Standard american diet

Email this page to a friend

Want news about Standard american diet and more e-mailed to you? Click here for free email alerts

Supplement Your Prescription: What Your Doctor Doesn't Know About Nutrition Hyla Cass, M.D. See book keywords and concepts

If you are eating the standard american diet, shifting to the Zone diet, consisting of a 40-30-30 ratio of carbohydrates, protein, and fat—will shed pounds. The program is safe and works like a charm to jump-start a lifetime of healthy eating. To learn more, see What to Eat in the Zone (Harper, 2003), and several others Zone books by Barry Sears, M.D. People who badly need to lose weight, reduce cholesterol counts, stop the downward spiral of diabetes, or improve cardiovascular health can take a more intense approach.

Prescription for Natural Cures: A Self-Care Guide for Treating Health Problems with Natural Remedies Including Diet and Nutrition, Nutritional Supplements, Bodywork, and More James F. Balch, M.D. and Mark Stengler, N.D. See book keywords and concepts

Avoiding the SAD Diet The rates of obesity, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and many other chronic diseases continue to skyrocket, due in large part to the standard american diet (SAD). The obvious solution is not to eat what most Americans are consuming, if you want to be healthy. The standard american diet is high in refined carbohydrates (a technical term for, basically, sugar), saturated and trans-fatty acids (the types of fats that are linked to disease), and animal protein. Most commercial foods are loaded with artificial sweeteners, dyes, and preservatives.

Women's Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine: Alternative Therapies and Integrative Medicine for Total Health and Wellness Tori Hudson, N.D. See book keywords and concepts

Decreasing sodium and increasing potassium intake helps prevent heart disease, high blood pressure, and strokes. The standard american diet has a poor potassium/sodium ratio; the ideal potassium-to-sodium ratio is greater than 5:1. A diet rich in fruits and vegetables can produce a more beneficial ratio because most of these foods have significantly greater potassium than sodium. Amongst the highest are bananas, apples, carrots, oranges, lima beans, and potatoes. Potassium 99 mg-2.5 g per day L-Arginine.

The Most Effective Natural Cures on Earth: The Surprising, Unbiased Truth about What Treatments Work and Why Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S. See book keywords and concepts

The first study, known as DASH-1, investigated three dietary regimens: the standard american diet (with the apt acronym SAD), SAD plus some extra fruits and vegetables, and finally, the DASH-1 diet, which is high in fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products, but low in cholesterol, saturated fat, and total fat. The results? Adding fruits and vegetables to the crummy SAD reduced blood pressure, demonstrating that simply eating more fruits and vegetables is helpful. But those on the DASH-1 diet enjoyed the greatest reduction in their blood pressure.

Supplement Your Prescription: What Your Doctor Doesn't Know About Nutrition Hyla Cass, M.D. See book keywords and concepts

And now imagine the standard american diet, which generally contains a ratio of omega-6 fats to omega-3 fats of about 20:1. This is a conflagration waiting to happen—if it isn't happening already. The drastic shift in fat and refined carbohydrate consumption over the last one hundred years brings the body to a slow-burning state of inflammation. As a result, any inflammation in the blood vessels is made worse. A more appropriate balance of omega-6s to omega-3s is 2:1 to 3:1—a balance fulfilled by the diets consumed by our ancestors for most of history.

Diet and Inflammation The standard american diet is a pro-inflammatory diet. I'm not referring only to diets high in fat—although the usual high trans-fat, fast-food, and processed-food diet consumed in the United States is, in fact, pro-inflammatory. I'm also referring to the low-fat, high-carbohydrate, high-vegetable-oil diet that has been pushed on people at risk for heart disease—like Mark—for so many decades now. The traditional high-fat diets consumed by Eskimos—almost entirely seal meat and fish—is heart healthy and anti-inflammatory.

Green For Life Victoria Boutenko, M.A. See book keywords and concepts

Let us compare the standard american diet with an average diet of a typical raw foodist. I think that a raw food diet demonstrates a vast improvement over the regular diet. Firstly all ingredients in a raw diet are uncooked, and full of enzymes and vitamins; thus the raw food diet is like a revolution in comparison with the standard american diet. That explains why so many people reported that they instantly felt better on a raw diet. We can see that raw fooders eat a lot of fruit, especially if we keep in mind that bell-peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, and tomatoes are also fruits.

