As a Matter of Fat
As a Matter of Fat - What's Up, USANA?
By Matt Jaggi in Infographic
All it takes is opening a cupboard or searching through the fridge to discover the truth: we are obsessed with low-fat foods. From fat-free salad dressings and light potato chips to low-fat frozen waffles and 100-calorie snack packs—somewhere along the line, we were taught to shun fat from our diets.
Ironically, a closer look at the nutrition labels on these fat-free foods often uncovers something worse: large amounts of refined carbohydrates and sugars, which can be detrimental to good health.
What’s more startling is the fact that even though Americans have been advised consistently over the last 30 years to decrease their fat consumption, obesity continues to rise steadily. In fact, USDA data suggests the average daily calorie intake for adults in the United States has increased by 24.5 percent between 1970 and 2000. That’s a whopping 530 extra calories a day on average.
And where are most of these extra calories coming from? Surprisingly, most of them come from the refined carbohydrates found in unhealthy snack foods—not fats.
So how did the idea that all fats are bad get started? Check out fat’s large history in the infographic below to learn more.
It’s almost like a Nancy Drew and the Case of the Bad Fats story.
By Matt Jaggi in Infographic
All it takes is opening a cupboard or searching through the fridge to discover the truth: we are obsessed with low-fat foods. From fat-free salad dressings and light potato chips to low-fat frozen waffles and 100-calorie snack packs—somewhere along the line, we were taught to shun fat from our diets.
Ironically, a closer look at the nutrition labels on these fat-free foods often uncovers something worse: large amounts of refined carbohydrates and sugars, which can be detrimental to good health.
What’s more startling is the fact that even though Americans have been advised consistently over the last 30 years to decrease their fat consumption, obesity continues to rise steadily. In fact, USDA data suggests the average daily calorie intake for adults in the United States has increased by 24.5 percent between 1970 and 2000. That’s a whopping 530 extra calories a day on average.
And where are most of these extra calories coming from? Surprisingly, most of them come from the refined carbohydrates found in unhealthy snack foods—not fats.
So how did the idea that all fats are bad get started? Check out fat’s large history in the infographic below to learn more.
It’s almost like a Nancy Drew and the Case of the Bad Fats story.
Labels: calories, fat consumption, Healthy Diet, healthy fat, low-fat, saturated fat, trans fats, unsaturated fats
posted by Deborah Gorman @ 9:53 AM
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