You Are What You Eat

I was at a holiday party last week. As you might guess, there were platters of cookies, cakes and candies to tempt the weak of will. But the three dishes that disappeared the fastest were a lentil soup, a salad of lentils, rice and fresh vegetables and a hot-smoked salmon fillet. Were these downed first because the nutrition police were watching, because the partygoers were a particularly health-conscious bunch, or because these dishes were simply delicious?

Actually, all three reasons prevailed. I was there, and people assume that I watch what everyone eats. My fellow celebrants were educated, well off and aware of the connections between food and health. But to me the most significant explanation was that the foods that happened to be healthiest were also the best tasting.

Indeed, according to a recently published survey of food choices among nearly 3,000 randomly chosen American adults, taste (surprise, surprise) emerged as the principal criterion for food choices across the board, regardless of age, income or ethnic background. People simply like to eat what tastes good to them.

Unfortunately, what tastes good TO most Americans is not exactly good FOR them. What makes food taste good to most people? Fat and sugar. And, predictably, as more and more Americans choose pleasure over nutrition, we are eating more of both. True, the percentage of calories from fats has declined, but because we are eating about 300 calories a day more than we used to, we are actually consuming as much fat as before, primarily in fast foods, restaurant meals and snacks – pizza, burgers, French fries, salad dressings, pasta sauces, potato and corn chips and the like.

Currently, about 60 percent of Americans eat at least one restaurant-prepared meal every day, and most of those meals are not made properly. These high-fat, low-fiber meals account for half of our caloric intake.

To no one's surprise, children are not doing any better than adults. With 60 percent of moms working and time pressures on families ever more acute, ready-made and fast-food meals have become the norm in many households with young children. American children are fatter today than ever before, and one in five has a cholesterol level that is setting him up for future heart disease. Food specialists at Edelman Public Relations Worldwide have predicted, "In the next 10 years, there will be consumers who have never cooked a meal from basic ingredients, and many of them will have been the children of today."

Consumer surveys reveal that resistance to adopting a healthier diet can be attributed to a combination of time pressures and false beliefs. Nearly three-quarters of American adults categorize foods as either "good" or "bad," and more than a third think that eating healthier means giving up their favorite foods, i.e., the "bad" foods.

"Reasonable amounts" is another problem. Anne Wolf, a registered dietitian at the University of Virginia Health Science Center, points out that "our portion sizes have totally changed."

"The original Coke bottle was a six- or eight-ounce bottle," she added. "Then it grew to the 12-ounce can, then the 20-ounce bottle, and then the Big Gulp. And now we have the Double Big Gulp, which has 10 times the calories of a Coke 50 years ago," she said. "Or consider McDonald's. Today, consumers are into value meals, so you not only get your hamburger -- which is bigger -- but you get more French fries and a bigger soda. "We've internalized these larger portion sizes and, frankly, it's very hard to downsize."

Other obstacles to dietary change include the mistaken belief that eating better is important only for those with serious health risks, resistance to change and confusion about conflicting information that can emerge from studies on nutrition and health. Is margarine OK or not? Is a high-carbohydrate diet the right choice, or does it lead to weight gain? Does alcohol protect from heart disease but cause breast cancer? Is olive oil healthy or just another source of fat? A quarter of adults say there are so many conflicting studies they do not know what is good for them, so they have just tossed up their hands and opted to make no changes at all in their eating habits.

For one, fresh fruits require no preparation and are ideal snacks and desserts for young and old. Many supermarkets have salad bars or produce sections with cut-up vegetables ready for steaming or stir-frying or use in salads. Or, though not as crunchy or tasty, frozen vegetables (without creamy sauces) are as nutritious as fresh ones.