Health & Fitness

Coffee is an integral part of many people’s morning and afternoon routines, with long lines at neighborhood coffee shops as testaments to its popularity. According to Daily Coffee News, the 2019 coffee report from the National Coffee Association found that 63% of people report they had a cup of coffee within the past day, which is a 6% increase from 2016.¹

For the first time in the association's history of reporting, the preference for brewed gourmet, espresso-based beverages and blended or cold brew drinks surpassed traditional, non-gourmet selections. The report also reveals coffee consumption was relatively stable in the past year.

This is fortunate since the U.S. Department of Agriculture² forecasted reduced production since this is an off-year in the cyclical harvesting of Brazil's Arabica trees. Lower shipments from Brazil and Honduras may result in 4.7 million fewer bags exported.

Despite the high number of people who drink coffee in the U.S., America ranks 25th globally in coffee consuming countries per capita, according to World Atlas.³ For comparison, Finland consumes 12 kg (3.2 gallons) per capita of coffee while the U.S. drinks 4.2 kg (1.1 gallons) per capita.

In the past, coffee drinking has been looked at as a vice or crutch to get some quick energy during the day. But research is revealing health benefits from it. It’s important, however, to remember that most coffee is heavily sprayed with pesticides. If you’re a java aficionado, it’s wise to purchase organic coffee to reduce your exposure to chemical toxins.

Enjoy Neuroprotective Effects From Caffeine

Coffee drinkers are familiar with its short-term stimulating effects on the nervous system. It can make you more alert but in larger amounts, even a little jittery. Scientists are also evaluating the long-term effects caffeine may have on cognition, specifically in people with dementia and Alzheimer's disease. The results have been encouraging.⁴

The Institute for Scientific Information on Coffee (ISIC) recently released a report written by Elizabeth Rothenberg, Ph.D., which identified coffee as a potential dietary intervention that could reduce the risk of developing neurodegenerative conditions or relieve some symptoms.⁵

Researchers have found that caffeine and coffee drinking may provide a protective effect on the neurological system.⁶ The authors of several studies have found that drinking coffee lowers your risk for Alzheimer’s disease⁷ and reduces overall cognitive decline.^8,9 There are also indications that the caffeine in coffee might increase insulin sensitivity, as well.¹⁰

In a collaborative effort, German and French research teams used an animal model to demonstrate how caffeine could block adenosine-activated brain receptors and have a positive effect on tau deposits found in the brains of those with Alzheimer's disease.¹¹

Researchers have also studied¹² the effect of coffee on multiple sclerosis, another neurodegenerative condition. In their review of the literature they found “that coffee and caffeine intake in moderation must not be considered as a health risk.” As an aside, they also noted that consuming high amounts of coffee and caffeine to “what equals about six cups of coffee per day” may help “reduce the risk of some diseases significantly.”

While they didn’t specify what those diseases might be, the authors did warn that a negative side effect of consuming coffee in large amounts could result in an addiction that can be hard to quit.

Alzehimer’s Rates Are Rising

The research demonstrating some neuroprotective effects of coffee is one step that may help to stem the tide of a rising number of people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. It is estimated the number who have Alzheimer's disease 65 years and older will rise to 88 million by 2050.¹³

Currently, the Alzheimer's Association estimates there are 55 million age 65 and older who have Alzheimer's disease. The growth in numbers is related to one of the largest aging generations, baby boomers.¹⁴ Alzheimer’s Disease remains incurable and one of the more pressing and tragic public health issues that takes a steep social and economic toll on families and communities.

Alzheimer’s Disease Described as Type 3 Diabetes

Type 3 diabetes is a newly-coined term that describes alterations of insulin signaling in the brain, as it “ … represents a form of diabetes that selectively involves the brain and has molecular and biochemical features that overlap with both Type 1 diabetes mellitus and [Type 2].”¹⁵

As you can imagine, overindulging in grains and sugar-laden foods raises your risk of Type 2 diabetes; we’re now learning that it likely increases your risk for Type 3 as well. Research published in the American Diabetes Association's journal Diabetes Care¹⁶ showed that those with Type 2 have a 60% increased risk of dementia.

