Dinner party in Europe: Americans look older, more tired, are more unhealthy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly I think it’s just genetics. I’m a Swede and live in America. Yesterday I had a doctor appt about my pms becoming worse, and after I left, the doctor (who was subbing for my regular) rang me up and said she just noticed on my chart that I was 48 (and she6 thought I was much younger) and my issues were likely peri menopausal. She said it didn’t even occur to her, because I looked so young. I’m European living in America, and apparently I still look young.

I'm a German living in the US, and something similar happened to me. I'm 56 and when a doc (new) recently asked me the date of last menstrual cycle I mentioned one that was 6 wks out and she suggested a pregnancy test. I pointed out my age and she agreed it was pretty unlikely and laughed.

However, I will add that some of my friends/family in Germany do look their age/older because there is less of an emphasis on looking a certian way, IMO. (Less worried about coloring their hair, wrinkles, that sort of thing).

I’ve noticed when I lived in Germany you’d have older women with the amazing bodies ( I’m a guy). Was on a train and saw a woman from behind and when she turned around I was stunned she must have been at least late 50s. You don’t really see that in the USA , maybe in Los Angeles

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m sure your European friends would buckle under the American system just as easily. They’re not better; but I do agree their system is better.

Plop them here and they would be just as fat & stressed!! I hate our car dependent culture, and how capitalism/shareholders rule everything.

I have a gigantic SUV I use to do epic stuff outdoors with my friends and my kids. I get there on our elaborate and mostly well maintained highway system. I am neither fat nor stressed in part because of these activities. You should try it some time.

It’s all about choices. Ask any Brit into cycling about how terrible their roads are. Or people that live in the city that want to get out on unpaved gravel roads in mainland Europe.

Meanwhile, car culture has allowed me to drive to Loudon to ride on unpaved roads and actually avoid cars at the same time. Amazing!

Your "gigantic SUV" is not doing the environment any favors.

Turns out you are wrong. It’s a Volvo-one of the most environmentally focused car companies on earth.

Look-you can think the American food system is a big conspiracy and believe it’s not a big pile of bad choices as to why Americans are unhealthy. You be you. I’ll be me.

[Anonymous]

If the food system is so poor here in the US, how is it possible for so many professional athletes able to compete so well on the international stage? Including people like professional triathletes who are barely scraping together a living and likely buying their food from the same places we are buying it. Lots of people from outside the US come here to train - college swimming is a good example. Canadian athletes are all over the US.

How does that work? Are they immune to the poison? Does the round up go around them?

[Anonymous]

It seems this thread has been taken over by a European troll farm. Don't believe all the BS how they have it better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wegovy is in as short supply and high demand in Europe as it is in the US.

Okay. U.S. is still way fatter.

Well, apparently 'everyone in Europe' isn't slim and trim if they are using and clamoring for Wegovy are they? Sounds like they have plenty of people who qualify for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m your typical American striver. When I visit European friends I feel uninspired and kind of depressed. They all live very basic lives and have no desire to achieve anything or better their existence. It’s like every single person is a dull government worker. Their counterparts here are high earning and working for impressive startups or world renown companies. The Europeans don’t seem to really aspire to do much or accomplish much and their GDP and lack of innovation is reflective of this mindset.

If you and your friends could strive and innovate to solve the dying biosphere and climate change, that would just great.

That’s actually happening. American innovation hopefully will solve climate change. Meanwhile the only thing Europeans can think of is to lower the quality of life for its citizens. It will be comical when we solve climate change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These were friends of friends who live in Europe. They were French, German, Portuguese, and Swedish. Most people were 55+. They were decently well-off but not rich. Many were already retired.

Throughout the whole night, nobody compulsively looked at their phones. The only phone use was to take pictures and play music.
Not a single person was overweight.
Everyone looked 10-20 years younger. And yes one of them smoked, they all drank, they all spent time in the sun.
Everyone was vibrant and happy.
Everyone had so much energy and positivity, much more than 30-40something Americans. Nobody was tired.
Nobody complained of ailments or back problems or excessive medications.

I asked how everyone lived so well and looked so great. They said it was because they had universal healthcare, less stress, great food, and didnt feel beaten down by work throughout their lives.

America is doing it wrong.

Did these Europeans live in the US at some point? I don’t know any European that would mention universal healthcare as a reason for their wellbeing UNLESS they live or lived in a place where that isn’t the case.

Visited, but not lived. The mutual American friends had left the US because of the healthcare system.

Also worth mentioning: they ate sweets, but not excessively. Nobody even mentioned anything about weight or dieting.
Also absent from any dinnertime discussion was work. I couldn’t tell you what everyone did or used to do for a living. Nobody talked about Covid, money, or other people’s expectations.
They also minimally discussed politics, only to make fun of Trump and the idea that Americans could elect him to serve office from jail or something like that, and they mentioned that their own governments weren’t perfect but nobody wanted a U.S.-type system.

There are things with their lifestyle that would appeal to the political left and right. As I said, the emphasis on health and well-being over work was the main reason why everyone was so energetic and healthy and happy. Healthcare, vacation time, and fewer work hours contribute to this. But the other thing was more family-oriented culture and less obsession with identity and gender. Women were happily feminine in their own way and men were happily masculine in their own way. Nobody was complaining about The Patriarchy or sexism, they also weren’t bigoted either, just normal and not in a bind about everything.

It’s a small representative size and yes I have traveled in Europe many times before, mostly before the pandemic. But this was an interesting case where multiple people, older people, from different countries shared their experiences “in the wild” not in a tourism setting. My takeaway is that American-style capitalism, private healthcare, high fructose corn syrup and processed foods, and stress are more detrimental to our health than anything else. This is a sick country and we are doing so much wrong that it’s a complete farce to say we’re the best.
That, and there’s this overall trend in raising age of retirement, especially the actual age where retirement is feasible for most people, and lowering life expectancy, it’s like the nest egg and golden years are all a scam to make you work harder and enjoy life less.

The work focus is also extreme in this area. In Colorado no one talks about work at dinner or socially. Come to think of it, they all look better than people here too.

CO is about mountain people. They talk about their outdoorsy mountain times. It's cool for about 10 min if you are not into it. I've been there. There was a sporty crowd that literally talked about their marathon training, daily runs and diff trails they take, and their dogs. It bored me to tears

You’ll have all the time in the world to sit in front of a computer, TV, or a tablet when you are 75 years old and can’t move well enough to run a marathon, go for a daily run, check out a trail, or be outside with your dog. By that point, you might regret actually being active when you could do so.

People in Colorado don't stop at 75. The grandparents all look great. Incredibly healthy lifestyle.

You don't need to run marathons do be healthy For these people sport is competition even when they do this recreationally, like they are competing with one another on their different sporty pursuits, it's tiring. It surely makes orthopedic surgeons happy though.