In January 1977 a report was released by the Senate Nutrition Committee named Dietary Goals for the United States. The report’s main aim was to identify risk factors in the American diet and potential ways to reduce the risks so that harmful effects on health could be minimized.

The stated dietary goals of the report were as follows:

“1) increase carbohydrate consumption to account for 55 to 60% of calorie intake;
2) reduce overall fat consumption from 40% to about 30% of calorie intake;
3) reduce saturated fat consumption to account for about 10% of total calorie intake; and balance with poly-unsaturated and monosaturated fats, which should account for about 10% of energy intake each;
4) reduce cholesterol consumption to about 300 mg a day;
5) reduce sugar consumption by almost 40% to account for about 15% of total energy intake;
6) reduce salt consumption by about 50 to 85% to approximately three grams per day.”

If we consider the Big Mac to be the standard bearer for the American diet how does it stand up to the goals of the 1977 dietary report?

Total serving size: 214g
Total calories: 540

1) Carbohydrates: 45g = 21%

2) Fat: 29g | 260 calories = 48%

3) Saturated fat: 10g = 34%

4) Cholesterol: 75mg = 25% recommended daily amount

5) Sugars: 9g

6) Sodium: 1040mg, this implies about 2g of salt

Taking the Big Mac to part of a typical Western diet we can see that we are likely to fall short of the dietary goals set in 1977.

With all the health problems in our society today paying close attention to our diet and the foods we eat is one way we can begin to take more responsibility for our own health.

References:
http://www.ajtmh.org/cgi/content/abstract/27/2/369-b
http://nutrition.mcdonalds.com/nutritionexchange/nutritionfacts.pdf