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A majority of U.S. citizens say they are trying to make some healthy eating decisions these days, with sugar and salt at the top of the list of things people are reducing or cutting out altogether. A new Harris poll shows that “sugar (36%, up from 32% in 2011) and sodium/salt (36%) top the list of ingredients American households have at least one person restricting or monitoring, followed by carbohydrates (22%).”

And it’s not just the big three — sugar, salt, and carbs — people are cutting down on (or at least trying to). The poll finds: “Over one in ten say they or a member of their household monitors/restricts intake of dairy (13%, up from 10% in 2011), meat or meat products (also 13%, up from 10%) and lactose (11%). The percentage saying they or someone in their household monitors or restricts gluten intake has nearly doubled over the past three years, to 10% today from 6% in 2011.”

The good news here is that the ones we definitely encourage less of here at One Green Planet (excess sugar, salt, meat, and dairy) are all up in their percentages, meaning people are cutting down.

With diet restrictions on the rise, food corporations will have to work to keep up. “With six in ten American households having at least one member restricting certain foods from their diet, this raises important implications for the food industry as a whole,” said Todd Hale, senior vice president of Consumer Insights, Nielsen. “We’ve seen that a restriction for one, especially in the case of allergens and other health risks, can turn into a household ban. This can present both a challenge and an opportunity for retailers and food manufacturers.”

When it comes to diet and weight loss, people are looking to many different diet culprits: “looking to diet and/or weight management, roughly eight in ten Americans consider protein (82%) and calories (78%) to be important considerations, while roughly three-fourths indicate the same for fat (77%), whole grain (76%), saturated fat (75%) and sugar (74%). Roughly seven in ten believe carbohydrates (72%), cholesterol (70%) and sodium (68%) are important in this regard, while just over six in ten say the same for hydrogenated oil (62%).”

We’ve got an idea — go meatless (if you’re not already)! This, some have found, may just be the best method out there to maintain weight issues for so many.

We’re glad to see people are cutting down on excess sugar and salt, and hope to see those other categories of cutting down on meat and dairy rise a bit too!

Image source: Pixabay