Another study¹⁷ showed that “higher glucose levels may be a risk factor for dementia, even among persons without diabetes.” On the other hand, researchers have found that eating a high-fat, high-protein diet could lower your risk of dementia.¹⁸

Since the same study found that higher carbohydrate intake increases your risk of dementia, it stands to reason that lowering your carb intake and increasing healthy fat and protein intake would be a good strategy for lowering the risk of cognitive impairment in seniors.

You Have More Reasons to Drink Coffee

If you’ve steered clear of coffee because you’ve heard it is dehydrating, you may be happy to hear this was just a rumor. Researchers from the School of Sports and Exercise Sciences at University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom have concluded that having several cups of coffee each day doesn’t cause dehydration.¹⁹ This is good news because it means there’s no reason to ditch the java simply on the basis of dehydration dangers. Other benefits of drinking coffee include:

Potentially reducing your risk of dying early — In a study of 210,501 people, data showed that drinking coffee, caffeinated or decaffeinated, each day reduced the overall risk of death.20

Potentially reducing your risk of skin cancer — Drinking four cups of caffeinated coffee may reduce your risk of melanoma, the more dangerous form of skin cancer.21

Boosting athletic performance — Results from a meta-analysis22,23 showed that drinking 3 to 8.1 mg of caffeine per kilogram of body weight (1.36 to 3.68 mg per pound) could increase the average endurance measurement in athletes by 24%.

Stimulating brown fat — Caffeine has been found to “rapidly generate heat and metabolize macronutrients … and may have the potential to be used therapeutically in adult humans.”24

Reducing your risk of Type 2 diabetes — A study of adult men and women followed for 5.8 years demonstrated that coffee drinking “may have favorable effect in prevention of prediabetes and T2D [Type 2 diabetes].”25

Lowering your risk of cancers — In a meta-analysis, scientists found that drinking coffee was associated with a lower risk of several cancers.26 Interestingly, they found the “largest relative risk reduction at intakes of three or four cups a day versus none.”

Boosting colon cancer survival — In those with stage 3 colon cancer, four or more cups of coffee each day lowered the risk of recurrence and death by 42%. They also found coffee drinkers were “34% less likely to die from cancer or any other cause.”27 Another research team found coffee was associated with a lower risk of colorectal cancer and that it had a dose-dependent response.28

The Healthiest Coffee Is Black and Organic

It’s important to remember your coffee beans are one of the most heavily sprayed crops. Look for coffee that is certified organic. Some researchers have also suggested that adding dairy products can interfere with the body's absorption of beneficial chlorogenic acids you get from coffee.²⁹ It’s also best to steer clear of sugar since it spikes your insulin level and contributes to insulin resistance.

Consider grinding coffee yourself to prevent it from going rancid. A pack of pre-ground may go bad even before you get it home, depending on how long it’s sat on the shelf. If you use a drip coffee maker, choose non-bleached filters. Bright white filters are often chlorine bleached, and heat from the coffee can leach chlorine out of the filter during the brewing process.

The bottom line is coffee can be a healthy addition to your diet, but you don't need to start drinking it (or tea) if you don't already. If you enjoy it, then feel free to indulge without guilt when you choose black, organically grown coffee.

If you’re pregnant, you would be wise to avoid caffeine from coffee and other sources because it’s been shown to increase your chances of prolonging your pregnancy and having a baby with a low birth weight. For more information about coffee and pregnancy, check out my article “Why Therapeutic Benefits of Coffee Do NOT Apply to Pregnant Women.”

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“The Need to Grow” highlights the shocking damage industrial agriculture is doing to our soil. The documentary, produced by Earth Conscious Films, follows three people who are fighting for change in our food system.

They include a 6-year-old activist petitioning Girl Scouts to get genetically modified ingredients out of its cookies; a farmer, biochemist and chef who is fighting to keep his land for regenerative urban farming; and an inventor from Montana who developed a Green Power House to accelerate the regeneration of soil using biochar.

The film starts out revealing some devastating facts about soil, including that 70% of our planet’s soil has already been destroyed. And because nature takes an estimated 1,000 years to generate just 3 centimeters of topsoil, if this rate of soil degradation continues, Earth could run out of farmable soil in 60 years.¹

These facts are worrisome. But they serve as an important wakeup call that immediate action must be taken to save our soil. Fortunately, as shown in the film, there are fast and effective solutions to regenerate our soil. But before we explore those solutions, let’s first look at the root of the problem.