Supplement Your Prescription: What Your Doctor Doesn't Know About Nutrition Hyla Cass, M.D. See book keywords and concepts

Aside from GLA from borage oil, which is used as a supplement (oatmeal is another good source), the omega-6 fatty acids found in meat, milk, vegetable oils, seeds, and nuts are rarely scarce in the standard american diet. In fact, although we need them for good health, most of us are consuming too many. Most of us eat about twenty times more omega-6 fatty acids than omega-3s in products like cereals, whole-grain bread, baked goods, fried foods, margarine, and others.

Transdermal Magnesium Therapy Mark Sircus See book keywords and concepts

Yet, if the standard american diet is your primary source of nutrition you can be assured that the magnesium stores in your body will steadily decline. If you drink, rest assured that will further push you into magnesium deficiency and this will be reflected in your state of health.4 So if any of these factors are true, then you need to replenish your magnesium stores, irrespective of what any tests say. Remember that the ultimate litmus test for optimum health, is optimum health, and optimum health cannot be sustained without sufficient magnesium stores.

The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth: The Surprising, Unbiased Truth About What You Should Eat and Why Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S. See book keywords and concepts

Sure, there are plenty of studies of healthy diets that show that people eating "fruits, vegetables, fish, omega-3 fats, and whole grains" do way better healthwise than those eating the standard american diet. But it's a real stretch to attribute those health benefits to the grains. In my opinion, if people were eating plenty of fish, vegetables, fruits, omega-3 fats, and M&Ms they'd still be much healthier than most of America.

Women's Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine: Alternative Therapies and Integrative Medicine for Total Health and Wellness Tori Hudson, N.D. See book keywords and concepts

Nutrition Women who have PMS typically have dietary habits that are worse than the standard american diet. In a nutritional analysis published in 1983, Guy Abraham reported that PMS patients consumed 62 percent more refined carbohydrates than women who did not have PMS, 275 percent more refined sugar, 79 percent more dairy products, 78 percent more sodium, 53 percent less iron, 77 percent less manganese, and 52 percent less zinc.12 A diet higher in dairy products can also contribute to PMS symptoms such as anxiety, irritability, and nervous tension.

The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth: The Surprising, Unbiased Truth About What You Should Eat and Why Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S. See book keywords and concepts

They are also very alkalizing and can help offset the acid load from the standard american diet of grains, meats, and dairy. These might seem a little scary at first, but they are great to sprinkle on a salad, soup, or veggie dish, or you can always visit a Japanese restaurant a few times a week for some nori-wrapped delicacies. 9. Organic eggs: A great source of complete protein, and yes, eat the yolk—it's rich in vitamin E, vitamin A, and choline, a nutrient that is important for the brain and nervous system.

What is a "normal" diet? Consumers and food industry pundits have it all backwards Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

But it's the standard american diet that's blatantly incompatible with the human body. It's incompatible with sustainable agriculture and balance between people and nature. It's incompatible with clear-headedness and lucid thinking. It's incompatible with internal health at all levels, including the health of women who are pregnant and trying to give life to another being. Now, in another sense, the standard american diet of death and disease is of course normal from the point of view that everybody is doing it, so the extreme has become socially acceptable.

Health Begins in the Colon Dr. Edward F. Group III, DC, ND, DACBN See book keywords and concepts

Because the standard american diet (appropriately called "SAD") is so poor, you will need to cleanse on a continuous basis to help keep your entire intestinal lining clean. Therefore, I recommend a continued maintenance dose using a oxygen based cleanser 2 to 3 times weekly (especially after the consumption of red meat meals). Use your bowel activity as a guide. You will know how "clean" you are by the color, consistency, and frequency of your bowel movements.

The Most Effective Natural Cures on Earth: The Surprising, Unbiased Truth about What Treatments Work and Why Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S. See book keywords and concepts

Vegetables and fruits also help balance the system by providing a nice alkaline balance to our highly acidic, overly processed standard american diet. Alternately, some of the "green drinks" now found in health food supermarkets are a great choice Natural Breath Mints In addition to the above recommendations, herbs and spices can sweeten your breath. Try the following. Parsley and mint. Chewing parsley or mint leaves has been a natural remedy for thousands of years. These herbs are especially good if garlic and onions are the source of your bad breath. Parsley is very high in chlorophyll.

Supplement Your Prescription: What Your Doctor Doesn't Know About Nutrition Hyla Cass, M.D. See book keywords and concepts

I knew because this is the story for virtually every person who, like Gloria, eats the standard american diet. People who eat diets heavy on the sugars and processed starches have been putting their bodies through these paces several times a day for years, decades, or even for more than half a century. Weight gain is a common result. Your energy and mood are likely to peak and drop along with this daily cycle. Eventually you're likely to start feeling exhausted most of the time, and to get a lift, drink massive amounts of coffee.

