This past weekend I went away to downtown Indy to stay at a B&B with my husband, enjoy the local fare, tour an old home and do some shopping on Mass Ave. On Friday, I was great on my fiber and water and accounted for the steak dinner and chocolate cake that night at St. Elmo’s!
I decided to track all my eats for the weekend for my own accountability, but I chose to NOT pack any foods and just do my best to keep the balance. We ate Saturday AM at the B&B and had some grapes, Greek yogurt with strawberry flavoring, an egg and broccoli quiche and a coffee with creamer. I tracked it all and started seeing a trend.
For lunch we enjoyed a popular burger spot with a pesto and tomato appetizer. I tracked that and the trend continued.
So what’s the trend of the Standard American Diet?
**High sugar, low, low fiber.**
I’m talking 50+ grams of sugar and less than 10 grams of fiber in those two meals. I was shocked because my usual eats are typically flipped with high fiber and low sugar, but I soon realized that THIS right here is just typical of our nation’s diet. And THIS is where the issue lies in my opinion.
If I wanted to go with the flow and eat popular, common comfort foods, this was what I could have expected and it would come with increased insulin surges and slower digestion. Bad combo, conducive to inflammation, weight gain and you know the rest of the story!
What I needed to be reminded of is that it takes TRUE INTENTION to go against this flow. Why? Most of what is produced and very poplar is made with refined grains which have little to no fiber and usually lots of added sugars and fillers to sweeten them up. Additionally, when we mass produce foods and get away from whole foods, it is cheaper and more cost effective to use refined products and fillers.
If you are looking to change just one thing one step at a time, pay focus to your fiber and sugar numbers for a few days. See where they land and take note of what foods produce those values. My body responds best to fiber at 35 grams + a day and as low of sugar (from all sources: dairy, fruits, veggies, white sugar) as possible. Of course on days I put some sugar treats in my fare, that ratio changes, but generally 80-90% of the time I like to keep it low sugar for my best wellness.
As I say, become a student of you to see where your body responds best and what can make an impact on your strength, energy, digestion and physique goals. That fiber to sugar relationship is KEY in this journey….it’s truly my secret sauce!
Interested in learning how to balance your nutrition? I’d love to help!
Nutritional Coaching info HERE!
Chart Picture Source: genesmart.com