Akay Flickr Photo (CC)
The BBC reports that fatty liver (as presented in the journal Obesity) is a growing yet silent epidemic affecting adults and, increasingly, children. Between one-quarter and one-half of all overweight children have fatty liver, which typically goes undetected and can be fatal. The causes of fatty liver vary, but scientists have found that the primary factor in the rapidly increasing caseload is our refined grain/starch-based diet.
It’s what we’ve been saying all along: eat refined starches and grains and you can expect all sorts of unfortunate – and severe – health problems. Fatty liver was once thought of as the alcoholic’s disease, but it’s most prevalent nowadays in the average person who simply follows what our national nutrition guidelines recommend: grains, grains, and more grains.

BugMan50 Flickr Photo (CC)
It’s just one of the many disturbing and unfortunate indicators of the health crisis into which we are sinking ever deeper. I don’t mean to be an alarmist, but the situation is that serious. Ours is a population at risk, and the implications for our country’s future aren’t pretty. Just out today, another report finds that overweight teens frequently display multiple risk factors for heart disease. Teenagers!
One more note and I’ll turn the pulpit over to you: the L.A. Times has a piece out today that clarifies our national health care picture even further. Roughly 90 million Americans went at least part of the last two years without any coverage whatsoever. If you’re new to the blog, be sure to read my radical proposal for overhauling our health care system.
And a rotten apple award goes to Quaker for this new product:

This, according to the press coverage: “Understanding the world of weight management snacks, Quaker folks surely were concerned that consumers needed snacks that were healthy and tasted really good.”
About the Author
Mark Sisson is the founder of Mark’s Daily Apple, godfather to the Primal food and lifestyle movement, and the New York Times bestselling author of The Keto Reset Diet. His latest book is Keto for Life, where he discusses how he combines the keto diet with a Primal lifestyle for optimal health and longevity. Mark is the author of numerous other books as well, including The Primal Blueprint, which was credited with turbocharging the growth of the primal/paleo movement back in 2009. After spending three decades researching and educating folks on why food is the key component to achieving and maintaining optimal wellness, Mark launched Primal Kitchen, a real-food company that creates Primal/paleo, keto, and Whole30-friendly kitchen staples.
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