‘Healthy’ foods have most of us confused, survey finds

That was the conclusion of a study reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) back in 2012.

So are Americans today making better choices when it comes to eating foods that are good for their health?

The 12th Annual Food & Health Survey recently published by the International Food Information Council Foundation found that almost 4 out of 5 of respondents were “confused” when it came to what constitutes a healthy diet.

Liz Sanders, a co-author of the survey had this reaction:

“I wasn’t that surprised to see that 78% reported that they encountered conflicting information, but our follow-up question to that had, I think, a really interesting data point in it, and that was that about half–so around 56%–say that this conflicting information causes them to doubt the choices that they’re making.”

Dr. Roxanne Sukol, a preventive medicine specialist at the Wellness Institute of the Cleveland Clinic, made this point to CNN about the survey’s findings:

“Two-thirds of us are overweight or obese. Fifty percent of Americans have diabetes or prediabetes by age 65 now. That means that whatever we’re doing, it’s really not working. So it’s proof that, yes, in fact, people are confused. They’re not making choices that benefit their health, and it’s not because they’re not trying.”

Check out helpguide.org for information on healthy eating, which includes this advice:

“The cornerstone of a healthy diet pattern should be to replace processed food with real food whenever possible. Eating food that is as close as possible to the way nature made it can make a huge difference in the way you think, look and feel.

CNN, 4/16/17