Two weeks ago I went to New York on vacation, but I tried to turn these fortnight into an opportunity to learn more about Americans’ diets and their way of eating, going to many supermarkets and local markets, taking a trip to the gyms most popular, in a canteen for children and in public canteens, as well as in cafeterias and restaurants. I took and checked the nutritional values ​​of hundreds of different products, including snacks and healthy products, so to speak. Clearly, what I am about to write to you now, and which I would never have imagined before making this trip, is the result of my observation, and not of specific studies. However, I would like you to spend some of your time following me for a moment.

Why do Americans get fat? And why should we care?
Let’s start with the second question: we are interested because, even if we do not imagine it, our diet is also changing in Italy, following a western model (western diet) that comes from America. The characteristics of our current diet are in fact similar even if not equal to those of the American diet (in everyday life), for example a greater consumption of packaged and industrial products. Understanding which direction we are going is important.

Furthermore, this trip opened my eyes to a fundamental thing, and that is that if diets are generally divided between low fat diets and low carb diets, that is, low-fat diets and low-sugar diets, it is the reduced-fat diet to become popular in America, contrary to what I thought. This means that although we believe that low carb diets are the trend of recent years, in truth these diets are followed for short periods and have not taken root like low-fat diets.
And this means, finally, that even with us, if we tell a person to eat more fat and less sugar, with the same protein, that person will be suspicious both in America and in Italy, while if we tell him to reduce fat, will associate this behavior with greater health always and in any case.

In fact, in everyday life the average American is offered many more light and reduced-fat alternatives, compared to the alternatives with reduced sugar content. This despite the fact that in all the bars and restaurants they do nothing but offer foods rich in vegetables, salads, stuffed lettuce rolls, centrifuged and so on. Even the peddlers.
But if we pause for a moment both on the quality of the food offered and on what people choose, one thing becomes clear: in America we eat too much sugar. At alarming levels. At levels we can’t even imagine.