You can’t watch TV these days without hearing how bad the average American diet is and the terrifying statistics about 300,000 people per year dying from obesity. You know you don’t want to be one of these statistics, but your diet sounds pretty much like the average diet. So what do you do? What and how you eat has a huge impact on your weight gain and how long you live. By changing your eating habits, you can actually increase your lifespan. Keep reading to find out how.

The average American eats a diet high in fat, sugar, and salt. With sugar being added to most everything we eat, the average intake for sugar is 156 pounds. That’s 31 five-pound bags per person. The FDA recommends an intake of ¼ teaspoon of salt a day, but most Americans eat two teaspoons. Our fat intake isn’t much better with our intake of fat being 35% of our calories. If you had to pick which of these is the worst for your health, sugar would win. Refined sugar is the worst enemy because it increases the production of cortisol which is an age-inducing hormone.

These statistics clearly show why Americans are having such a difficult time with their weight and are dying from obesity. While these statistics are alarming, it doesn’t have to be that way. Learn to eat to live longer by following these guidelines:

50% of your calories each day should be from complex carbohydrates. This means eating more fruits and vegetables. You need to avoid or completely cut out refined carbohydrates – breads and sweets. If you consume approximately 2,000 calories per day, you would need 1,000 of those calories to come from good carbohydrates in fruits and vegetables.

25% of your calories should come from protein. Previous generations of Americans were raised to believe that you had to consume large amounts of protein and that it should come from animal products. We now know that this isn’t true. Make it a point to get most of your daily protein from plant sources such as beans with only 1/3 from animals. On the same 2,000 calorie daily intake, protein should be from 500 calories.

25% fat is the most you should eat per day. This would be 500 calories per day that comes from fat. All fat isn’t bad, try to eat mostly poly- and mono-unsaturated fats that come from olive oil and nuts, avoiding fatty beef and processed foods.

By adjusting your rates of intake for carbohydrates, protein, and fat, you are well on your way to a longer healthier life. To succeed with this plan, make adjustments gradually so you don’t feel deprived of the things you’ve grown accustomed to enjoying. Eat small frequent meals throughout the day and make healthy food choices.

Jason Ladock

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