Why the Standard American Diet (S.A.D.) is So Dangerous

When you look at the nutritional habits that have become normal in this country, you’ll find a lethal combination: Americans are not eating enough foods that provide the body with vital nutrients, and they are replacing them with foods and ingredients that promote disease.

First, let’s look at the nutritious foods Americans aren’t eating. According to the latest national statistics, more than 80 percent of Americans do not eat the recommended amount of vegetables in their diet, and more than 70 percent do not eat the recommended amount of fruits. It gets worse: Around half of the vegetables Americans eat are French fries, loaded with saturated fats and salts that can promote obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes.

How about grains?

At first glance, it may seem like Americans are eating the recommended amount of grains in their diets, but a closer look reveals that most of them are refined or enriched grains. So what does that mean? Words like “refined” and “enriched” sound positive, but when it comes to grains, it means that they’ve been processed and stripped of many things that make whole grains so healthy.

In their purest natural form, whole grains consist of the germ, the endosperm and the germ. When those grains are refined, the bran and the germ are completely removed during processing. That means refined grains lack much of the healthy vitamins, antioxidants, fiber and protein found in whole grains. With enriched grains, some of those nutrients are added back after milling — but they’re still nutritionally inferior to whole grains. 

So that’s a bad start. Most Americans are not eating the foods that provide fundamental resources that nourish and heal their systems and organs and provide life-giving energy to their cells and DNA. 

It gets worse when you look at what many Americans are eating instead: Foods that are actively doing damage to their bodies — often with life-threatening effects. 

Around 70 percent of Americans exceed the recommended amount of added sugars and saturated fats in their diets – and around 90 percent of Americans eat too much sodium. The three-headed beast of sugars, saturated fats, and sodium greatly increases the risk of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure. 

It’s not hard to see where these devastating dietary habits come from.

63% of the calories in the Standard American Diet come from processed or refined foods – empty calories and fake foods such as potato chips, sugary and “diet” sodas, packaged desserts, and frozen dinners. These high-fat, high-sugar, high-salt, high-calorie, and highly addictive foods are low in the vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and antioxidants that our bodies actually need for optimal health and well-being.

Another 25% percent of the calories in the S.A.D. come from meats and animal-based foods. Red and processed meats can be loaded with saturated fats, representing a high risk for high cholesterol, heart disease, and some types of cancer. Animal protein breaks down into uric acid, which is toxic to the human body and must be eliminated through our organs and eliminatory system. When uric acid cannot be removed through natural processes, it tries to escape through the joints (joint pain or stiffness; arthritis) or extremities (gout).

That means just 12% of the calories in the S.A.D. come from plant-based foods – and as mentioned before, half of those “plant-based” calories come from French fries. The healthiest countries on earth traditionally have whole food, plant-based diets. America is on the opposite path. Let’s look at the terrible effects of these dietary decisions.

42.4 percent of Americans struggle with obesity, and the percentage of Americans with obesity has increased from 30.5% to 42.4% since the year 2000. The African-American and Hispanic populations have been affected at an even higher rate, with 49.6% of African-Americans and 44.8% of Hispanic Americans struggling with obesity. Every year, Americans spend around $147 billion in medical costs to treat obesity-related conditions.  

In other words, Americans are burning the candle at both ends. 

The S.A.D. deprives our bodies of essential nutrients, and it fills our bodies with harmful foods that make things worse. We are using our bodies as if they are factory-grade food processors — and then we are wondering why they break down. 

It’s time to change the fundamentals of the Standard American Diet, and the power to do so is in our hands. Change can be a difficult process for anyone – even when the benefits of those changes are clear. If you’re determined to start eating to live and embracing the reality that food is medicine, the mantra of healthy eating will keep your journey on the best possible path.