Nutrition 40 years ago!

Early 1970's

1. Everyone gets a microwave
2. Supermarkets carried under 8,000 items, in 2009 they now carry more than 48,000 items.
3. In 1970 there were 1,675 pounds of food available for every person in the United States, in 2003 it was up to 1,950 pounds. That means an extra 500 calories per day is being produced for ever man, woman and child.
4. In the early 1970's imported food typically meant something like a jar of Spanish olives or a bottle of Italian olive oil or a bar of Swiss chocolate. Today anything could be imported from free mozz from Italy to frozen peas from China. The average American eats roughly 260 pounds of imported foods per year.
5. In 2008 McDonald's spent $1.2 billion on advertising in the U.S, that's 12x as much as it spent in the 1970's. To put this in perspective for every $1 spend on ads that urge us to eat at least 5 fruits and vegetables a day; the food and beverage industries spends $1,100 enticing us to buy fast food meals, sugary breakfast cereals etc.

No wonder we keep gaining weight.... our environment seems to be against us! But stay focused on achieving a healthy lifestyle and you will see the environment begin to change around you, in a positive way.

2010

1. Organic foods/produce are becoming more mainstream
2. Trans fat is plummeting
3. Nutrition labels are becoming more descriptive
4. Restaurants are noting the calories next to the dish

.................. this is only the beginning! We have more research at our finger tips and more information today than we had 40 years about health and wellness. This along with personal motivation will help to guide us on this journey.

Start today.... take baby steps! Enjoy the foods you love but "crowd" them out by adding more protein, fruits and vegetables to your daily diet. Add a piece of fruit to your breakfast (it doesn't matter if you are eating a donut or oatmeal), at lunch eat a piece of fruit and load up your sandwich with veggies (tomato, cucumbers, lettuce, onion, peppers etc), grab fruit or veggies for a snack (apple and string cheese, celery and peanut butter etc) and so on. Eventually you'll become more satisfied and find yourself snacking less.

Let me know how this challenge goes!

CSPI Newsletter Jan/Feb 2011