In the U.S., we’re losing soil at 10 times the rate of which it takes to regenerate it. The main driver is industrial agriculture, which relies heavily on synthetic inputs and machinery that tills up the soil. The practice of tilling affects the soils’ ability to hold water. It also turns soil carbon into atmospheric carbon dioxide, heating up the atmosphere, which in turn fuels the climate crisis.

It All Boils Down to the Soil

Tilling and applying agrichemicals disrupts fragile soil microbes. A single teaspoon of healthy soil can host billions of microorganisms.² Tens of thousands of different living species, such as bacteria, fungi, nematodes, insects and earthworms, create a complex, interconnected web that affects not only the soil but also the health of all living creatures and the food chain as a whole.

These intricate networks act like a fast underground internet, transporting nutrients, water and carbon, creating a stable structure that prevents erosion and permits plants and other lifeforms to thrive. In short, soil microbes make life possible. As Paul Stamets, mycologist and author of “Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Save the World,” says in the film:

“We are here today because of very smart choices on the evolutionary path. And we are born from the soil that gives us life. All of our food comes from soil. So, when we begin to destroy the biology of the soil we destroy the food networks that give us life. This is where we face an unprecedented circumstance.”

The Difference Between Soil and Dirt

Over the last century, farmers around the world have been encouraged to rely on unsustainable inputs, such as synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, which have resulted in short-term boosts in production, but at a major cost to soil longevity.

Large-scale monocropping and repeated tilling have resulted in the loss of topsoil rich in biodiversity, leaving behind dead dirt. This soil degradation has accelerated erosion, allowing a lifetime of topsoil to turn to dust and be blown or washed away.

This leads to a host of other problems, including food scarcity, as crops become less resilient to extreme weather conditions such as flooding and drought. As noted in the film, the difference between life and death, abundance and extinction, is the difference between soil and dirt.

The rise of industrial agriculture is tied to the military industrial complex, Jeffrey Smith, author of “Seeds of Deception,” explains in the film. After World War II, there was an excess of bomb-making material that was turned into pesticides. As the military industrial complex moved into agriculture, a model of chemical dependency was born. It’s a model environmental activist Vandana Shiva describes in the film as a war against our planet:

“Industrial agriculture, in my point of view, is first and foremost a war against the Earth because it is a war against all species, since you are bringing more chemicals into food production. And all they are doing is killing.”

Industrial Agriculture Linked to Ocean Dead Zones

Today, about 44 billion pounds of chemical fertilizers are used each year, according to the film. The impacts of these synthetic fertilizers reach far and wide. They disrupt the soil’s microbial balance and harm beneficial fungus and organic matter.

As biodiversity decreases, more fertilizers are needed to maintain outputs. Without nature there to do its job, agrichemicals must be used to fight off weeds and bugs. David King, founder of Seed Library of Los Angeles, put it best in the film when he said, “The idea that you can fight nature is dead upon arrival.”

The problems with synthetic fertilizers don’t stop on the field. Up to 50% of nitrogen fertilizers are washed away with rain and irrigation water, causing a huge amount of pollution that’s resulted in an ocean dead zone the size of New Jersey.

A dead zone in the ocean lacks oxygen and can kill fish and other marine life. The New Jersey-size dead zone is the largest ever measured since scientists began mapping ocean dead zones in 1985.³

Factory farms or concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) — which are easily the most polluting activity on the planet — are a second major contributor to ocean dead zones.

In August 2017, a report by the environmental group Mighty blamed toxins from factory farm manure and chemical fertilizers for causing the largest dead zone ever recorded. The Guardian reports:⁴

“Nutrients flowing into streams, rivers and the ocean from agriculture and wastewater stimulate an overgrowth of algae, which then decomposes. This results in hypoxia, or lack of oxygen, in the water, causing marine life either to flee or to die.”

Roundup Weedkiller at Center of 42,700 Cancer Lawsuits

Sadly, vast amounts of resources are used to fuel industrial agriculture and factory farming. In the U.S., more than 33% of fossil fuels, 50% of all water and 80% of farmland is used to raise animals that are confined in factory farms and to grow the grain to feed them, according to the film.