Diet and Inflammation The standard american diet is a pro-inflammatory diet. I'm not referring only to diets high in fat—although the usual high trans-fat, fast-food, and processed-food diet consumed in the United States is, in fact, pro-inflammatory. I'm also referring to the low-fat, high-carbohydrate, high-vegetable-oil diet that has been pushed on people at risk for heart disease—like Mark—for so many decades now. The traditional high-fat diets consumed by Eskimos—almost entirely seal meat and fish—is heart healthy and anti-inflammatory.

There Is a Cure for Diabetes: The Tree of Life 21-Day+ Program Gabriel Cousens See book keywords and concepts

They were compared with a matched group of eighteen controls who ate a standard american diet containing animal fat and processed foods. The average vitamin D levels were higher in the raw vegan group than in the control group, despite an extremely low dietary intake of vitamin D, indicative of the increased personal sun exposure. If you live above 38 degrees north latitude (above Baltimore, St. Louis, Denver, and San Francisco), the sun is too weak from mid-fall through the following spring to stimulate significant vitamin D production.

Supplement Your Prescription: What Your Doctor Doesn't Know About Nutrition Hyla Cass, M.D. See book keywords and concepts

In order to function at peak efficiency, your body needs the best raw material possible. Our standard american diet (SAD for short!), which emphasizes high-fat, high-calorie, low-nutrient eating, is anything but nourishing. We live in a time when food is more plentiful than it has ever been in history, yet we are woefully undernourished because we fill up on all the wrong foods. 19 Many of us eat too many processed foods that have almost no nutritional value. These foods are high in chemicals, salt, and, above all, sugar.

The Detox Strategy: Vibrant Health in 5 Easy Steps Brenda Watson and Leonard Smith See book keywords and concepts

Additional practices to enhance detoxification - colon hydrotherapy - getting at least 35 grams of fiber a day - saunas and steambaths - soaks and baths - dry skin brushing - pure air and water CHAPTER 6 STEP THREE: NOURISH YOUR CELLS AND SYSTEMS One of the biggest myths—and arguably most health-damaging—we believe is that we get all the nourishment we need from the standard american diet. But the typical American diet is vastly unbalanced and contains insufficient amounts of nutrients required for optimal health.

There Is a Cure for Diabetes: The Tree of Life 21-Day+ Program Gabriel Cousens See book keywords and concepts

In this context, the current so-called "normal" standard american diet is immoderate and detrimental, as it directly contributes to the manifestation of diabetes. Previous "moderate" diets have been shown to ameliorate and control diabetes to a limited degree. None of these diets have been particularly successful beyond marginally ameliorating diabetes. For example, Dr. Barnard's research team compared the Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine vegan approach to the control diet using ADA guidelines. With the ADA approach, they found a 0.4 percent drop in Ale levels. This is very mild.

Supplement Your Prescription: What Your Doctor Doesn't Know About Nutrition Hyla Cass See book keywords and concepts

And now imagine the standard american diet, which generally contains a ratio of omega-6 fats to omega-3 fats of about 20:1. This is a conflagration waiting to happen—if it isn't happening already. The drastic shift in fat and refined carbohydrate consumption over the last one hundred years brings the body to a slow-burning state of inflammation. As a result, any inflammation in the blood vessels is made worse. A more appropriate balance of omega-6s to omega-3s is 2:1 to 3:1—a balance fulfilled by the diets consumed by our ancestors for most of history.

There Is a Cure for Diabetes: The Tree of Life 21-Day+ Program Gabriel Cousens See book keywords and concepts

By its very nature it also helps those who are overweight to naturally and easily lose weight, because eating a live-food diet enables us to eat half as much as we do on a nutrient-poor standard american diet. This live-food diet is not one of deprivation but one that is satisfying, pleasurable, and nutritionally nurturing to our senses, as well as to our body and mind. It brings in a tremendous amount of live enzymes and electrical energy that improves the functioning of all cellular activities in the system.

Supplement Your Prescription: What Your Doctor Doesn't Know About Nutrition Hyla Cass See book keywords and concepts

I knew because this is the story for virtually every person who, like Gloria, eats the standard american diet. People who eat diets heavy on the sugars and processed starches have been putting their bodies through these paces several times a day for years, decades, or even for more than half a century. Weight gain is a common result. Your energy and mood are likely to peak and drop along with this daily cycle. Eventually you're likely to start feeling exhausted most of the time, and to get a lift, drink massive amounts of coffee.

