"Americans still skimping on the dietary good stuff"

[gotbeer]

Americans still skimping on the dietary good stuff

BY SALLY SQUIRES Washington Post

Posted on Tue, May. 13, 2003

link to article (http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/living/5845233.htm)

Not a pyramid, but an hourglass. That's the shape of the American diet, according to a recent report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The report finds that consumers eat mostly from the tip and the foundation of the Food Guide Pyramid, gobbling lots of food high in fat and added sugars (the tip) along with refined grain products, such as pasta, crackers and white bread. They skimp on vegetables, fruit, low-fat dairy products, beans, lean meat, poultry and fish.

Here are some of the report's findings, with strategies for making improvements.

Too many calories. About 12 percent more calories crept into the American diet between 1985 and 2000. That's about 300 calories per day -- enough to pile on 30 pounds in a year.

Strategy: Monitor serving sizes. Look for ways to be more active throughout the day -- take the stairs, walk whenever possible -- to burn extra calories.

Still not enough fruit and vegetables. Study after study shows their benefits, but Americans don't eat the recommended minimum (three to five for vegetables; two to four for fruit). When they do eat fruit and vegetables, they reach for the familiar: Oranges, apples and bananas made up half the fruit consumed. Iceberg lettuce, frozen potatoes (mostly French fries) and potato chips accounted for a third of all vegetables eaten in 2000.

Strategy: Snack on fruit. Eat from the rainbow, choosing as many different colors of fruit and vegetables as possible. Add fruit and/or vegetables to every meal. Reach for salads, soups and stews with many ingredients.

Skimping on whole grains. Most people exceed the nine servings a day of carbohydrates recommended for a 2,200-calorie diet. What they miss: whole grains, which have more vitamins, minerals, fiber and phytochemicals that may help protect against heart disease and diabetes.

Strategy: Aim for three servings a day of whole grains (brown rice, rye, barley, wild rice, popcorn, whole wheat) and stay within recommended carbohydrate limits.

Too much cheese. Americans drink less milk -- consumption dropped 24 percent between 1970 and 2000 -- while eating more yogurt and cheese. Still, they don't meet the recommended two to three servings a day of dairy foods.

Strategy: Choose nonfat and low-fat dairy products whenever possible. Eat lower-fat cheese, such as feta, partially skim milk mozzarella and reduced-fat Swiss, cottage, cheddar or other cheese. Try grating cheese to reduce amounts while retaining flavor. Consider boosting calcium intake with fortified juices, foods and other products.

A big sweet tooth. Consumption of added sugars rose 22 percent between 1980 and 2000 -- reaching 31 teaspoons of added sugars per person per day. Major sources of added sugars are soft drinks, fruit juices and many popular foods, from cakes and cookies to candy and ice cream.

Strategy: Get your sweet fix from nature by eating plenty of fruit. Make your own "soft drink" with diluted fruit juice and carbonated water.

Too much red meat. Americans eat twice as much poultry as they did 30 years ago, but in 2000 red meat still accounted for three of every five servings from the meat group on the pyramid (which also includes eggs, beans and nuts). Red meat generally has more cholesterol and saturated fat than fish or skinless poultry.

Strategy: Aim for fish three times a week. Choose more foods low in saturated fat, including beans, fish and nuts.

[cc48510]

Originally posted by gotbeer
Too many calories. About 12 percent more calories crept into the American diet between 1985 and 2000. That's about 300 calories per day -- enough to pile on 30 pounds in a year.

I am so sick of them suing the 80s-90s to falsely state that we are eating too many calories and too much fat. Yes, caloric and fat intake are up significantly since the 80s. But, between the 60s and 80s, both dropped significantly...meaning that overall...both are still down compared again what people ate the for the first half of the century.

Still not enough fruit and vegetables. Study after study shows their benefits, but Americans don't eat the recommended minimum (three to five for vegetables; two to four for fruit). When they do eat fruit and vegetables, they reach for the familiar: Oranges, apples and bananas made up half the fruit consumed. Iceberg lettuce, frozen potatoes (mostly French fries) and potato chips accounted for a third of all vegetables eaten in 2000.

This I agree with eating more green veggies and fresh fruits...one the flaws of the Food Pyramid is that it make no differentiation between unhealthy vegetables (Potatoes and Popcorn) and healthy vegetables (Spinach, Broccoli, etc...) French Fries with Ketchup would count as 2 servings of veggies based on the food pyramid. I also believe that beans should be in the veggies, not meat group, or better yet...in a group of their own. They are not meat and placing them their cause people to falsely assume people are eating more meat than they are.

