Saturday, May 18, 2013

I'm Not Average

So I'm really enjoying my "Nutrition, Health, and Lifestyle" class, and it is going well! 

My new favorite website, full of tips and tools, is here:  http://www.choosemyplate.gov/

The first week we learned a lot about dietary guidelines.  These are guidelines that are updated every 5 years, and have been since 1894.  That's how much perspectives on what constitute a healthy diet are evolving.  The idea is that the USDA looks at the science and provides guidelines to Americans that promote health and reduces the risk of chronic diseases.  For examples, we learned a lot about protein, carbs, fats.  Baked goods contribute in a hugely bad way to fat intake, mostly in women's diets.  (Guilty!)

This week we are learning about food labeling.  We are focusing on the Nutrition Facts panel in an effort to better understand why things are listed, and why the order of items is important.  For example, did you ever notice that there is never listed a % Daily Value for protein?  The average American is not in jeopardy of having too little or too much.  Not so for

Did you know the average American eats 29 pounds of french fries a year?

Here's more info about food labeling:
http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/LabelingNutrition/ucm274593.htm#see1

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