advised to do so by your doctor.

Decreasing Costs by Eating Healthy Foods

by Wally Bishop | Dec 12, 2023 | Healthy Food

Last time, I shared that my wife, Gwen, and I improved our lifestyles to counteract the cost of eating junk food. Those costs translated directly into decreased medical bills. This directly correlated with us switching to more healthy foods.

Why Did Our Medical Costs Decrease?

Our diet and lifestyle change reduced our need for emergency and routine doctor visits, medications, monthly and quarterly blood tests, and various medical scans. The healthier we ate and the more active we became, the less we needed doctors and drugs. It’s that simple.

The nutrients in healthy foods fixed the root cause of the symptoms for which we needed medications. By minimizing the intake of toxic and inflammatory chemicals in fast and processed foods, our bodies could use the bounty of nutrition from real foods and begin repairing our broken bodies. We didn’t have deficiencies in chemicals or medication. We had deficiencies in nutrition and activity.

Meat is the most expensive item in your shopping cart. You would save a lot of money if you cut your meat consumption in half and replaced it with legumes (beans, peas, and lentils.) When Gwen and I changed our diet many years ago, we cut our grocery bill in half just by cutting out so much meat. That meant we could buy a lot more veggies, fruits, legumes, whole grains, nuts, and seeds for the same amount of money. The bonus is the extra plant-based foods made us much healthier. Today, we have a diet that is at least 95% plant-based.

Tips for Buying Healthy Foods at Lower Prices

• Every grocery store has a particular day when they replace their produce with fresher produce. Usually, a couple of days before they restock, they will have sales on those items. Ask the produce manager; they will gladly tell you when the weekly sales happen.
• Buy in bulk, then freeze, can, or dehydrate vegetables and fruits. Root vegetables, winter squash, and whole grains can also be bought in bulk because you can keep them in cool, dry storage for a long time.
• Join a local farmers’ and growers’ co-op. Almost every city has one. Then you can buy produce directly from the farmers at very reduced rates every week.
• Visit your local farmers’ markets and get to know and support them through your purchases.

As a smoothie and juicing fan; vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, herbs, and spices are part of our everyday life. We see and feel the benefits. However, that’s not the case for most Americans. America’s diet is primarily processed and refined foods. Our culture has evolved into a society of fast and easy. We eat on the run to any convenient source of quick and easy food, which is high in calories and toxic chemicals, while being bankrupt in nutritional potential.

One way to get in the appropriate nutrition is by drinking Vive Shake. Contact us at 877-878-3009 or info@viveshake.com for more info. Next time, we’ll talk about why healthy food seems more expensive. Why is unhealthy food so cheap? You have an enemy working to keep you sick.

Vive Shake and the recommendations contained on this site and our blog are not and should not be considered medical advice. They are for informational purposes only. Always consult with your doctor before making any dietary or lifestyle changes. Never quit taking prescription medications unless advised to do so by your doctor.

The Cost of Consuming Junk Food

by Wally Bishop | Dec 5, 2023 | Healthy Food

A common misconception is that eating healthy is more expensive. And, certainly, if you look at the cost of food, taking the cheapest junk and processed food compared to a head of broccoli, it is. However, there is much more to the total cost of food than just the price.

Let’s look at not just the food cost but also the actual cost impact of fast and processed foods and healthy foods. I used to be a very sick and obese man. My wife, Gwen, dealt with the effects of fibromyalgia and its symptoms for years. I can give you first-hand knowledge of the cost differential between cheap fast food with a sedentary lifestyle and a healthy diet and active lifestyle.

Our diet was consistent with the standard American diet of fast, processed, refined, and fried foods. We were also very sedentary people. I was over 450 pounds with multiple health conditions and multiple medications. Gwen was very sick and under the care of three doctors while taking seven medications.

Our Health Revolution Away From Junk Food

I began my health revolution in November 2006. (I must have been crazy to start a new lifestyle journey during the peak of Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners and party season.) Shortly afterward, Gwen jumped on board the wellness train with me.

In 2006, Gwen and I had out-of-pocket medical costs exceeding $13,000, even with insurance coverage. This cost included medical expenses and prescriptions but did not include surgeries or non-routine charges.

In 2007, our out-of-pocket medical expenses dropped to less than $7,000. In 2008, they fell to a little over $3,000. Our total medical cost for 2009 was less than $1000, and it has been under $500 per year since (except for the cost of my bicycling accident). Now we have yearly physicals and routine chiropractic visits, that’s all.

Crunch the Numbers

If we had continued our unhealthy lifestyle, odds are our conditions would have worsened and required even more medical expenses. Let’s do the math: $13,000 yearly from 2007-2023 is $176,000, the bare minimum we would’ve spent. If you add the $11,000 for 2007-2009 and then $500 per year for 2010-2023, you get a total of $17,500 in medical expenses for the last 16 years. Our new healthy lifestyle has given us a total medical savings of (drum roll) $158,500 over 16 years.

Here’s the real kicker: Our food costs also decreased because we stopped buying so much meat and dairy, the most expensive grocery items.

One of the ways you can increase your options for nutrition is by drinking Vive Shake. It’s a whole-food, fiber-rich nutritional supplement with nothing extra. Contact us today at 877-878-3009 or info@viveshake.com for more information. Next time, we’ll talk about what changes we made to decrease our medical costs and how you can get healthier food at less expensive prices.

Vive Shake and the recommendations contained on this site and our blog are not and should not be considered medical advice. They are for informational purposes only. Always consult with your doctor before making any dietary or lifestyle changes. Never quit taking prescription medications unless advised to do so by your doctor.