America: Overfed & Undernourished by George Malkmus (Hallelujah Acres)

“We are the most overfed – undernourished country in the history of the world. The average person in the USA consumes 3,393 calories per day, which is phenomenal. It’s the highest in the world.” USA Today, January 22, 1986

The reason Americans are overfed is because we consume the Standard American Diet (SAD). A person eating the SAD takes in almost double the number of USDA recommended calories each day.

The American people are also undernourished because of the SAD. This diet contains 37% fat, 24% refined sugar and 27% refined carbohydrates. It is mostly comprised of fattening foods that are devoid of nutrition.

The SAD is seriously unbalanced. It is lacking in vitamins, minerals, enzymes and antioxidants while being dangerously high in refined sugar, refined grains, toxic table salt, toxic protein, cholesterol and saturated fat.

Let’s take a look at some statistics:

Adult Obesity in America

68% of Americans over age 20 are considered overweight or obese.
(Source:Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Vol. 303 No. 3, January 10, 2010)

5.9% of American adults are considered extremely obese.
(Source: CDC National Center for Health Statistics)

Only 32% of adults surveyed say they engage in regular leisure-time physical activity.
36% of adults surveyed say they engage in no leisure-time physical activity.
(Source: CDC: FastStats, Exercise of Physical Activity)

Obesity Related Diseases:

  • Coronary heart disease
  • Type 2 diabetes
  • Cancers (endometrial, breast, and colon)