The Modern American Diet
When 2,000 Americans were polled about their dietary habits, over 70% responded that they were eating “pretty much whatever they want.”[1]
As you can gather by now, the Modern American Diet differs significantly from the Paleo Diet. According to 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans published jointly by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, we are told to:
- Balance calories with physical activity to manage weight;
- Consume more of certain foods and nutrients such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fat-free and low-fat dairy products and seafood; and
- Consume fewer foods with sodium (salt), saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, added sugars, and refined grains.
For healthy adults, 45 – 65% of calories should come from carbohydrates, 10 – 35% of calories should come from protein and 20 – 35% should come from fat. Total calories are based on sex, age and activity level. Estimates range from 1,600 to 2,400 calories per day for adult women and 2,000 to 3,000 calories per day for adult men, depending on age and physical activity level.
Contrast what the United States government tells us to eat with what the typical American actually eats. According to one study, the typical American consumes 50% of their diet from carbohydrates, 15% from protein and 35% from fat.[2] The average person will consume 3770 calories each day in these proportions.[3] This means that an American on a typical day will consume 471 grams of carbohydrate, 141 grams of protein and 147 grams of fat. Fifty-five percent of the diet will be consumed from fast foods.[4]
What You Probably Eat In One Year If You Are “Average”
To put it in perspective, in one year, the average person will consume:
- 46 slices of pizza
- 66.6 pounds of beef
- 87.7 pounds of chicken
- 21.4 gallons of milk
- 31.2 pounds of cheese
- 23.2 pounds of ice cream
- 9.2 pounds of yogurt
- 11.7 pounds of chocolate
- 24.7 pounds of total confectioneries
- 134 pounds of flour.[5]
What is the result of the Modern American Diet? Not good. The statistics tells us that we are getting fatter and more unhealthy every year. Some of the scarier statistics for your viewing pleasure:
- About 35.7% of U.S. adults are obese. The Centers for Disease Control defines obese as a person that has a Body Mass Index (BMI) of greater than 30. A person is overweight if their BMI is between 25 and 29.9. For example a person who is 5’ 9” in height is considered at a healthy weight from 125 lbs to 168 lbs. The person would be classified as overweight if they weighed between 169 lbs and 203 lbs. The person would be obese if they weighed more than 203 lbs.
- This translates to 78 million adults and 12.5 million children who are obese.
- Almost 65% of Americans are considered overweight.
- Obesity in the United States has increased dramatically over the last 20 years.
- Obesity related conditions, like heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and cancer, are some of the leading causes of death.
- Obese individuals medical bills are almost $1,500 higher per year than those individuals considered at a normal weight[6].
[1] http://foodfarmsjobs.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/US-per-Capita-Food-Supply-Trends-More-Calories-Carbs-and-Fat.pdf
[2] Last AR, Wilson SA (2006). “Low-carbohydrate diets”. AMERICAN FAMILY PHYSICIAN 73 (11): 1942–1948. PMID 16770923
[3] http://ecosalon.com/the-standard-american-diet-in-pictures-and-numbers/
[4] http://ecosalon.com/the-standard-american-diet-in-pictures-and-numbers/