3 Things Every Standard American Diet(SAD) Lover Should Know
Should you be worried about your life if you eat the Standard American Diet?
The answer is really not too complicated!
In my over 12 years of experience, I have encountered many victims of the Standard American Diet. They could not break out of their cycle of sugar cravings, love for a high carb-low nutrition diet and consequent hormonal imbalances, gut problems, mental exhaustion, diabetes, heart diseases and even cancer.
This is not what a normal human being should go through, yet many of us suffer for no reason.
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No other developed nation in the world comes near to the 39.6% obese adult population that we have in the USA. Studies show that about 37.9% of men and 41.1% of women in the USA are obese. Even kids and teens are not out of the equation hovering somewhere around 15% of the overweight population.[i]
These stats only draw a rough picture of the situation in the USA. The ground facts are much more alarming. Here is a brief overview:
- In 2020, about 40.2[ii] pounds of cheese per person was consumed on average in the USA alone.
- The US has some of the highest consumption rates for soft drinks. About 38.87[iii] gallons per personwas the last recorded number in 2018.
- The Standard American Diet has over 250 grams[iv] of carbs per day. An amount too high for most people with diabetes. The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for carbs is 130 grams per day.
- A study in 2019 showed that refined grains, starchy vegetables, and added sugars account for 42 percent of the average American’s daily calories.
Useful Resource:Here is a useful link to see the Dietary Recommendations for AmericansIssued by dietaryguidelines.gov to review how an ideal diet should be according to every age group.
You Could Be a Victim of SAD Diet
If you wake up every day to a breakfast of ready-to-eat cereals and wind up your day with a glass of soda, some processed meat, pizza or pasta, you are most probably a victim of the SAD Diet.
Even if you are vegan, there are many saturated fats in the refined oils, baked bread and buns, salts and added sugars that you cannot get rid of.
So, what could be done?
If you dream of living a healthy life for the next 30, 20 or 50 years of your life, you must know where to start. And,of course, how to go about it.
In this blog, I will take you through the 3 things every Standard American Diet consumer must know because ‘Learning’ is the first step to changing for good.
Standard American Diet Definition
The best PUN I ever came across in my life was probably SAD – Standard American Diet. A diet truly a cause of sadness for millions.
It is a diet characterized by high carbohydrates, high saturated fats and a high glycemic index. It is too low in fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, and healthy oils and too high in red meat, high-fat dairy products, processed and fast foods, refined carbohydrates, added sugars, salt, and calories.
This is the diet we all eat every day. It’s the pizza, the sandwiches, bagels and burgers, steaks and sausages, noodles and nuggets, fried chicken and fries, frozen foods, canned foods, tortillas and bread, basically everything we find in the grocery stores today that is processed, ready to eat or ready to cook.
3 Things to Know if You Eat the Standard American Diet
1. Have you ever thought that you could possibly have two brains?
Not literally, but functionally. The visceral fat in our belly is an obvious result of You-Know-What. It can function like a quasi-organ. A part of the body that can behave like your pancreas and cause you to crave more food, the production and release of your hormones. This makes you crave more sugar, more cheese, more soda and more of the food that contributes to obesity.
Obesity is one of the greatest evils of our population today. It is responsible for reducing the quality of life. It is also one of the leading causes of death, diabetes, disease, stroke, mental exhaustion, dizziness and some types of cancer. It begins with insulin resistance and ends up in many other health crises.
If you want to know more about insulin resistance, weight gain and how standard American Diet contributes to it, here is an earlier blog oninsulin resistance and weight gain for more information.
So if you allow your body to become a hostage to the SAD Diet, no wonder you become obese or mentally dull, feel low all the time, feel hungry more, and dizzy.
2. Have you ever thought of turning your friends into a foe?
That is exactly what a processed, meat-heavy diet does to your gut flora. It turns all those microscopic bugs in your gut against you and makes them the foes of your health.
The Diet we eat not only provides us the essential nutrients, but it also provides us the material and medium for sustenance and growth of gut bacteria. The wrong nutrition can ruin the gut bacteria’s balance and cause the gut microbiota’s selective growth. Hence the good bugs lose to the bad bugs due to the ultra-processed, energy-dense SAD Diet we consume in our daily routine.
The ruined gut flora leads to gut inflammation that is officially the root cause of many chronic diseases like heart diseases, diabetes and some types of cancer.
