One of my favorite sayings is, “Good food isn’t cheap and cheap food isn’t good.” This can apply to almost anything — supplements, athletic shoes, even gyms! But last week I talked about how expensive it is to buy healthy foods. And now we have another reason to avoid cheap food.
The Harvard School of Public Health has come out with an analysis of data from several sources that looked at people with Type 2 diabetes. What they found was a strong association between the consumption of red meat, especially processed meats (which are typically considered cheaper than other whole cooked meats), and the risk of Type 2 diabetes.
To be clear, processed meats include hot dogs, bacon, salami and other cold cuts like bologna. You can probably think of lots of others.
What they found was that each 2-oz. serving of processed meat per day accounted for a 51 percent increase in diabetes risk. Yikes! Some of their other findings included the fact that a 3.5-oz. serving of unprocessed red meat, such as hamburger, steak, pork or lamb per day was linked to a 19 percent increase in risk of diabetes.
However, replacing one serving per day of red and processed meats with healthier options, such as nuts, whole grains and low-fat dairy, accounted for a 16-35 percent reduction in diabetes risk.
At this same time, I learned that there is a ratio of five fast food restaurants to every one supermarket in the U.S. Yikes again! That certainly explains why it is such a big deal when someone tells me they cut out fast food from their diet. It is quite an accomplishment when they are everywhere.
If you are old enough to think back to when fast food restaurants started, they mostly served hamburgers or roast beef. I guess there have always been a few chicken places too- fried chicken, that is! And I do remember a fish place or two.
So if you put these two noteworthy findings together, it helps you to understand why Americans are experiencing an increase in the incidence of Type 2 diabetes. And further, when you take into consideration that healthy food typically costs more than unhealthy foods, such as fast foods and processed foods, it is no wonder we as health and fitness professionals have our work cut out for us.
Are we up for the battle? Can we combat all the forces of economy and convenience that tempt our members to work out and who then go to the closest “Have I Got a Deal for You” Restaurant in their neighborhood because they are starving?
If you do one thing this week, take an opportunity to educate one member about better nutrition. Now that’s a good deal!
Judith Samuels, M.A. is a certified nutrition and wellness consultant and master personal trainer at Sport&Health Clubs in the Washington D.C. Metro Area. She can be reached via e-mail at judi@judisamuels.com.
