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The American Diet Has a Sandwich Problem

wsj.com

51–60 of 129 posts

Re: The American Diet Has a Sandwich Problem

#51

This article references salt consumption multiple times. I thought that was a myth of the past. Salt consumption has almost zero to do with blood pressure. IIRC, it's primarily based on eating more calories than one burns. As always, eat less, move more. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/its-time-to-end-t...

I'm actually curious about this: if that's true, why do hospitals still do low-salt diets for critical heart disease patients?

Salt is how your kidneys generate osmotic pressure to regulate the water levels in your blood. Critical heart disease patients are very sensitive to changes in blood pressure. Healthy people are much less so.

Re: The American Diet Has a Sandwich Problem

#52
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm actually curious about this: if that's true, why do hospitals still do low-salt diets for critical heart disease patients?

You could be sued for doing something that was potentially considered unsafe by some studies. Business wise it's better to just "play it safe" here with low sodium meals.

Since they also do it in countries where lawsuits are not a risk you need to care about I doubt this is the reason.

Re: The American Diet Has a Sandwich Problem

#53
post #5

> Twenty years later, a turkey sandwich contained about 820 calories. Not sure where they got those numbers from. Just for comparison - in England, where many people eat sandwiches every day, the range is more like 300-500 for a supermarket sandwich. The meat is processed, but chicken is a fairly popular option, and the bread is thinner and less sweet. Really the main takeaway is to reduce your bread. Carbs are terri…

Simple carbs have low satiety and come with a glucose spike. Complex carbs are much better in this regard and are far more nutritious. The next level past becoming aware of nutrition is becoming aware of meta nutrition, or the culture around nutrition. Do not fall in to the trap of demonizing nutrient after nutrient. It never ends.

[deleted]

Re: The American Diet Has a Sandwich Problem

#54
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can't tell if this is sarcastic. Hispanic communities suffer from large amounts of obesity, some due to genetic issues, but diet is an overwhelming factor. A proper tortilla has three ingredients: flour, lard and salt. Not exactly a staple in a slimming diet.

Tortillas are low calorie (100-150 calories), most likely better for you than bread. I guess it depends how many you eat, and if they're fried.

The flour tortillas used for wraps and burritos are 300-500 calories. A small flour tortilla will be in the range you listed and a taco sized corn tortilla is around 50.

Re: The American Diet Has a Sandwich Problem

#55

> Sandwiches are the number one source of sodium and saturated fat in Americans’ diets, making up about one-fifth of our daily sodium intake and 19% of our daily saturated fat calories 20% of sodium and saturated fat calories for a single meal doesn't really sound very alarming.

I have a hard time making sense of those stats. If it’s conditional on having had a sandwich that day, it’s totally reasonable. If it’s not, it seems extremely high. That would mean sandwiches carry 20% of the sodium the population eats, including days that people don’t eat sandwiches and people who don’t eat sandwiches at all.

Re: The American Diet Has a Sandwich Problem

#56

God I really hate these "war on x food" articles. CARBS MUST DIE. SUGAR MUST DIE. FAT MUST DIE. Well no, most adult bodies are pretty good at dealing with most of those. Bread is fine much like most other foods. If you eat 2500 calories a day of broccoli you will gain weight . From broccoli. American portion sizes being out of control is a problem. If you want to lose weight you can by all means order a sandwich. But…

It would be about 45 cups of broccoli.

Re: The American Diet Has a Sandwich Problem

#57

This article references salt consumption multiple times. I thought that was a myth of the past. Salt consumption has almost zero to do with blood pressure. IIRC, it's primarily based on eating more calories than one burns. As always, eat less, move more. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/its-time-to-end-t...

Agreed. The anti-sodium crowd has done some real damage to nutritional education IMO.

People who train intensely wind up with a sodium deficiency due to this propaganda. You can welcome 6-10g/day into your diet if you just sweat through exercise. Problem is, most aren't doing that.

Re: The American Diet Has a Sandwich Problem

#58
post #7

> Since a soggy PB&J is unappealing, Dr. Roberto says it’s pretty easy to rein in the amount of sweet jam. “There’s a built-in mechanism against overjellying,” she says. “It’s a really nice type of sandwich.” The trick is to put peanut butter on both pieces of bread so it can't absorb the jam. Then you can put as much as you like :-).

Hard disagree. Soggy PB&J is excellent. Soggy PB and honey is even better.

Honey and PB on sourdough toast is awesome

Re: The American Diet Has a Sandwich Problem

#59
post #5

> Twenty years later, a turkey sandwich contained about 820 calories. Not sure where they got those numbers from. Just for comparison - in England, where many people eat sandwiches every day, the range is more like 300-500 for a supermarket sandwich. The meat is processed, but chicken is a fairly popular option, and the bread is thinner and less sweet. Really the main takeaway is to reduce your bread. Carbs are terri…

Simple carbs have low satiety and come with a glucose spike. Complex carbs are much better in this regard and are far more nutritious. The next level past becoming aware of nutrition is becoming aware of meta nutrition, or the culture around nutrition. Do not fall in to the trap of demonizing nutrient after nutrient. It never ends.

It's not so much demonising as knowing most people eat too many carbs, they're in everything so if you cut down you're probably still eating enough.

I do eat vegetables, nuts and seeds, I just don't really consider those "carbs" I guess. You are clearly an advanced nutritionist far beyond my level of knowledge so I apologise for using the wrong terminology.

Re: The American Diet Has a Sandwich Problem

#60

God I really hate these "war on x food" articles. CARBS MUST DIE. SUGAR MUST DIE. FAT MUST DIE. Well no, most adult bodies are pretty good at dealing with most of those. Bread is fine much like most other foods. If you eat 2500 calories a day of broccoli you will gain weight . From broccoli. American portion sizes being out of control is a problem. If you want to lose weight you can by all means order a sandwich. But…

2500 calories of broccoli is approx 3 gallons. From broccoli.
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