American Diet

When you read about the American Diet what are you expecting to read? Shocking amounts of junk food? The alarming rate of obesity in adults and more alarming in children? What about the effect of our diet on chronic disease?

Well, there's certainly all that to consider. And we will in this article.
Then we'll move onto some good aspects of the American Diet. The intention of this is to see if we can't do more of what works and less of what doesn't.

Studies have shown that Americans get nearly one-third of their daily calories from junk foods: sweets, soft drinks, alcoholic drinks, desserts and salty snacks. This answers the why obesity, chronic disease and diabetes are all running roughshod over America.
The net effect of this is we are at the same time under-nurished and over fed. Getting our calories each day is no problem it's just that they don't come with much nutritional value. Great tasting but empty calories.

OK. We get it. We've heard it all before. The American Diet is killing us.

What do we do about it? Where do we start?
Firstly we need to eat right. We all hear about eating less calories each day and that's true. But with switching to the right foods and drinks we can basically eat as much as we like.

So what are these right foods and drinks for the American Diet?
No surprises but they're fresh food - vegetables, fruits, whole grains. Unrefined, unprocessed. Just as they come from the tree or ground. It's the act of processing that turns these super foods into super empty foods.

Now I understand as well as the next man or woman just how hard it is to change a habit of a lifetime. I freely admit to being a sugar addict. Love the stuff. Crave it. Binge on it. Tempted by advertising and bright packaging. Ice cream is my particular favorite. Hang on, just gotta take a chocolate break.

Back again. Anyway, where was I?

Yes, breaking the junk food habit in the American Diet.
There's cold turkey off course. I only like hot turkey myself so rule that one out.
No, the most effective means to introduce a more nutritious Calorie Diet is to slowly introduce fresh foods into your everyday. It's easier than it seems. Here's some ideas to get you started:
* Throw a few seeds and nuts into your cereal each morning. I like goji berries (go to a Chinese supermarket and look for Wolfberries - their name for goji and lots cheaper
* Any left over greens, fruit or vegetables are great for blending or juicing. Mix whatever you've got - bananas, apple, beetroot, celery, lettuce, spinach. In fact that's what I'm drinking right now. By themselves I'd never eat them. But as a drink I actually enjoy them.
* Salad with dinner, regardless of what you're having for dinner. Just something simple and fresh. Again sprinkle a few seeds like pumpkin and sunflower.
* Try low GI food in your diet. They can be good for keeping your hunger satisfied for longer. Less snacking and sugar cravings. Look out for products with not too much sugar - like muesli with dried fruit. Taste great but can have upwards of 25% sugar. Sorry I never promised you it would be easy.

It really isn't too hard to have a healthy American Diet. Lettuce (sorry) just take one step at a time.

Enjoy!