Most of the grains are genetically modified, 80% of which are engineered to withstand Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller. Roundup has been linked to a host of health problems, including liver and kidney damage, Parkinson’s, infertility and Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. More than 42,700 plaintiffs in the U.S. have filed suit against Bayer (Monsanto’s new owner), claiming Roundup caused their cancer.⁵

The use of glyphosate, the key ingredient in Roundup, has risen 10,000% since 1974, according to the film. The chemical is now found in our food, air and rainwater. Still, U.S. regulatory authorities do not require food to be tested for glyphosate contamination.

Big Agriculture’s philosophy of using GMOs and glyphosate is one of sterilization: Kill everything except the crop. This is the exact opposite of farming in ways that regenerate soil and biodiversity.

The Green Power House

The film features Erik Cutter, a biochemist and oncologist by training who became a chef, farmer and pioneer of urban regenerative agriculture. Cutter uses a tool called the SoxxBoxx Gro System,⁶ an elevated tray containing rows of polypropylene socks filled with healthy soil.

The SoxxBoxx system sequesters carbon and blends organic, aeroponic and hydroponic practices. The results are plants high in nutrients that don’t require pesticides.

The film shows Cutter being introduced to a natural fertilizer that, to his amazement, caused his plant to change colors within 45 minutes of applying it. The material turned out to be biochar. It was produced by Michael Smith, inventor of the Green Power Plant. Fascinated and eager to learn more, Cutter hopped on an airplane and flew to Montana to meet Smith.

Smith is a mathematician, physicist and former software engineer. His background is diverse and includes working in the field of artificial intelligence for a variety of companies such as Walt Disney Studios, NASA and the FBI. Smith was one of the first pioneers in 3D printing, long before 3D printers were known as they are today.

He took his expertise in artificial intelligence and began to apply it to biology. In 2009, he co-founded Algae Aqua-Culture Technologies Inc., which designed the Green Power House.⁷ The power house operates on a system powered by sunlight and industrial waste, diverting that waste from landfills and producing electricity while accelerating the regeneration of soil.

The power house uses something they call the dragon, a state-of-the-art pyrolysis machine. When biomass such as wood chips enter the dragon, it’s heated close to 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The absence of oxygen prevents combustion, leaving behind a stable carbon structure similar to charcoal.

The extracted energy runs the entire power house off-grid, while creating enough excess electricity to meet the needs of about 100 homes. It would take more than 3 acres of solar panels to accomplish this, notes the film.

Biochar

The electricity is not their main product, though. It’s their “waste” byproduct. Pretty incredible, right? The main product is biochar, which is emerging as one of the best solutions to environmental pollution.

The process of making biochar has been around for about 9,000 years. Our ancestors created biochar to revitalize the soil. Algae Aqua-Culture did not invent the process of making biochar, they simply reformulated it for the 21st century.

As explained in the film, biochar is a form of extremely stable carbon with pores that create a massive surface area in a tiny space. Think of it like this: A 2-inch piece of biochar, if unfolded, would have the surface area the size of a football field. This structure is an optimal breeding ground for beneficial soil microbes, holding water and nutrients where plant roots need them the most.

Without the dragon, the wood waste would end up in the landfill, releasing greenhouse gases as it decomposed. Instead, biochar locks the carbon back underground for hundreds or even thousands of years. The technology is aimed at both regenerating the soil and reducing the carbon footprint of polluting industries like timber and coal, while providing cleaner, low-carbon energy alternatives.⁸

Remarkably, one green power house is able to stabilize more than 1 ton of carbon every day. It would take about 50,000 trees to do the same, according to the film.

Smith is using the Green Power House to fix carbon, pulling it out of the atmosphere and putting it back in the ground where it can do the most good. Smith and his team essentially copied nature’s way of producing soil — taking carbon dioxide, water and sunlight and creating biomass from it. They just found a way to accelerate the process.

The Liquid Prairie

The film takes Cutter on a tour through what Smith and his team refer to as the “Liquid Prairie.” Using continuously fed carbon dioxide from the dragon, rapidly growing algae is harvested every day. Through biodigestion, algae are converted to a nutrient-rich organic fertilizer that when combined with biochar, creates a powerful soil rejuvenator.

