It is no surprise that the most Americans diets are poor. That has probably been drilled into your head enough times by the media and most health professionals that you know. Your mother probably told you that “You are what you eat” and I’ve discussed what the origins of the phrase came from the french and what the real meaning of the phrase originally was. I came across a blog the other day written by Tony Gentilcore and in it he stated the following:
Everyone knows the saying, “you are what you eat.” Well, I think a more appropriate saying is “you are what eat, eats.” If you go out of your way to purchase food that’s raised in its natural environment and fed its natural diet, the quality of meat is infinitely better.
I agree with him 100%. This little “you are what you eat, eats” tidbit will be even more important as we delve into Monday’s Medical News!
The CDC, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, looked at the American’s diet and gave them a number score in what they called the healthy eating index. They reported that Americans got a score of 60 out of 100. For those of you that remember how they give you grades in school that would be a D (or even worse D-). Not so good.
What is this healthy eating index looking at to give a score you ask?
The Healthy Eating Index, or HEI-2005, assesses specific intake of various nutritional categories, including whole fruits, dark green and orange vegetables, whole grains, milk, meat and beans, oils, fats, sodium, alcohol, and added sugar.
So here’s the skinny on the results:
- Out of all of those categories the only two that Americans DID NOT score well on were total grains and meat and beans.
- Most other categories received poor or insufficient ratings.
- Women scored better than men in the fruits, vegetables and total calorie categories.
- Adults age 60 years and older scored better fruit and vegetable ratings.
- Adults with higher levels of education scored better.
If you want to make an impact on your everyday nutrition and health then you should strive to eat fruits AND vegetables at every meal. Make your snacks have fruit or vegetables in them instead of chips or another starchy snack. Fresh raw fruits and vegetables are better than canned ones because of lower sodium content. And as far as meat goes, remember to buy quality organic grass fed meat. If the animal was given antibiotics and you eat it, you just took antibiotics. The same goes for growth hormone.
Stay healthy my friends.
1) Fiore, K. (2011). American Diets Get a Failing Grade. MedPage Today. http://www.medpagetoday.com/PrimaryCare/DietNutrition/30223?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DailyHeadlines&utm_source=WC&email=brentrhartman@gmail.com&eun=g258129d0r&userid=258129&mu_id=
