If it’s hard for you to grasp “How are you?” followed by responding with “Good and you?” as a greeting, then think of it as the phrase “Good morning”

A lot of people have a hard time understanding that "How are you?" is a greeting that serves as a salutation, and not really an inquiring question. People get caught up on the literal question. However, it's the same with "Good morning". Even when it's a crappy morning, it's raining or woke up late, or you woke up with some pain, when you first see a person in the morning you usually say "Good morning" even when it's not, in fact, a good morning. So treat "Hi how are you?" the same way. They're not literally asking how you are. It's a salutation and nothing more.