The biggest problem is that the inflammation in our bodies is not even detected until we fall victim to any of the above chronic diseases. Especially Type 2 Diabetes and Heart problems.
If you want to learn more about how avoiding the high-sugar Diet like the regular American Diet can help you save yourheart health, here is my blog for more information onLow glycemic index diets.
3. If you think you are functioning with 100% of your potential,think again!
The Standard American Diet is not called the SAD Diet for no reason.
The result of a high-sugar, high-carb diet (like processed grains) is that your body’s glucose and insulin metabolism is disrupted. Sugar and carb fuel the brain; however, high sugar levels may prevent the brain from using them like in type 2 diabetes. The result is lower brain power, memory loss, dizziness and impaired cognitive function.
Here is more on howfood and brain are correlated, but the point is that the Standard American Diet is one of the leading causes of depression[v] and deteriorating mental health, increasing alarmingly in Americans today.
The reason for declining mental health is thata high-fat, high-sugar diet affects the brain’s memory and appetite regulation center, which causes dysfunction in both areas.
A high-carb diet also trains your brain to function at a high energy level, and when you try to lower your carbs or sugars, your brain feels low and craves more. Hence you are stuck in a cycle of cravings and eating the same fatty, sweet and salty diet over and over again.
What is hampering us from breaking this cycle?
Even though we know how damaging the standard American Diet could be, many of us are bound by too many constraints to opt for any other option.
- Financial constraints are one. Buying completely organic food is too expensive for an average American to afford.
- The time cost is second. Due to our hectic multi-tasking schedules, we find little time to cook properly and run to grab and munch choices.
- Lack of family support is another major problem where only women or one person is responsible for cooking and cannot work enough to feed the entire family. Also, in families with the elderly, children, pets and many family members, the lady of the house has to work twice or thrice to feed everyone, which is impossible without any house help, nanny or other support.
So, the problem remains.
However, there is a way out!
There is Light at the End of the Tunnel!
Organic foods are expensive and not commonly available.
Even if you buy easily available foods and not expensive alternatives, you can choose to purchase healthy foods. You may choose to invest in your health by making better choices in life.
Changing a life-long lifestyle requires determination and willpower. The first step is to take control of your body.
- Get rid of the decisions your body takes on its own.
- Free yourself from the sabotage of highfats, high carbs and added sugars.
- Switch to nutrition-dense diets rather than energy-dense diets and see the results.
It is hard to break the cycle and get over your cravings but not impossible.
If you tried leaving the SAD Diet and failed, try again.
But this time,in the right direction!
You will be fascinated by the way you will start tothink, feel, and look.
If you need help with where to start again, you know where to find it!
My FREE20-minutes consultationcosts nothing but adds great value to how you want to live the rest of your life.
If changing the entire Diet seems hard, you can try a power pack supplementto boost your energy, nutrition and health outcomes.
I am also available for any moral support that I may provide to uplift your soul from the SAD Diet.
Conclusion
The problem with the Standard American Diet is that it is hijacked by the food industry and the manufacturers’ vested interests, which has ruined the inherent balance of our food and nutrition. It results in many chronic diseases, including diabetes, heart risk and brain dysfunction. However, many of us are at a loss when it comes to changing our lifestyle owing to financial, social and time constraints.
But there is light at the end of the tunnel, and you know where to find it. J
PS: Tell me in the comments below if you have ever tried leaving the standard American Diet and failed?
Also, please point out what caused you to fail?
Hope to hear from you.
~ Wishing you Love, Light and Happiness
[i] Obesity Rate by Stats 2022. World Population Review. https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/obesity-rate-by-state
[ii]Per capita consumption of cheese in the United States from 2000 to 2020. Statista.https://www.statista.com/statistics/183785/per-capita-consumption-of-cheese-in-the-us-since-2000/#:~:text=In%202020%2C%20the%20average%20consumer,increased%20by%20over%20five%20pounds.
[iii]U.S. per capita consumption of soft drinks 2010-2018. Statista.
[iv] Carbohydrate Goals. The John Hopkins Patient Guide to Diabetes. https://hopkinsdiabetesinfo.org/carbohydrate-goals/
[v] Diet and Depression. Harvard Health Publishing. Harvard Medical School. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/diet-and-depression-2018022213309#:~:text=A%20dietary%20pattern%20characterized%20by%20a%20high%20consumption%20of%20red,an%20increased%20risk%20of%20depression.%22
