The average American

Check this chart.

First thought? That's a lot of dairy. I'm guessing mostly as a component to things.

Second thought? We eat more vegetables than I was expecting, at least.

 

Unless Cheetos is a vegetable, I call bullshit on that chart.

 

Corn syrup consumption is underestimated by probably a factor of three. Corn syrup is in everything that real sugar used to be an ingredient in.

 

Corn's a vegetable. Maybe they reported some consumption in that category.

 

That's why I love the Pepsi Throwback...made with cane sugar instead of that syrup crap. Reminds me of the soda from when I was a kid.

 

And why I scour stores for Mexican-bottled Coke (which is the absolute best) and Jones Soda -- whose cola is pretty good and their root bear is freaking unreal. I'll stumble upon the hippie co-op that sells organic/"all natural" stuff and pick up a few cans of non-HFCS soda.

 

I mentioned Boylan black cherry soda on the drinks thread. Had one tonight. "Cane sugar," baby, prominently on the label.

 

I call bullshit based on the fact that it's measured in straight pounds. Non-cheese dairy, fruits and vegetables are to a large percentage made up of water, right? So their weight percentage of the whole is misleading, compared to foods that are dense, like meats and cheeses.

 

We are through the looking glass when SUGAR REAL SUGAR!!!! is promoted as the healthy alternative.

 

Ragu, the sources are listed at the bottom. Probably the only way you gauge the accuracy is to conduct your own study, but in the absence of that, I'm willing to accept it as pretty accurate. Seems like I've read somewhere that the line of demarcation for overweight/acceptable weight in a person who is 5-9 is 160 pounds. So the average American male is 30 pounds overweight? If you believe all the information being pushed out on obesity as an epidemic, then that level of overweightedness isn't difficult to believe.

FWIW, corn is included in the vegetable category. Similarly, beverage milks are included in the non-cheese dairy category.

 

I'd be curious what the median height/weight is. Because there is much more room to be overweight than there is to be underweight. You get 5 males who are 5-9, and they are 155, 160, 170, 175 and 325, and all of a sudden your "average" weight is 200.