A recent New York Times article examined how the foods in our diet have changed since 1970. One look at the article’s accompanying graph explains a lot about the expanding waistlines of Americans.
Most notable on the graph is the 59% increase in fat intake, along with a 17% increase in intake of added sugars and sweeteners! In fact, all food groups (except dairy) have shown increases over the last 25 years. Not all was bad though. Intake of good foods like fruits and vegetables showed increases too (26 and 15% respectively).
Before we start patting ourselves on the back for the fruits and vegetables…consider this, the average American is eating about ½ pound of fat per week MORE than they did in 1970. That’s an extra 285 calories per day or 2000 calories per week. Enough to increase your weight by 30 pounds in one year!
Do I have your attention now?
I bet each of us can easily think of 200 calories worth of ‘stuff’ that we didn’t need to eat yesterday. I know I can, and believe me I won’t be eating that today!
- Renee
Labels: healthy eating, Renee
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