The Long-Term Costs of a Bad Diet – Over 200k

A study conducted by the University of North Carolina in 2018 determined that only 12% of Americans were metabolically healthy. In 2022, that percentage decreased to 7%

Metabolically healthy means that the individual does not possess more than 2 indicators of metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is comprised of the following 5 indicators:

• Waist circumference: >40” in men, >35” in women
• Triglyceride level: >150mg/dL
• HDL: <40mg/dL in men, <50mg/dL in women
• Blood pressure: > 130/85 mmHg
• Fasting blood glucose: > 110 mg/dL

For more than half of my adult life, I fell into the category of metabolically sick, and it impacted every aspect of my life, mentally, physically, and emotionally.

The impacts of metabolic syndrome are far-reaching when it comes to health. The risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, increased risk of cancer, heart attack, and stroke all increase with metabolic syndrome. The impacts are not just physical, but as I said earlier, impact your mental and emotional well-being too. Depression, anxiety, lack of sleep, and feelings of hopelessness were all things that I fought when I was metabolically sick.

The other significant impacts of metabolic sickness come in the form of actual, out-of-pocket medical costs.

At a minimum, it’s well over 200k in costs to you. I think costs are even higher … Say you get diabetes at age 40. For the next 20 years, you can expect to spend nearly 200k on it, according to the study. But it’s worse for some people, the quality of life, the social disruption, and the pains add a slew of costs that are more than just money.  A bad diet for many is the cause of feeling emotionally ill, and physically weak, and more ailments. If you can mitigate, resolve, and make diabetes a non-issue — more and more people taking care of their health with diet changes can avoid much of this.

According to a 2018 article from the American Diabetic Association, the total cost of diagnosed diabetes increased from $245 billion in 2012 to $327 billion in 2017.

It can be hard to understand the personal cost of diabetes when looking at just that number. 

So, to break it down further, the article lays out the impact on an individual diagnosed with diabetes versus someone without the diagnosis.

According to the article, individuals diagnosed with diabetes incur average medical costs of $16,752 per year, of which about $9,601 is attributed to diabetes. 

On average, those same people with diagnosed diabetes have medical costs approximately 2.3 times higher than what someone without diabetes would spend in a year.

Seven years ago, I decided to change what I eat so that I could start changing my health for the better, and it started me down the path of a journey that I am still in the process of taking:

• Six years ago, I decided to try and start lifting weights
• Five years ago, I finally accepted Jesus back into my life and accepted who I was as a child of God
• Four years ago, I stopped drinking and had been sober ever since
• Three years ago, I decided to start working with a CrossFit coach so that I could get fitter and stronger
• Two years ago, I decided to learn more about fitness and nutrition so that I could learn more about how food and exercise impacted my overall well-being
• Last year I decided to stop running from God’s plan for me to use my journey, my story, to help others get healthy

It’s pretty amazing what accepting God into your heart can do for you. For me, it humbled my heart and forced me to open my eyes and mind to the possibility that everything that I had thought I knew about nutrition and health was wrong

The other truly amazing part about accepting Jesus back into my heart was that I finally started to grasp the importance of community. Community in everything makes life much easier — God in the center is the most powerful.

According to Ecclesiastes 4:11-12, “Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”

This verse highlights the power of community, how when you stand with others and have God in the center of it all, you can withstand just about anything. 

I underestimated the power of community for a long time. I would often tell myself, “I can do this on my own, I don’t need anyone to help me.” The truth was, I could struggle through things on my own, but it wasn’t until God humbled me that I realized I really do need the help of others to truly be successful.

Finding a coach for me was a wonderful way to move forward on a path that, on my own, I found to be very difficult. I needed a coach to push me, to hold me accountable for the goals I told him I wanted to achieve and to motivate me when I didn’t feel like I was accomplishing anything.

Working with Billy, my CrossFit coach for a long time, helped me understand that I was so much stronger than I thought I was, and he helped me accomplish so many things, both from a fitness and professional perspective. It was with Billy’s help that I was able to take my CrossFit Level 1 and pass, becoming a CrossFit Level 1 Trainer myself.

I still work with a coach even now, though now it’s with Billy’s sister, Maddie. I work with her because of the community, motivation, and accountability she provides for me. She gives me direction and a way forward to meet my fitness goals

Coaches are not cheap, they cost me both time and money. However, the up-front cost of paying for my coach is worth it because it prevents me from paying for the cost of being sick and unhealthy later in life. 

Paying for a coach to help me get stronger now prevents me from having to pay for someone to help me move later in life. Focusing on my health and wellness now prevents me from having to pay the medical bills associated with poor metabolic health later in life.

Remember, you are a fearfully and wonderfully made child of God. Your health matters, and the healthier you are now, the better you make the world.