A Diet from TV Ads - Can It Be Healthy?

If you saw the meal you planned for dinner advertised on television, you may want to think twice about serving it—it may well provide more than two days' worth of your allowances for sugar and fat.

The New York Times reports on a new study showing that if Americans only ate foods advertised on television, they would consume 25 times more sugar and 20 times more fat than the recommended amounts—and less than half the fiber and fruit and vegetable servings.

To carry out the study, researchers identified 800 foods promoted in 3,000 ads over a 28-day period. They analyzed the nutritional content of the foods and assuming people limited themselves to the recommended 2,000 calories a day, found that a diet comprised of the foods advertised on TV "would provide too much cholesterol, saturated fat and salt, which are associated with chronic disease, [lead author] Dr. Mink said, but not nearly enough nutrients like iron, calcium or vitamins A, D and E."

On average, each advertised food even on its own exceeded the daily recommended amounts for certain nutrients—primarily sugar and fat. Dr. Mink added, "That means one food item could give you three days' worth of sugar."

Eating less processed food, less meat and dairy, and more grains and vegetables isn't that hard—even when those snack cravings strike.

We know it's not common to see broccoli advertised on television, but maybe we can learn to not make our shopping lists based on TV ads—and to start remembering where the vegetable aisle is.