A Diet Based Entirely on Advertised Foods

: Image by Getty Images via @daylife

I haven’t seen a Chiquita Banana commercial, a Dole Pineapple or a Jolly Green Giant commercial in a really, really long time. I do recall seeing lots of commercials for Burger King (that plastic guy creeps me out), sugary cereals, beer and soda. I’ve watched that movie where the guy eats nothing but McDonald’s for one month … every meal, breakfast, lunch and dinner – and snacks. It wasn’t so hot for his health. So what if you ONLY eat foods that you see advertised on TV?? What would that do to you? Somebody else was curious about that, too, and actually did a study that was reported on in the New York Times. Check this out:

Nutrition: Study Examines a Diet From TV Ads

If Americans ate only foods advertised on TV, a new report says, they would consume 25 times the recommended amount of sugar and 20 times the amount of fat they need, but less than half the dairy, fiber and fruits and vegetables.

For the study, being published this month in The Journal of the American Dietetic Association, researchers taped 28 days of prime-time television as well as Saturday-morning programming on the four major broadcast networks. They identified 800 foods promoted in 3,000 ads and used a nutritional software program to analyze the content of the items, comparing the foods’ nutritional values with the government’s food guide pyramid and recommended daily intake values for various nutrients.

The study assumed that individuals were limiting themselves to 2,000 calories a day of the advertised foods, said the lead author, Michael Mink, an assistant professor of health sciences at Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, Ga.

A 2,000-calorie diet made up solely of foods from commercials would provide too much cholesterol, saturated fat and salt, which are associated with chronic disease, Dr. Mink said, but not nearly enough nutrients like iron, calcium or vitamins A, D and E.

“Just one advertised food item by itself will provide, on average, three times your daily recommended servings of sugar and two and half times your daily recommended servings of fat,” he said. “That means one food item could give you three days’ worth of sugar.”

If you would like to discuss your eating habits with a professional, Dr. Remmel and the weight loss coaches at Remmel Wellness Center are happy to answer your questions.

Posted by Laurie Puckett, Remmel Wellness Center – a full service chiropractic and wellness center in St. Petersburg, Florida.

1 Comment by Laurie Puckett on June 24, 2010

filed in Weight Loss, Wellness

tagged advertising, fiber, fruits and vegetables, Nutrition, Saturated fat, sugar

Sugar, Sugar Everywhere …

: Image via Wikipedia

This is repost of a blog by Summer Tomato that offers many eye-opening facts on the sugar content of common foods.

She writes:

“Refined sugars and high-fructose corn syrup are considered by many experts to be the biggest contributors to obesity and poor health in Western civilization.

In her book What To Eat, Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition at NYU, suggests that any food that contains more than 15 grams of sugar per serving is closer to dessert than anything else.”

Here is a partial list of the foods Summer Tomato posted:

Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut — 10 grams
Luna Bar berry almond — 11 g
Fruit Loops 3/4 cup — 12 g
Ben & Jerry’s vanilla ice cream — 16 g
Starbucks caffè latte grande (16 oz) — 17 g
Godiva 2 truffles – 17 g
Subway 6″ sweet onion teriyaki chicken sandwich — 17 g
Mrs. Field’s chocolate chip cookie — 19 g
Tropicana 100% orange juice 8 oz — 25 g
Yoplait original yogurt — 27 g
Craisins dried cranberries 1/3 cup — 29 g
Vitamin Water (20 oz bottle) — 33 g
Oscar Mayer Lunchables crackers, turkey & American cheese — 36 g
Coca-Cola Classic 12 oz can — 39 g
Sprinkles Cupcake red velvet — 45 g
California Pizza Kitchen Thai chicken salad — 45 g
Jamba Juice blackberry bliss 16 oz — 49 g
Odwalla SuperFood 450 ml bottle — 50

19. Starbucks caffe vanilla frappuccino grande (16 oz) — 58 g

Take Home Messages:

Foods we recognize as dessert (e.g., doughnuts, ice cream, cookies) often have less sugar than things we consider “healthy” (e.g., juice, yogurt, dried fruit).
Fruit Loops aren’t necessarily better than doughnuts.
Energy bars are glorified candy.
Dessert is sometimes hidden in things like sandwiches.
Some foods marketed to children aren’t much better than soda.
A salad can have as much sugar as one of the biggest cupcakes I have ever seen.
“Natural” foods can have a lot of sugar.
The worst offenders are drinkable.
Starbucks is why you are fat.

To combat the prevalance of sugar in your diet, read labels. The Ideal Protein program is a no sugar, low carb meal plan that can help you lose fat, manage your blood sugar levels naturally and help you with high blood pressure and high cholesteral problems. Contact Erik at Remmel Wellness Center for more information.

Sources: