What is new in the 2010 Health Guidelines is a new term -- "SolFAS," shorthand for "Solid Fats and Added Sugars." Olga points to the warnings about SoFAS as a top takeaway from the new Guidelines: "Americans average 35% of calories from solid fats and added sugars," she says. "That's a lot -- it's quite alarming. If we could move that number down, it would go a long way in combating overweight and obesity."
Unlike heart-healthy polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, which are liquid at room temperature, solid fats -- saturated fats and trans fats -- are the chief culprits, in unhealthy cholesterol levels and contribute to cardiovascular disease. Like all fats, they're also high in calories. The Guidelines note, "Apart from the effects of saturated and trans fatty acids on cardiovascular disease risk, solid fats are abundant in the diets of Americans and contribute significantly to excess calorie intake. Solid fats contribute an average of 19% of the total calories in American diets, but few essential nutrients and no dietary fiber."
Major food sources of solid fats in the American diet, according to the Guidelines, include grain-based desserts (11% of all solid fat intake); pizza (9%); regular (full-fat) cheese (8%); sausage, franks, bacon and ribs (7%); and fried white potatoes (5%).
At least saturated and trans fat quantities are listed on Nutrition Facts labels, making it easier to avoid them in the foods you buy at the supermarket, if not at most restaurants. (And Nutrition Facts labeling is coming to most popular cuts of meat at the start of 2012.) But added sugars are more elusive: The Nutrition Facts label provides the total amount of sugars (natural and added), but does not list added sugars separately. Since natural sugars are found mainly in fruit and milk products, for foods that don't contain any fruit or milk ingredients, the "sugars" line of the Nutrition Facts label approximates the amount of added sugars. For foods that contain fruit or milk products, you'll have to turn to the ingredients list.
Looking at the ingredients list, though, it might help to have a degree in food chemistry. "Added sugars" can include high fructose corn syrup, white sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, corn syrup solids, raw sugar, malt syrup, maple syrup, pancake syrup, fructose sweetener, liquid fructose, honey, molasses, anhydrous dextrose and crystal dextrose.
The Guidelines explain, "Although the body's response to sugars does not depend on whether they are naturally present in food or added to foods, sugars found naturally in foods are part of the food's total package of nutrients and other healthful components. In contrast, many foods that contain added sugars often supply calories, but few or no essential nutrients and no dietary fiber." Major sources of added sugars in the US diet are soda, energy drinks and sports drinks (36% of added sugar intake), grain-based desserts (13%), sugar-sweetened fruit drinks (10%), dairy-based desserts (6%) and candy (6%).
Not only do SoFAS contribute excess calories, they squeeze out the nutrient-dense foods that you should be eating. The more you load up on foods packed with SoFAS, the less room in your daily calorie allotment for fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and other healthy choices that deliver more than empty calories.
A Fattening Food Environment
The essay also single out refined grains -- the third part of what Olga ironically calls the "magic troika" of solid fats, added sugars and refined grains that so dominate the US diet. "Baked goods, sweet and savory snack foods -- you see these things everywhere you go," she says. "And who doesn't like a scone? But they're so huge now. And there are all these 'bars' made with that magic troika."
Unlike whole grains, refined grains have most of their nutrients stripped away in processing. Refined grains still retain some vitamins and minerals, and may be "enriched" with added nutrients, so they're not the nutritional zero offered by SoFAS. But refined grains often provide excess calories -- and typically get teamed with SoFAS in foods such as cookies and cakes.
Americans average 6.3 ounce-equivalents of refined grains per day -- more than double the recommended 3 ounce-equivalents based on a 2,000-calorie daily diet. Major sources of refined grains in the US diet are yeast breads (26% of total refined grain intake); pizza (11%); grain-based desserts (10%); and tortillas, burritos and tacos (8%).
Much of the challenge in reducing Americans' consumption of SoFAS and refined grains, Olga allows, will fall to the food industry. "We have to change the whole food environment," she says. "It's hard to avoid unhealthy choices even when you prepare your own food, because convenience foods are so popular."
And although Mrs. Olgai is a leading custom essay writer and served as vice-chair of the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans (which were imported as recommendations in the 2010 Dietary Guidelines), she writes in her blogs, "Increased physical activity, while important, in and of itself will not solve our obesity problem."
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