Healthy Eating, American Style

Readers will perhaps consult Ned's "sister" post, Ned Pepper's Outrages, for a discussion of the habits of Very Obese People in Taos, that Ned observed with wonder and chagrin on his recent trip. Today, however, Ned has been made aware of a new report by the CDC in Atlanta, concluding that the American diet is even worse than we believed. If one is to accept the report, about a quarter of Americans get two servings of "fruit or fruit juice" per day, a woefully inadequate amount. But this report is in fact FAR WORSE than it seems.
Ned's readers will recall that he has repeatedly warned them against consuming large quantities of fruit juice due to its high sugar content. For example, one 8-ounce serving of orange juice has about 150 calories and many grams of fructose, which can cause insulin levels to spike if not taken with other foods. Better to eat an orange instead, and as much of the white interior pulp as possible, since this stuff has lots of antioxidants in it.
Ned encourages his readers to drink vegetable juice, and seek out low salt (NOT low sodium, since this stuff simply replaces sodium chloride with potassium chloride: READ THE LABEL). If Ned's readers have access to Trader Joe's, the Trader has a very good low salt vegetable juice with lads of minerals and vitamins for a very reasonable cost.
The report goes on the lament the fact that, not content with getting little fruit, Americans generally eat very few vegetables. Ned recommends at least 10 servings of vegetables (including vegetable juice of course) per day, and more if possible. And remember, CORN IS NOT A VEGETABLE!