A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the New Health Care Bill

The holidays took their toll on me last year, along with lots of work travel and family issues. For those of you who know me, it might not have looked like I gained a few pounds, but I did. So on Monday, February 1, I again changed my diet. I’m always doing that. I cut out food I determined had some kind of processed sugar. And on the three days each week I don’t work out with my trainer, I started walking: three to four miles each morning. Talk about preventive care! In three weeks, I’ve dropped 10 pounds and I feel stronger. My proof is I’m lifting heavier weights and I have the energy to stay up and watch David Letterman.

“Sugar detox,” as Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum calls it in his book Beat Sugar Addiction Now!, has been a great thing for me. I haven’t missed the sweets or, for that matter, the alcohol that is loaded with sugar. I find eating a piece of fruit, sometimes combined with freshly ground peanut butter from Whole Foods, to be so much more satisfying.

 So as the politicos continue to spar over health care, and the idiots around the U.S. start cleaning their guns, and the red state guys consider adding Viagra to the bill, I hope someone from either side of the aisle steps up to the plate and suggests the bill include—all Americans have to join a gym, reduce their sugar, salt and fat intake and start learning about dietary supplements, as part of preventive care. Anybody from the House or Senate care to stand-up and volunteer?