Are Americans really cutting the fat? What can we do about it?

For the past decade or so, Americans have been urged by health professionals to cut the fat content in their diets to no more than 30% of calories. Strangely enough, Americans are more overweight than ever! The fact is – the percentage of fat that Americans consume has decreased, but the amount of fat consumed has actually gone up, mostly because the total amount of calories has gone up.

While caloric intakes have increased, no one source is to blame. It could be that the message to eat a diet high in carbohydrates has been misunderstood and so people think they are eating healthy carbohydrates when they are actually eating a lot of simple sugars and carbonated beverages. Also, food availability is so great that people are just eating more. Food is everywhere, and the food that’s available is convenience foods.

So how does this translate to helping us to maintain our weight?

This information serves as a reminder for all of us to consider what types of foods and preparation methods we are using. We need to consider how many calories are in the foods we eat and what portion sizes we take in. Perhaps the best way for us to understand where the calories come from is to keep a food record. While food records are not the only method which can help to promote steady weight loss, they serve as a stethoscope in practice. They can provide insight into where the fat in the foods we are eating comes from, the quality of carbohydrates we are choosing, the portion sizes we are consuming and the snacks we are unconsciously eating. These are but a few examples of things to look for when keeping a food record.