Methane, a byproduct of algae digestion, is sent back to the dragon, which heats and processes more waste, completing the cycle. Most people don’t know it, but algae are higher in energy than coal, Smith tells Cutter in the film. Through the whole process, Smith is doing in four or five days what nature would do in 400 years.

Save the Soil

Solutions such as the Green Power Plant are key in building healthy soil and transforming our broken food and farming system. The good news is there are many steps all of us can take to help shift our death-based agriculture system to a life-based economy.

We can’t feed the world from dead soil. But we can provide nutritious food on a global scale without destroying the planet. All we need are many small solutions that lead to a societal shift.

Actions such as shopping organic, supporting local regenerative farms, growing your own food, composting, seed-saving or starting a garden at your or your child’s school can help restore soil health and the biodiversity that depend on it.

As the film notes, the future of our food system is in our hands. Agriculture can either destroy the planet or it can be a vessel to regenerate our soils, restore ecosystems and create true food security. But we must act now. The actions we take in the next few years will have environmental effects lasting for generations.

As Shiva says in the film, “In life, the phrase ‘it’s too late’ doesn’t work. Life is about renewal. Life is about healing. Life is about bursting forth again and again and again.” Click here to find local farms in your area selling regenerative products.

About the Director I believe in bringing quality to my readers, which is why I wanted to share some information about the filmmakers, Rob Herring and Ryan Wirick, from "The Need to GROW." Here is a little more about them and what went in to making this film. Thank you, Rob and Ryan, for sharing with us. What was your inspiration for making this film? The U.N. report “Wake Up Before It’s Too Late” recently stated that localizing and diversifying the food supply and increasing small organic farms was the key to fixing our food system, rather than relying on chemical-dependent, soil-eroding, nutrient-lacking GMO monocultures. It seemed so obvious. Meanwhile, Time magazine estimated that at our current rate of soil degradation, we only have roughly 60 years of farmable topsoil left on the planet. We knew the public didn’t need another doomsday film insinuating it was too late to save our species. It’s not. So, we set out looking for the untold stories of revolutionary people who are already creating the new food system, in harmony with nature. As we began interviewing experts, it quickly became apparent how important soil health is to the future of the planet. Soil isn’t sexy, so it’s often overlooked as being nothing more than dirt. This couldn’t be further from the truth — there are more micro-organisms in a healthy tablespoon of soil than there are people on the planet! Healthy soil regulates not just the nutrients in a healthy food system, but healthy water, air, biodiversity and the ability to return atmospheric carbon pollution back into the Earth. Like nothing else, the act of healing our soils truly addresses almost every other environmental issue — including climate change! The film follows a mother and daughter activist, a renegade urban farmer and an accomplished visionary inventor revolutionizing soil restoration. It was important to us for these characters’ personal journeys to serve as a vehicle through which we could weave in myriad action steps on all scales. Audiences leave feeling hopeful and knowing exactly what solution they can participate in immediately — regardless of who they are or where they live. Shot over nearly five years, “The Need To GROW” is ultimately a story of underdog resilience. Each character overcomes a major setback, bringing viewers on a ride to not only learn about the astonishing issue of soil health — and the urgent problems of our food system overall — but to connect with characters who offer an inspiring example of what can be accomplished with perseverance and heart. What was your favorite part of making the film? We forged lifelong friendships, not only with the stars of the film, but with countless solutionists around the country whom we met while traveling and looking for the most cutting-edge solutions. What we saw was there are a lot of incredible people out there working hard to heal this planet and our relationship to it. It is more than hopeful — we found that we already have most of the answers to turn around our environmental destructive habits. When the time comes that the public and governments are ready to listen, the answers will be ready to deploy, as proven by those who are already participating in the future food system. What gives us the most pride is seeing the new friendships that exist between people we helped connect through this process. Seeing inspiring leaders interact and work together now — and knowing our film is the reason for their relationship — makes us happier than anything. Where do the proceeds from your film go? All proceeds of “The Need to GROW” go toward raising awareness of the importance of soil regeneration and increasing the accessibility of solutions to heal both people and planet. Our new platform, Earth Conscious Life, was created to accentuate how there are no dividing lines between planetary health and human health — the pursuit of a healthy planet, society, family and home are one and the same. Our mission is to make these connections indispensable for people through community and art focused on holistic solutions. >>>>> Click Here <<<<<

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Few cannabis consumers understand what the THC numbers on packages of cannabis edibles really mean, according to a new study. The study, which surveyed nearly 1,000 Canadians aged 16 to 30, found that most consumers could not identify whether a cannabis edible contained 'low' or 'high' levels of THC based on the label.

