The “SAD” vs. Real Food

Illustration above by John Svenson (extremedreams.com)

The Standard American Diet (SAD)

Why is type-2 diabetes — acquired from diet and lifestyle — impacting the health of about 30-percent of U.S. adults? Why are over 40-percent of U.S. adults classified as obese (BMI over 30). Where do our alarming rates of cancer, heart disease, auto-immune disease, dementia, and kidney disease come from?

Each person is somewhat unique in their susceptibility, but these conditions don’t generally come from problem genetics. By that I mean, because your parent was type-2 diabetic or had heart disease does not pre-dispose you to the same; in fact, that would be very rare. Our pandemics of preventable chronic disease are generally associated with daily habits, passions, stressors, and what we put in our body — meaning diet and lifestyle.

Tragically, these preventable diseases mean a large fraction of the U.S. populous will experience early death and astronomical health expenses. Fortunately, lifestyle is something we can modify and, indeed, deadly chronic diseases like type-2 diabetes and heart disease can be reversed and the need for medications dramatically lowered with serious lifestyle modification. That prescription, however, is not what you are likely to hear from Disease-Care, Inc. “Disease Reversal” through dramatic lifestyle modification, in effect, is a road less traveled.

Processed food manufacturers target (hack) our hormones. The daily intake of highly processed, ultra-palatable edibles can trip-up the action of your insulin system, which then throws off the balance between two other energy-intake (eating) hormones — leptin and . The upset produces overeating and contributes to chronic disease, including food craving/addiction problems. Today, we call this “highly processed, ultra-palatable” eating pattern the Standard American Diet. For a detailed description of the brain “hack” that produces overeating, check out Insulin and Metabolic Disease under the Food and Health menu.

With the SAD habit, you might arrive at the grocery store with a sound plan, but leave with something very different in hand, a little extra. Or, you make an extra stop to the deli/hot case. SAD products change human behavior. They have long ingredient lists and their ultra-palatable calories are commonly derived from refined grain, oil, and sugar. Professional food-designers know the drill. They can nudge upward the palatability, engage human craving behavior (our neurotransmitters), and adjust calorie content, always with the primary goal of shelf-stability and repeat sales — not health.

SAD Basics (version 2024)

Of course, the devil is in the details, but SAD and it’s relationship to our pandemic of chronic disease can be boiled down to three factors:

We over consume refined plant products — nutrient stripped white flour, sugar, refined oils: 57-percent of SAD calories

We over consume animal products — meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and dairy: 32-percent of SAD calories

We significantly under consume whole plant foods — Real fruits, colorful vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, etc.: just 11% of SAD calories

(Source: Nutritionfacts.org, 2024)

From half to 70-percent of U.S. families build daily nutrition on the SAD system.

The average U.S. citizen consumes just a fraction of recommended level of fruits and vegetables.

The SAD has a colossal and expansive impact on our economy, cultural, and social fabric, from strip-malls and gas stations to time spent with family. Choosing processed foods often shortens the time we share with loved ones — preparing, eating, and cleaning up. This may weaken family social interactions and pass on to children the same unhealthy dietary habits. For another example, a vast portion of America’s Heartland is devoted to grain production that will be fed to animals and made into unhealthy cooking oil or high-fructose corn syrup. An unhealthy system of faulty (or faux) “nutrition” is now central to “America.”

Real food consists of basic ingredients:

Whole grains, colorful vegetables, tubers (with their skins), whole fruits (rather than juice), seeds, nuts, legumes, wholesome meat, poultry, fish, dairy, eggs, and so forth. Avoiding processed, factory-formulated food and beverages can be an extraordinary challenge, but there is good news about eating Real food:

Real food produces satisfaction (satiety), is lower in calories, has higher nutrient density,

and it is difficult for body and brain it to over-consume.

To learn more about insulin resistance and “hacked” eating behavior, see my YouTube: Insulin Resistance and Food Craving.