People may know to avoid fast food and sweets to eat less fat, sodium and sugar. But a new study shows that Americans are unknowingly getting too much of these ingredients in unexpected foods.
Dietary guidelines recommend limiting fat and sugar to 10 percent of daily calories. However, research has shown that saturated fat accounts for at least 12 percent of daily calories, and added sugar consumption ranges from 14 to 16 percent of calories.
A list of foods and drinks recently compiled by American researchers shows that common culprits are pizza, fries and ice cream.
But some surprising sources of saturated fats and added sugars were also found, such as chicken and salad dressing.
According to the researchers behind the latest study, these sneaky foods could explain why most Americans eat too much sugar and fat, significantly increasing the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and obesity.
Pizza, along with cheese and ice cream, was among the top sources of saturated fat in people’s diets
Sneaky sources of sugar and saturated fat complicate matters for people trying to make healthy food choices and make it harder to stick to a healthy diet.
The usual suspects, such as desserts, pizza and white bread, also include less obvious culprits, such as salad dressing, which is often loaded with added sugar and vegetable oils, and dried meats, which contain saturated fat.
Researchers from the University of Arizona, Georgetown University, the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, and Ohio State University analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which included more than 36,000 American adults between 2005 and 2018.
The researchers asked participants to recall what they had eaten over the past two days and classified the foods listed into 168 different categories.
Their findings were published in the journal Nutrients.
Fifty-four food categories accounted for 90 percent of saturated fat intake, with the worst offenders being cheese, pizza, and ice cream.
Eggs, omelets, burritos, tacos, and chicken are also significant sources of saturated fat.
Saturated fat, found in foods such as butter, cheese, red meat, pastries, bacon and fried foods, is thought to raise cholesterol (a waxy substance) levels in the blood.
Over time, that substance can build up and accumulate along the walls of your arteries. High cholesterol has been linked to an increased risk of stroke and heart disease.
For a long time, it was thought that high saturated fat intake was a major risk factor for heart attacks and strokes. But new evidence is challenging this widely held belief.
Five salad dressings labeled “organic” and “fat-free” still contain between eight and 12 grams of added sugars — more than a Krispy Kreme doughnut
Scientific reviews and meta-analyses over the past years have no link found between saturated fat intake and overall mortality risk, heart disease risk and mortality risk, stroke risk, or type 2 diabetes in adults.
Researchers from the British Journal of Sports Medicine added that in preventing heart disease, ‘there is no benefit of reduced fat intake, including saturated fat, in terms of heart attacks, cardiovascular events or death from any cause.’
Dr. Christopher Taylor, a registered dietitian and professor at Ohio State University, said, “Chicken breast is promoted as being lower in saturated fat, but it still contains some saturated fat.
“But it’s useful to know how foods with lower amounts of saturated fat can be added to the diet in a stealthy way.”
When it comes to added sugars, there were 30 categories that accounted for 90 percent of intake, with soft drinks being the top source.
Other major sources of added sugars include ketchup, sweetened tea, honey, cakes, jams and juices.
The average American consumes about 68 grams, or 17 teaspoons, of sugar per day. That’s about 300 percent of the recommended amount. This could be contributing to the rising obesity rates in the U.S.
Nearly half of American adults are overweight or obese.
At the same time, consumption of added sugar has been declining for about 20 years, according to the Sugar Association, a trade association for the sugar industry.
Dr Taylor added: ‘Being able to stick to less than 10 per cent is about identifying the big contributors, but also about being able to see where saturated fat and added sugar may still be present in other food choices. It doesn’t make them bad choices – it’s about being aware of how that morning latte might be contributing.’
According to Dr. Susan Schembre, a professor of oncology at Georgetown and lead author of the study, added sugars are difficult to avoid.
“It’s everywhere. It’s in so many unexpected foods and often in surprising amounts,” she said.