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A new study shows how a natural compound found in cruciferous vegetables can also be used to fight fatty liver disease.

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A new study shows how a natural compound found in cruciferous vegetables can also be used to fight fatty liver disease.

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How and where receptors touch at the surface of a cell may influence the strength of neuronal connections and contribute to identifying better medical interventions for pain, cancer other diseases.

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Clostridium difficile, a bacterium known to cause symptoms from diarrhea to life-threatening colon damage, is part of a growing epidemic for the elderly and hospitalized patients. Biologists have now developed models of the common fruit fly to help develop novel therapies to fight the pathogen.

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Genetically edited immune cells can persist, thrive, and function months after a cancer patient receives them.

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Scientists have developed the most advanced disease model for blood vessels to date and used it to discover a unique role of the endothelium in Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome. This devastating and extremely rare genetic disease causes symptoms resembling accelerated aging in children. The model is the first to grow both the smooth muscle and inner lining, or endothelium, layers of blood vessels from stem cells derived from the patients' own skin.

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The protein tau has long been implicated in Alzheimer's and a host of other debilitating brain diseases. But scientists have struggled to understand exactly how tau converts from its normal, functional form into a misfolded, harmful one. By analyzing brain tissue from patients, researchers have revealed that modifications to the tau protein may influence what type of disease that will develop -- and how quickly that disease will spread throughout the brain.

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New research has deciphered how rogue communications in blood stem cells can cause leukemia. The discovery could pave the way for new, targeted medical treatments that block this process.

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Researchers have created a new technique that shows which species will be at risk from climate change, where those risks are most severe, and even suggests things we can do to reduce those risks. The method to predict extinction risk works very well for bumble bees and could in theory be applied universally to other organisms.

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A pioneering therapy for lingering depressive symptoms is now available online.

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Mice born blind have shown significant improvement in vision after undergoing a new gene therapy.

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As the effects of climate change become more evident, more than half of US adults (56%) say climate change is the most important issue facing society today, yet 4 in 10 have not made any changes in their behavior to reduce their contribution to climate change, according to a new poll.

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Social media users are more likely to eat fruit and veg -- or snack on junk food -- if they think their friends do the same, a new study has found.

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Researchers have identified a new protein linked to age-related macular degeneration (AMD) that could offer new hope for the diagnosis and treatment of the disease, which affects over 1.5 million people in the UK alone.

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The longer your commute, the more you're exposed to a chemical flame retardant that is a known carcinogen and was phased out of furniture use because it required a Proposition 65 warning label in California.

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Scientists have uncovered the underlying rules that, when broken, contribute to neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS.

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From plastics to pesticides, it seems like every week delivers fresh news about the dangers of endocrine disruptors -- chemicals in the environment that alter the body's hormones and can lead to reproductive, developmental, neurologic and immune problems and cancer. Industry regulation and individual consumer choice can reduce exposure to such chemicals, but there are few options to counteract damage that has already occurred. Now new research conducted in worms suggests a path toward changing that.

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Nw study findings implicate a specific type of immune cell behind heterotopic ossification, or abnormal bone formation and present a possible target for treatment.

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If you were to sum up the overall health of a nation in one single number, what would that be? At the top of the list, you would likely find average life expectancy — the total number of years, on average, that a person in a country can expect to live. Wars, famine, and economic crises are expected to lower life expectancy. Breakthroughs in science, strong economies, and behaviors like eating a healthy diet, exercising, and avoiding tobacco typically raise average life expectancy.

An amazing rise, a surprising fall

Between 1959 and 2014, the United States experienced an unprecedented increase in life expectancy, which rose from 69.9 years to 78.9 years. The simple thought of adding almost 10 years, on average, to the lifespan of each individual in the country in that short amount of time is amazing and astounding, a true testament to our rapidly increasing understanding of health, medicine, and the environment.

