Obesity and the Western Diet
Story after story in the past few years has populated the pages of magazines, newspapers, and scientific journals exploring the pitfalls of the typical Western diet and its connection to rising obesity rates in America and other western countries.
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According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the typical Western diet of recent decades tends to be heavy in refined, processed foods. Refined carbohydrates include white sugar and enriched grains such as white bread, white rice and white flour, which have been stripped of the dietary fiber contained in whole, unprocessed grains.
The Western diet is also high in sodium, with 75 percent of the average daily salt intake coming from processed foods like potato chips, canned soup and condiments. Fat content and saturated fat content is also high, with an emphasis on red meat and high-fat or processed dairy products.
Implications
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Eating too many refined carbohydratess can lead to insulin resistance over time. Substantial evidence links insulin resistance to many different diseases including obesity, coronary heart disease, diabetes and hypertension. It may even be behind the prevalence of other common Western afflictions including nearsightedness, acne, gout and polycystic ovary syndrome.
A 2006 study from the University of California also suggests that the high-sugar, low-fiber Western diet can interfere with levels of the hormone leptin that suppresses appetite, leading to chronic overeating, particularly in children.
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Solutions
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The solution to the high obesity rate and other health risks associated with the Western diet is to adopt different eating habits. Rather than concentrating on refined, processed carbohydrates and unhealthy saturated fat, switch to whole grains, cut back on sugar, eat more fruit and more leafy green vegetables, switch to low-fat dairy, and try to replace sources of unhealthy fats with healthy polyunsaturated or monounsaturated sources of fat such as fish, avocados, nuts and olive oil.
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References
- Photo Credit burger on a plate image by Pontus Edenberg from Fotolia.com
