American adults clueless about nutrition
 

Just watch the total clueless adults like the jocks in the Nutrisystems TV commercials that brag how they lost weight eating processed food.

Ok.

There's a lot of hate and frustration in that post but I agree with what I think is the premise. Too many processed foods are marketed as healthy choices. Your body evolved to eat the food which occur naturally in its enviroment - lean meats, fruits and vegetables. Therefore, how can the Healthy Choice Enchiladas with 300mg of sodium and high fructose corn syrup as sweetener actually be considered a healthy choice? We've created an environment where its too hard to decipher which foods are actually good for us.

-s

It's too bad that so much money gets pumped into supporting garbage foods parading as healthy choices, when the healthiest foods are the ones that have to take and make something out of instead of just popping it in the microwave for 3 minutes.

Maybe it's not just a case of being clueless, but being lazy and relying on an illness care system. Instead of eating for life it is eating to satisfy an addiction.

You make an interesting point about not being able to decipher what is good for us. Opposing that view, I say that if the food you eat needs deciphering it is not good for you. If what you plan to eat has an ingredient list it is probably not something you should be eating.

Sounds like someone's got a case of the mondays....on thursday.

Are you referring to cigarettes? Because cigarettes are legal in nearly every country in the world, so it's not just limited to the US. It's not good, of course, but it's not a problem you can specifically pin on the US.

I hope you feel better now that you've gotten your ranting out:)

With only 298 calories, 6.7 grams of fat, and 13 grams of protein, it's quite a bit healthier than many "convenience food" alternatives. But, as with most frozen foods, the sodium content is far too high (563 mg).

http://www.calorie-count.com/calories/item/22588.html

Just eat the "MAN FOOD" on the Nutrisystems plan and you will lose weight. How clueless is that ?

Omnivores Dilemma by Michael Pollan. Read it.

:lol:

Well, if you're (referring to OP) going to get political on us, I might as well say this:

I have observed that all of the "healthy" foods (that is, fruits, vegetables, raw meats) are much more expensive than the pre-packaged microwave junk foods at the supermarket. I have a feeling that economics might contribute in part to the obesity epidemic as well. Just a thought for you to ponder.

Take the meats out that could be replaced by beans etc and a diet of processed food cost more than a whole food diet.

The real problem is that the "clues" are conflicting. There are reportedly 30,000 diets in print, yet none work. There are probably 5 new diet books a year, yet the population expands. Every month or so media blares out a new research finding that contradicts one similarly blared out some years before, but no attempt is made to rationalize the differences. The medical profession receives no education/training on nutrition, physical fitness or disease prevention.

The population is poorly served by the medical/health community and the media.

Al

In grad school, my wife and I lived on $20/week for groceries.

Bake your own bread, grow your own herbs, can your own jams/jellies, buy your veggies/corn in the summer from the farmstand, and buy stuff only on sale at the grocery store.

I agree 100%. There is always sales on cakes, pastries, frozen foods, and all packaged and processed things. Healthier food is much more expensive and also harder to find. The supermarket by me has a full aisle of cookies and another full one for chips.

You can eat McDonalds exclusively and still lose weight, as long the calories you eat is less than the calories you expend.

There is no such thing as healthy food. There is no such thing as unhealthy food.

Right on mon. I like dat! :D
Hey -- pass that will ya!

....... 'ere...

Thats a little bit of a stretch. Yes you can lose weight by burning more then you consume, but dont think if you do it eating McDonalds it is healthy. Weightloss does not always mean health. You can be losing weight while not being healthy.

That is the perfect example of how in the dark society is about nutrition. People think being skinny and losing weight means good health.

I was talking to someone the other day who said they stopped eating salmon because it had too much fat in it. She didn't understand the difference between good fat and bad fat. She probably thinks eating low-fat cookies is better because it supposedly has less fat.

There is more to nutrition than just calories.

Yes and no....achieving an appropriate weight should be the first goal. For most Americans, that means losing weight, and for that...calories do matter.

Giving up salmon for a time might be a viable solution, especially if salmon represents a "substance abuse" issue for that person.

The same could be said for nuts - they're very "healthy" in terms of macro and micro nutrients, but they're so calorie dense, and so easy to over consume, that most overweight folks should avoid them.

Let's see you eat 5000 calories in French Fries and try and lose weight.

Assuming that's all you ate, if you were to burn 5500 calories per day, you would indeed lose weight. Of course, that means you'd need to ride your bike about 75 miles per day, or have a very physical job (e.g., lumberjack).

That's right. Never eat out of the center of a supermarket. Eat what's around the edges. Interesting, no? They put the worst stuff in the middle.

You know its funny you said that. Normaly I go up and down every aisle then around the perimeter. The last time I went I did the perimeter first. Before going into the aisles I said to myself, I got everything I need and I didnt even go down any of the aisles? How can that be? A supermarket has like 20 aisles and I didnt need anything but what was around the edge. I guess that explains it. They put all the garbage in the center.

I have to disagree with this one....I was raised on Wonder bread, velveeta, bacon and Miracle Whip sandwiches. The nutritional value and variety in those was pretty bad. I now eat much more nutritionally varied and less processed food. I had a lot to learn