Unfortunately, that’s where the good news ends. Between 2010 and 2014, life expectancy in the US plateaued. And then in 2014, something worse happened: life expectancy began decreasing. The US experienced three years in a row of declining life expectancy. As an article in the Washington Post observes, this is the first time the US has seen such prolonged declines since 1915 to 1918, when Americans experienced both World War I and a flu pandemic. The US is also the only developed country in the world whose average life expectancy stopped increasing after 2010. We now rank 35th in the world. The average American can expect to live 3.5 years less than the average Canadian. So now, in this decade, without large-scale war causalities or a severe pandemic, without economic crisis or famine, why is US life expectancy decreasing?

Diving into details on life expectancy

A recent report in JAMA provides a comprehensive, detailed look at this phenomenon. The authors focused attention on midlife, defined as adults ages 25 to 64. Midlife is the time when adults are typically the most productive, raising families and making up the majority of the workforce. Tragically, mortality rates in this age group are bringing down the national average. Key findings below help explain why.

(First, a quick note about percentages: A 100% increase in deaths from an illness means the death rate doubled since the last time it was measured. A 400% increase means deaths are five times as high as they were previously.)

Certain health problems are driving higher death rates. Since 1999, the US has seen drastic decreases in deaths due to heart disease, cancer, HIV, and motor vehicle injuries. But since 1999, drug overdose deaths in midlife increased almost 400%, while deaths from alcoholic liver disease and suicide increased by about 40% each. Likewise, deaths caused by illnesses related to high blood pressure increased by nearly 80%, while those from obesity-related illness rose 114%.

Gender matters. Overall, men have lower life expectancy than women. Likewise, during midlife men were more likely than women to die from most causes, with some important exceptions. For example, overdose deaths nearly quadrupled overall, but among women the increase was 1.4 times higher than among men. And deaths related to alcoholic liver disease were 3.4 times higher among women than men.

Race and ethnicity matter. Since 1999, nearly all racial and ethnic groups have experienced an initial improvement in life expectancy followed by a decline. Only non-Hispanic American Indians and Alaska Natives did not experience a decline. Death rates of non-Hispanic black individuals in midlife have remained substantially higher compared with non-Hispanic white people over the past decades. But for certain conditions the disparities are even greater, including a relative increase of over 170% in fatal drug overdoses between 2010 and 2017.

Where you live matters. One of the most fascinating parts of the report is the state-by-state mortality comparison. The difference in mortality between the highest and lowest life expectancy states is seven years! Furthermore, there has been a shift over the past decades. For example, in 1959, Kansas had the highest life expectancy, but in 2016 it ranked 29th. There were also differences between neighboring states: Alabama and Georgia had a negligible (0.1 year) difference in 1990, but by 2016, Georgia’s life expectancy was 2.3 years greater. And finally, states who have been hit hardest with the opioid overdose epidemic have also seen decreases in life expectancy, particularly those in New England and the Ohio Valley. In fact, the authors of the report calculated that there were over 33,000 excess deaths from 2010 to 2017. About a third of these deaths occurred in just four Ohio River Valley states: West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky.

Life expectancy is much more than just a number

In unpacking this important report, so many unanswered questions rise to the surface. I think of the potential every child has, and the years of people’s lives that are lost unnecessarily and prematurely, especially during midlife years when they could be most productive. There is, fortunately, a glimmer of a silver lining: a new report shows that, in 2018, life expectancy increased in the U.S. by 0.1 years—so, just over five weeks.

Still, what would our country’s average life expectancy be if we could eliminate stigma around addiction, increase treatment resources, and end overdose-related deaths? What would the number be if every American was guaranteed access to inexpensive medicines for chronic conditions such as high blood pressure? If we recognized that mental illness is a chronic disease and people had access to appropriate behavioral health services? If our society addressed the social determinants of health, focusing on vast disparities between racial and ethnic groups, as well as rural and city inhabitants? I can’t tell you the answers. But as a nation, we must address these tough questions if we wish to resume our once remarkable progress extending people’s lives.

The post What’s in a number? Looking at life expectancy in the US appeared first on Harvard Health Blog.

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