US life expectancy is still on the decline. Here's why

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15 points·LinuxBender··3 comments

I think may be linked to increased usage of high fructose sugar which makes people more obese. More obesity will lead to heart failures more often.

High fructose is the sugar type which keeps your insulin levels high causing insulin resistance. Sugar it metabolizes to fat.

A Cardiovascular diseases section in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_causes_of_death_by_rat...

Western Europe does agriculture/food-production/food-distribution more or less the same way we do it in the USA right? How have they avoided the dietary changes (like the glut of sugary foods) that we've undergone in America?

Europe hasn't avoided the dietary changes occurring in the US, it's just that the effect is less pronounced. European portion sizes are growing as well, but not to the very generous sizes I experienced in the US. There is less added sugar in European food - bread does not generally taste sweet in Europe, but it does in the US (to me anyway). Europe also does not use much (any?) high fructose sugar.

That being said, Europe is not immune to expanding waistlines. The UK is not far behind the US in obesity and overweight population. It is a similar story across the rest of Europe.

I think the key differences is that Europe has avoided the opioid crisis the US is experiencing, and the US suicide rate is also much higher. But other deaths rates, such as from alcohol abuse and obesity, are comparable between the US and the UK.

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