>You can buy a salad at any fast food restaurant, meaning you have access to healthy food even in a "food desert".

Sometimes the salads are less healthy than the alternative at fast food restaurants because of the dressing and portion sizes they give.

> Sometimes the salads are less healthy than the alternative at fast food restaurants because of the dressing and portion sizes they give.

The dressing can be given on the side. This is also a personal choice.

Even without the dressings, they tend to be loaded with items like meat, cheese, bacon, and croutons. The lettuce is a nutritional non-entity -- at best, a way of getting some extra water into you.

Salads can be pretty good, if they're loaded with vegetables. You can get those at places that specialize in salad, and maybe even Subway. But the "side salads" that you get at fast food restaurants, while better than a burger and fries, aren't very good.

As you say, personal choice. But a decent diet consists of avoiding fast food restaurants most of the time. If you have to, make the the best choice you can, but be aware that lettuce isn't magic health food.

What is magic health food?

There aren't any magic health foods. There are a lot of ways to eat a healthy diet. Most of them are based on a lot of vegetables (in different varieties), whole grains, pulses such as beans, and (if you like) some meat and dairy. The last is optional but makes certain things easier.

It doesn't act like a video game power-up. It just provides adequate nutrition without overdoing any one aspect. It fills you up without giving you too many calories (the main thing that people overeat).

Greens that are actually green would be a good start. Most lettuce I see in those salads look like the plant incarnation of water

Spinach, Kale, and Beans are as close to “magic” health food as you can get. However there is of course no magic going on. It’s just a question of giving your body the right source materials to heal itself from the damage caused by eating unhealthy food. The body is amazing at healing itself. But it can’t do it if you keep damaging it with crappy food and don’t give it the nutrients it needs to heal itself.

/s

Or possibly not less healthy, but higher in calories leading to weight gain.

Though really, I think it's unlikely you'll have a salad that's higher in calories than a burger and fries.

> When traveling though Europe you can really notice what a healthy society looks like.

That's kind of sad, since Europeans are pretty fat too. When you hold up "only 25% obese!" as an achievement, it goes to show just how normal it is for humans to be overweight.

> It's a social taboo for doctors to just outright say you're going to have a large array of medical issues unless you get to a healthy weight.

Is it? I've had doctors literally tell me that my weight was the proximate cause of my medical issues. They may try to be delicate about it, but they say it.

You are absolutely right. Taking responsible for your own health is the only thing that will help you long term. Doctors in general are not trained in nutritional science, and are typically as unhealthy as the rest of the population. So you need to either get advice from a nutritional expert or read books that teach you the skills needed. That’s what I did and it saved my health. I recommend reading “How Not To Die”. It’s the best “one book solution” I have read so far.

Aside: see a physical therapist instead of a chiropractor.

Edit: search for 'vertebral artery dissections from chiropractic neck adjustments

>see a physical therapist instead of a chiropractor.

Seconded. 90% of what chiropractors do is complete quackery.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiropractic_controversy_and...

https://quackwatch.org/related/chiro/

Oh, I stopped seeing chiropractors once I realized they hadn't bothered to check my high blood pressure in years.

Still it's kind of sad, you can't get honest medical advice from a doctor anymore.

You can't even find maybe you should lose weight in a dating book. Even books targeted towards men are afraid to offend.

Maybe these 2 books are helpful:

Strength Training Anatomy, 3rd Edition by Frederic Delavier

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0736092269/

The Strength Training Anatomy Workout: Starting Strength with Bodyweight Training and Minimal Equipment by Frederic Delavier and Michael Gundill

https://www.amazon.com/Strength-Training-Anatomy-Workout-Bod...

I think for weight loss, seeing a dietician is better. Wikipedia says dieticians are better regualted than nutitionists - they list regulatory bodies in countries including USA.

Dietician:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietitian

Read “How Not To Die”.