It’s been quite a year and we’ve almost made it to the end. Looking back on 2020, we see how much the pandemic has changed different aspects of life as we knew it, including how we eat. These are the top five diet and nutrition trends of the year, according to “Today”:
- We cooked more – With all the staying home we did, we cooked a lot more this year. And that’s good for our health because cooking meals at home is linked with a more nutritious diet, since restaurant meals tend to be higher in sodium, saturated fat and added sugars. In one study of more than 11-thousand people, those who frequently cooked meals at home were 28% less likely to be overweight and 24% less likely to have excess body fat.
- We took comfort in food – With the stress of the pandemic, working from home and remote learning for kids, it’s no surprise that comfort food made a big comeback in 2020. Sales of nostalgic brands like Oreo and Fig Newton spiked and one poll shows many of us were eating like kids again with favorites including pizza and mac and cheese.
- Added sugars become a public health threat – A diet high in the sweet stuff is a driving force behind illnesses including Type 2 diabetes and heart disease, and both of these seem to put people at greater risk of serious COVID complications. This year, the Scientific Report from the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee advises lowering added sugar intake from 10% of total calories to 6%, recognizing sugar’s role in various health problems. The FDA also gave us an updated food label in 2020 to make it easier to identify added sugars in food.
- More people are into immune-boosting foods and nutrients – Interest in immune-boosting foods is up, according to one study that assessed Google search terms. And New Hope Network, a market research company, reports that sales of immune-supporting nutrients had a 51% increase in 2020 over 2019.
- Plant-based eating continues to be on the rise – They’re budget-friendly, more accessible than ever and interest in sustainability and healthy eating are helping to drive the plant-based food trend.
Source: Today