Don't let 'more is OK' fool you

Take a Tweet-sized glance at Saturday’s steak-splashed photo, with its reassuring caption suggesting Americans may be healthy with more meat and eggs than once thought, and you get the wrong idea. No, we can’t indulge more. In fact, even with the slight softening of numbers, the feds’ new “Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015-2020” are still a far cry from the average American’s daily habits.

We fill up on the bad and don’t make room for the good.

Yes, a bit more beef (lean cuts, not fat-marbled) than previously recommended is in the new guidelines, but even that total is far less than most of us consume each week. Adult males especially consume more protein, and more meat, than is good for them. The report states three-fourths of the population’s eating pattern is low in vegetables, fruits, dairy, and essential oils (e.g., fish). Most of us meet and exceed total grain and protein, but don’t meet subcategory recommendations within these food groups. We certainly exceed recommended sugars, fats, and sodium.

In fact, in nearly every category, Americans are opposite of goal. In short, our diets stink.

Both sexes consume far too little of the good stuff, such as green and red-category vegetables, and fewer fruits than what’s recommended for basic health. Couple that with our consumption of too much added sugar — the new guidelines suggest a maximum of added sugar which the typically sized soft drink exceeds — and it’s no wonder we feel moody, low-energy, get sick, or have trouble sleeping.

Never mind the added sugar in yogurts, cereals, breads and so on, which most of us forget to count.

We seem to do better in total grains, where both males and females tend to be more in line with the recommendations. But even there, we’re not getting it. A closer look tells a different story.

When grains are broken down into “whole” (what we need) and “refined” (processed foods which generally don’t help, and can harm, the body), we score poorly. Americans eat less than recommended whole grains, and far more than recommended refined grains.

The worst performance is perhaps in the most important area — vitamin-rich vegetables and fruits (we’re not talking starchy yellow potatoes). The darker the veggie or fruit flesh, the richer the vitamin content. There’s a wide gap here between what the body needs and what the average American adult feeds it.

So don’t let enticing headlines lull you into more fries, soft drinks, and marbled steaks. Physicians are overbooked already. Don’t take my word for it; check out the illustrative graphs in Chapter 2 at Health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/guidelines.

And eat for a long, happy life.

Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network who’s trying to convince a certain editor to eat more fish and whole grains. He’s getting better about cookies. Suggestions welcome — Sholeh@cdapress.com.