If you are eating the standard american diet, shifting to the Zone diet, consisting of a 40-30-30 ratio of carbohydrates, protein, and fat—will shed pounds. The program is safe and works like a charm to jump-start a lifetime of healthy eating. To learn more, see What to Eat in the Zone (Harper, 2003), and several others Zone books by Barry Sears, M.D. People who badly need to lose weight, reduce cholesterol counts, stop the downward spiral of diabetes, or improve cardiovascular health can take a more intense approach.

Aside from GLA from borage oil, which is used as a supplement (oatmeal is another good source), the omega-6 fatty acids found in meat, milk, vegetable oils, seeds, and nuts are rarely scarce in the standard american diet. In fact, although we need them for good health, most of us are consuming too many. Most of us eat about twenty times more omega-6 fatty acids than omega-3s in products like cereals, whole-grain bread, baked goods, fried foods, margarine, and others.

There Is a Cure for Diabetes: The Tree of Life 21-Day+ Program Gabriel Cousens See book keywords and concepts

On a live-food diet properly eaten, we actually eat 50 percent fewer calories as compared to a standard american diet (SAD), but maintain a very high level of nutrition. The reason for this is that we are consuming nutrient-dense foods, not just calorie-dense foods such as those offered in restaurants and fast-food dispensaries all over the Westernized world. We are becoming nations of overfed, undernourished individuals. Our bodies are rebelling through the metabolic degeneration process called diabetes.

Supplement Your Prescription: What Your Doctor Doesn't Know About Nutrition Hyla Cass See book keywords and concepts

In order to function at peak efficiency, your body needs the best raw material possible. Our standard american diet (SAD for short!), which emphasizes high-fat, high-calorie, low-nutrient eating, is anything but nourishing. We live in a time when food is more plentiful than it has ever been in history, yet we are woefully undernourished because we fill up on all the wrong foods. Many of us eat too many processed foods that have almost no nutritional value. These foods are high in chemicals, salt, and, above all, sugar.

Body odor can be eliminated through a change in diet Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

My own body odor used to be rather disgusting when I followed the standard american diet like most people do. I had to use massive doses of brand name deodorant products just to try to cover up the odor. Only later did I learn that those products are made with cancer-causing chemical fragrances that are absorbed directly into your bloodstream, through your armpits, where they enter your liver and promote liver disease, cancer, and a variety of other disorders.

Walking the talk: the true story of my transformation from obesity and chronic disease to outstanding health Mike Adams, the Health Ranger See article keywords and concepts

And I got that way by following the standard american diet. I ate a whole lot of McDonald's food. I remember there was time in my life that I ate McDonald's every single day. And I remember thinking at one point that I was getting healthier because I switched to Taco Bell! Now I was getting burritos with lettuce and cheese, rather than Big Macs. And boy! I thought that was a huge improvement. So I'm not alien to the misconceptions about nutrition and health that may be common out there. I've been down that same path.

page 1 of 6 | Next ->

FAIR USE NOTICE: The research quoted here is provided under the protection of Fair Use provisions and published by the 501(c)3 non-profit Consumer Wellness Center for the purposes of public comment and education. Authors / publishers may submit books for consideration of inclusion here.

TERMS OF USE: Read full terms of use. Citations of text from NaturalPedia must include: 1) Full credit to the original author and book title. 2) Secondary credit to the Natural News Naturalpedia as a research resource and a link to www.NaturalNews.com/np/index.html

This unique compilation of research is copyright (c) 2008 by the non-profit Consumer Wellness Center.

ABOUT THE CREATOR OF NATURALPEDIA: Mike Adams, the creator of this NaturalNews Naturalpedia, is the editor of NaturalNews.com, the internet's top natural health news site, creator of the Honest Food Guide (www.HonestFoodGuide.org), a free downloadable consumer food guide based on natural health principles, author of Grocery Warning, The 7 Laws of Nutrition, Natural Health Solutions, and many other books available at www.TruthPublishing.com, creator of the earth-friendly EcoLEDs company (www.EcoLEDs.com) that manufactures energy-efficient LED lighting products, founder of Arial Software (www.ArialSoftware.com), a permission e-mail technology company, creator of the CounterThink Cartoon series (www.NaturalNews.com/index-cartoons.html) and author of over 1,500 articles, interviews, special reports and reference guides available at www.NaturalNews.com. Adams' personal philosophy and health statistics are available at www.HealthRanger.org.