4 Fast Food Fixes

An apple a day may have kept the doctor away 150 years ago. But if that apple now comes with chemicals believed to promote obesity, then that advice is way out of date—and, believe it or not, apples have been named one of the most pesticide-laden produce choices out there. More and more research is indicating that America’s obesity crisis can’t be blamed entirely on too much fast food and too little exercise.

The Old American Diet has stripped vital nutrients from our food, trained our bodies to store fat, and kept us hungry and unhappy. But it doesn't have to be that way. Here are four solutions that will trim flab from our bodies, improve our emotional well-being, and cut down our impact on the environment.

Solution #1
Old American Diet (OAD) problem: We eat too much junk and get too little nutrition
New American Diet (NAD) solution: Include folate-rich greens every day

Folate is your measuring stick—a nutrient that helps reveal how healthy you really are. If your folate levels are low, chances are your diet needs some tweaking. Folate, a water-soluble B vitamin, is essential for normal brain and body functioning, according to Harvard researchers. And folate deficiency has been linked to most of the major diseases of our time: It can lead to increased risks of stroke, heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and depression. While you can take it in supplement form as folic acid, your body will absorb more than 80 percent of the folate in whole foods. (You absorb other nutrients, as well.) Some good food sources are spinach, asparagus, endive, collard greens, and broccoli.

Solution #2
OAD problem: Sugar is in everything, and our tastebuds are hooked
NAD solution: Eat sweets—but avoid hidden sugars

Research shows that more than 300 calories of our daily energy intake comes from added sugar. That’s almost 20 teaspoons a day. And some of that sugar is being sneaked into your diet in places you’d never think to look, like lunch meat, salad dressings, and bread. A good rule of thumb is to skip products that list any type of sugar among their first four ingredients. By staying clear of foods with unnecessary added sugars, you’ll cut calories, shed pounds, and reprogram your tastebuds so they stop craving supersweet foods.

Solution #3
OAD problem: We eat too fast
NAD solution: Eat slowly, preferably with people

The OAD is meant to be eaten fast: while driving, watching TV, standing over the sink, or on your way out the door. Because of our tendency to expedite our meals, we’ve lost the ability to listen to our bodies, to know when we’re full, to really taste our foods—and to enjoy eating.

Louisiana State University researchers report that consciously slowing down between bites decreases a man’s calorie intake by 10 percent. And USDA scientists recently found that men take in 500 more calories on days they consume fast foods than on days they don’t eat them. (That’s enough to pack on a pound a week!)

So schedule lunches with friends or coworkers, find a snack buddy, make your dinners family affairs, and try to prepare most of your meals yourself. And remember, it takes your brain a few minutes to receive the signal that your stomach is at max capacity, so wait.

Solution #4
OAD problem: Food recalls are increasing
NAD solution: Buy as much locally grown food as you can

Whether it’s a salmonella outbreak linked to tomatoes, tainted peanut products, or even raw cookie dough, one thing is very clear: Our industrial food chain is broken. We need to rethink the sources of our food, and eating local can be a safe and cheap answer to our food problems. Not only does locally grown produce taste far superior to fruits and vegetables that often travel more than 1,500 miles to your plate, it is usually higher in nutrition. The nutrient values of our fruits and vegetables have declined as much as 40 percent over the past 70 years, a recent review reveals. If you want the freshest, most nutrient-dense produce, buy from a local farmer. Find a market near you at localharvest.org.

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