Your Passport to Healthy Eating

By Janis Jibrin, M.S., R.D., nutritionist

My hometown, Washington, D.C., is a true melting pot. The area attracts more foreigners than most other American cities. We have immigrants from El Salvador, Guatemala and other Central and South American countries. We have a large Ethiopian community as well as people from other parts of Africa. Then there’s the diplomatic and World Bank community—well-to-do foreigners who are either here for a few years or who have settled in D.C. And, of course, there are all the tourists who come to visit from every possible country.

Whenever I get to chatting with any of these people, they all seem to express the same thought: “Why is it that I’ve gained weight since I moved to this country?” or “I never used to eat junk food until I came here.” No matter where the person is from—Lebanon, France, Brazil or Japan—this is a common refrain. So, I wasn’t surprised when I read about a study that linked moving to the States with poor dietary habits.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association1, analyzed blood levels of three sets of Americans: Those who were born here, those who were born in Mexico and those who were born in another country. The researchers compared levels of carotenoids; these are antioxidants found in produce and are an indication of how many fruits and vegetables a person eats. The result: The longer a person lived in the U.S., the lower their levels of carotenoids. Interestingly, those who were born in the U.S., were of Hispanic origin and still spoke Spanish had higher carotenoid levels than English-only speakers.

This isn't the first study to show that being an all-American eater is bad for your diet. Two other articles in the same journal reached similar conclusions.2,3 One that reviewed nutrition studies of Hispanics who immigrate to the U.S. found that although total fat intake was similar between those who are more acculturated to the US and those who are less acculturated [retain more of their traditional ways of eating and other cultural attributes], there were other dietary differences2. Those who are less acculturated eat more fruit, rice and beans and less sugar and sugary beverages than those who are more Americanized. So, stop eating like an American and take a cue from other cultures by adopting these healthier habits:

• Eat fruit for dessert. Of course, this is easy to do when you live where fruit is locally grown, top-quality, seasonal, ripe and bursting with flavor. But farmers’ markets are loaded with delicious and fresh options for most of the year, so grab a basket and enjoy the season’s bounty.

• Get cooking. You don’t have to spend hours in the kitchen. For a meal you can make in minutes, sauté some greens with Smart Balance® Cooking Oil (five minutes) or make a salad (10 minutes if you use pre-washed greens, wash and cut some tomatoes and scallions, and toss them with olive oil and vinegar). Then, you can add rotisserie chicken or some broiled fish (five to 10 minutes) to round out the meal.

• Don’t be a penny-pincher. Europeans spend about twice as much on food as Americans—and they’re thinner. You might find that when you buy higher quality staples you'll be more satisfied with your meals, and you might spend less money—and calories—on junk food. For instance, if you spring for the more expensive but wonderfully flavorful fruit, you might not need ice cream or cookies. A salad of interesting mixed greens with an avocado and a first-rate dressing is a much more satisfying experience than iceberg lettuce topped with a mediocre dressing. And dinner starring wild-caught salmon, with its less fishy, more delicate flavor, wins hands-down over the canned version.

• Don’t miss meals. Meal-skipping is a mostly American phenomenon. The trend of bypassing breakfast or doing away with dinner will simply set you up for overeating. Be sure to eat three real meals and a snack (as long as you’re actually hungry and the next meal is still an hour or more away).