Are Americans shifting to a healthier diet?

[rusnak]

It seems to me, just a few years ago bacon and pies were the big thing.

Is healtier eating a trend, or a fad taken up by a vocal few? I read about food chains like Noodles & Co. promoting the "Paleo Diet" and eliminating noodles from the menu.

But when Kraft profits frop 60% in a year, and now this:Heinz, Kraft agree to merge, forming a new food giant - Fortune

It gets your attention. For sure, food companies are really wasteful, but are we really eating healthier? Or are there just vastly more food choices? Or are American food processesors just getting their business act together after years of over saturation? Or all of the above?

I don't want to go out and clonk a baby dinosaur over the head and cook it over a fire while wearing a boar skin. So, I don't think the fad Paleo diet or other whatever are mainstream. But when Kraft gets bought out, that should be noteworthy.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

There's more awareness now which is good but there's a long way to go and there's still a helluva lot of bad, bad, BAD stuff out there (overprocessed, way too much sugar, way too much sodium, Monsanto lab chemical garbage in everything, etc.)

It's getting a bit better though. There are a lot more reasonably-priced healthy options out there now it seems and it's not all just marketing hype. More farm co-ops starting to spring up too it seems. A good trend but only the tiniest of steps in the right direction after decades of huge moves in the wrong ones.

[jyl]

Consumer preferences have been shifting to fresh, healthy, natural, organic, etc etc and blah blah

The traditional packaged food companies that sell in the center of the grocery store - canned, frozen, boxed - have been seeing very weak growth if any.

There has also been a trend to M&A across industries, not just in growth-challenged industries. Interest rates are very low, making financing deals easy and cheap.

[rusnak]

The point that I was making is that Kraft didn't operate on any Scandanavian hillside farms with wooden carts pulled by ponies. Not that I am aware of.

I am interested in macro trends. Are we making that big of a shift, or is there just an explosion of choices going on?

[aschen]

they were talking about this on npr yesterday

Apparently thinks like spices and seasonings are doing very well as people shift to less processed foods.

[Hugh R]

I ate at McDonalds this morning, because I had to be at a location at 6:00 AM, only place around. First time I've been in McD's in probably 20 years. I had their two breakfast burritos for $2.59 or whatever, actually they weren't too bad. I think 300 calories for both burritos, very small burritos.

[rusnak]

I do McDonald's oatmeal and coffee quite often. I had a Carl's Jr salad for lunch today.

[aschen]

mcdonalds has that egg white breakfast sandwhich that is pretty decent. Their coffee is good, and doesnt cost more than fine wine unlike another popular brand

You can eat sorta healthy at most places if you try hard enough. Of course fresh fruits and vegtables and whole grains are preferable.

[ckelly78z]

I hear about more people trying a vegetarian or (God help us all) a vegan diet. A friend of mine's daughter declared rather publicly that she would be going vegan, and forsaking all meat products forever.....after one week, my friend (her Dad) went into her room and saw that she was eating chicken nuggets. She said she was tired of being hungry, and eating tasteless foods with nothing to look forward for the next meal.

I eat unhealthy processed foods because they are convenient, cheap, tasty, and quick, and drink a PepsiMax everyday for lunch. Now I do eat yogurt, drink lots of water and milk, and have a small share of veggies and fruits, but I have developed a balance in my diet that keeps my weight in check, and me energized for all the things I need to do throughout the day.

I have friends going through a "cleanse" diet that looks atrocious, and smells just as bad, and it never seems that they lose weight on a permanent basis, it always comes back in spades.

I think there is far more publicity and push towards having a healthy diet and new ways of fixing it and different flavors, but I would rather die a couple years younger and really enjoy my meals, than to have to suffer through flinty self-denial and live to be 100 years old.

[bivenator]

If you meet someone that is a vegetarian or into cross-training which would they tell you about first?

I do think there is a shift towards less processed foods. The proliferation of cooking shows alone would indicate that somebody is making their own meals.

[rusnak]

what the f is the difference between vegetarian and vegan?

Nevermind. I am positive that I don't care and don't want to know.

[aschen]

vegetarian = small chance they are not insane

vegan = probably are in or are the leader of a cult

[MikeSid]

Healthier... maybe.

But if the "What's for Dinner" picture thread is any indication, portion size will continue to remain the biggest problem for Americans.

[ckelly78z]

Vegans are bat chit crazy redheads who force their views upon you regardless of your interest. They don't eat, use, or wear anything from an animal....think PETA.
Vegatarians are reasonable people who have an issue with eating animal flesh.

[Bill Douglas]

I don't think the individual person's diet itself has changed. It's just that the bad eaters have died and that only leaves the healthier diet crowd

Tuesday night I went to McDonalds because I had welding class that night. And, really, it was a beautiful thing. Those fries especially are to die for.

[John Rogers]

There was a news story of a study just completed where fast food places have been restricted and schools not selling sodas, etc, etc and guess what.........amount of fat folks has NOT gone down!

[Craig T]

I think the OP has a valid point. Look at the success of Whole Foods and Sprouts across the nation. Also, farmers markets popping up and thriving all over the country.

We have a healthy eating food store here in Ventura Country called Lassen's Natural Food. They've expanded to three stores and had to move into a larger facility with more parking in Thousand Oaks.

I eat McDonald's oatmeal too, and the fact that they sell it, and other fast food chains adding healthier choices shows the market demand is changing. Happy Meals with milk or fruit juice…Who'd a thunk it with soda being the fat profit center.

Diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol and heart disease public service campaigns have raised the awayness now. Anybody with two brain cells glued to reality TV now knows that obesity and fried food leads to these health issues.

Of course there's always going to be fat people, just like there are still smokers (WTF???)….But the youngest generation is being educated now about obesity and childhood obesity is dropping. That can only come from a change in the way they eat.

[jyl]

Just a note.

Fruit juice is most definitely not healthy. Tons of fructose, minimal fiber. Hardly better than soda.

[Craig T]

Originally Posted by jyl

Just a note.

Fruit juice is most definitely not healthy. Tons of fructose, minimal fiber. Hardly better than soda.

Hardly better than soda? Are you kidding? Yes, juice has a lot of natural sugars, but most juice is loaded with vitamin C and other important nutrients. Soda has nothing but sugar. Too much juice can elevate your fasting glucose, but only temporarily. Its hardly the villain soda.

[Craig T]

I'm talking about 100% real juice. Ocean Spray cranberry and some others are water and high fructose corn syrup with a small amount of juice. Still not as bad as soda, but close.