lesson 4
                                Our Changing Diet
What do most Americans and Canadians usually eat? Many people think that the typical North American diet consists of fast food-hamburgers, hot dogs, French fries, pizza, fried chicken, and so on. They think Americans and Canadians also eat a lot of convenience foods, usually frozen or caned, and junk food-candy, cookies, potato chips, and other things without much nutritional value. Unfortunately, this description is mot totally inaccurate. The American diet is generally high in sugar, salt, fat, and cholesterol, and these substances can cause health problems.

However, some people’s eating habits are changing. They are becoming more interested in good health, and nutrition is an important part of health. North Americans are eating less red meat and fewer eggs, and they are eating more chicken and fish. Chicken and fish contain less fat than meat and eggs. Many people are also buying more fresh vegetables and eating them raw or cooked quickly in very little water in order to keep the vitamins.
Restaurant menus are also changing to reflect people’s growing concern with good nutrition. The “typical” North American diet now includes food from many different countries. More ethnic restaurants are opening in big cities in the United States and Canada. Foods from China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, India and the Middle East are very popular. Even fast-food places now offer “lean” (low-fat) hamburgers, broiled or roasted (instead of fried) chicken, and salad bars with a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables.

How are we going to eat in the future? Because we now know about the importance of nutrition, we will probably continue to eat more fish and vegetables and less meat. We will still buy convenience foods in supermarkets, but frozen foods may be more nutritious and canned foods may have less salt and sugar. Our junk food will not be “junk” at all because instead of candy bars we will eat “nutrition bars” with a lot of vitamins and protein. In the future, our diet will probably be even more interesting and healthful than it is now.

In the United States and Canada, food is a very common topic of conversation. People are always discussing new dishes, restaurants, diet plans, and ideas about nutrition. The arguments about the best diets and foods will continue: Are vegetables better than a diet of cooked foods? Is a little alcohol good for relaxation, or is all alcohol harmful? Is some caffeine good for energy, or is caffeine always bad? Can yellow vegetables really prevent cancer? Will eating garlic help avoid heart attacks? One thing we do know for sure:the key to good nutition is balance. How do we achieve that balance? We can choose foods from a variety of sources, control the quantities that we eat, limit fats, and exercise.