Strategy: Snack on fruit. Eat from the rainbow, choosing as many different colors of fruit and vegetables as possible. Add fruit and/or vegetables to every meal. Reach for salads, soups and stews with many ingredients.

She fails to differentiate between unhealthy and healthy veggies. Without such differentiation, a Super-Sized McDonalds combo could be considered a semi-balanced meal: 3 vegetables (Fries and Ketchup), 1 meat, and 2 whole grains (Bun). Add a fruit Drink and voila you now have 3 Fruit...But, I would hardly consider that a blanced diet.

Skimping on whole grains. Most people exceed the nine servings a day of carbohydrates recommended for a 2,200-calorie diet. What they miss: whole grains, which have more vitamins, minerals, fiber and phytochemicals that may help protect against heart disease and diabetes.

Green veggies have even more, and without the starch.

Strategy: Aim for three servings a day of whole grains (brown rice, rye, barley, wild rice, popcorn, whole wheat) and stay within recommended carbohydrate limits.

Oh, great...now a fruit drink and popcorn at the cineplex is considered a balanced meal: 3+ whole grains and 2+ fruit.

Too much cheese. Americans drink less milk -- consumption dropped 24 percent between 1970 and 2000 -- while eating more yogurt and cheese. Still, they don't meet the recommended two to three servings a day of dairy foods.

Milk is the worst dairy for you due to the lactose content. Dump the yogurt and stay with the cheese.

Consider boosting calcium intake with fortified juices, foods and other products.

VERY VERY BAD IDEA !!! They also fortify those juices with obscene amounts of refined sugar...which causes heart disease, obesity, and diabetes.

A big sweet tooth. Consumption of added sugars rose 22 percent between 1980 and 2000 -- reaching 31 teaspoons of added sugars per person per day. Major sources of added sugars are soft drinks, fruit juices and many popular foods, from cakes and cookies to candy and ice cream.

And, yet...here she is telling people they need more milk (ice cream) and fruit juice.

Too much red meat. Americans eat twice as much poultry as they did 30 years ago, but in 2000 red meat still accounted for three of every five servings from the meat group on the pyramid (which also includes eggs, beans and nuts). Red meat generally has more cholesterol and saturated fat than fish or skinless poultry.

This section is intentionally misleading...It states we eat too much red meat, then says poultry consumption is up 30%, hoping people will miss the poultry or not realize poultry is not a red meat. Why ??? Because, red meat consumption has decreased.


http://www.enig.com/0001t13.html

It is a commonly held belief today that we have had a large increase in our fat intake over this century. What we have had, in fact, is a large increase in our intake of fats from vegetable sources (along with a substantial decrease in our fats from animal sources). At the same time the amount of fat in our diets as a percent of calories has not changed radically.

Fat in the diets of Americans ranges from 30% to 43% of the calories depending on which survey you look at, and even in the 1890s the amount of fat in diets seems to have been at this level. The article on diets in the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica included information on many dietary surveys; 339 to be exact, of which 238 were done in the U.S. The highest level of fat intake reported was for American lumbermen at 43.6% of calories, closely followed by Danish physicians at 42.9% of calories. Except for inmates in "insane hospitals" in the U.S. who averaged 29.9% of the calories as fat, the average American family/adult ranged from 32.4% to 36.5% of calories as fat.

Perhaps it is more meaningful to think about the changes over time for the amounts of fat in our diets that come from refined and/or partially hydrogenated vegetable fats/oils. It is clear that there has been a large increase in this kind of fat in most diets in the U.S. and Canada.

People are in fact eating slightly less fat than they did in 1911...but, most of the fat now comes from Trans-Fats rather than Saturated Fats as it did in 1911. With all the railing against Saturated fats, we have switched mainly to Trans-Fats. McDonalds used Saturated Fats until they were demonized. Now, they cook their fries in Trans-Fats.

Here is why Americans are so bad off, we eat starchy cooked in Trans-Fats...We cook an already unhealthy food in something that makes it even more unhealthy. All of this is due solely to the scare tactics employed by the USDA. It is interesting to note that a scientist first discovered the effects of Trans-Fats in 1958, shortly thereafter...they began trying to demoize Saturated Fat...could it be in fact...that the whole attack on Saturated Fat has been organized by the Trans-Fat industry ??? It did help increase the usage of their product and kept the scientists who discovered problems with Trans-Fats from getting their word out...