Lost amidst the politically motivated and media-hyped cries of the cultural decline in America is the very real issue of the nutritional decline in America. Despite being the wealthiest and fattest nation in the world, many Americans are nutritionally underfed. Indeed, a survey by the Produce for Better Health Foundation found that only 38 percent of Americans ate the daily-recommended number of vegetable servings and only 23 percent consumed the recommended number of servings of fruit.
Increasingly, however, companies are providing a measure of relief from America’s nutritional decline in the form of easily absorbed nutritional supplements. Prepackaged in appealing flavors, these vitamins and minerals are seen as a crucial element to enhance Americans’ poor dietary choices. Agel Enterprises (www.yes2agel.com), manufactures Gelceuticals, which combine essential vitamins and minerals in a gel suspension. “Agel understands that we sometimes replace fresh fruits and vegetables with less than ideal choices,” says Regional Director Cedrick Penn, who is also an Agel advisory board member. “An exceptional supplement helps to fill the gap between a less than optimal diet and sound nutrition.”
The spending habits of Americans support the Produce for Better Health Foundation’s finding. A study published in the May 2004 Agricultural Economic Report noted that low income households spent a weekly average of $3.59 per person on fruits and vegetables, while higher income households spent a weekly average of $5.02 per person. Astoundingly, the report found that close to 19 percent of low-income households and 10 percent of higher-income households bought no fruits and vegetable in any given week.
Instead of buying the products that provide life-sustaining and disease-preventing vitamins and minerals, Americans are spending a substantial portion of their food budgets eating out. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) found that, in 2003, almost 40 percent of food expenditures made by individuals and families were made on food not prepared at home. Of that, 38 percent was spent at what the USDA termed “limited service eating places” – what we might call fast food restaurants. During 2003, the average person spent $1,531 each year for food eaten away from home and $1,731 for food eaten at home. Even the most generous figures in the Agricultural Economic Report provide for a startling contrast: The average person spends a little over $5.00 per week buying fruits and vegetables, but spends almost $30 each week eating out. This represents a seismic shift in consumer habits over the past four decades. In 1963, for example, less than ten percent of food budgets were spent eating away from home.
Americans aren’t spending all that money on salad bars. The USDA’s Agricultural Research Service reported in 2004 that, on any given day, about 25 percent of Americans over the age of 20 eat fast food. The report stated that, “Although fast food provided one-third of some respondents’ daily caloric intakes, those meals included almost no milk, fruit, or fruit juices, which are important nutrient sources among key food groups. In fact…the intake levels of vitamins A and C, carotenes, calcium, phosphorus and magnesium decreased.”
The hectic pace of the American lifestyle and the quarter of a million fast food restaurants in the U.S. combine to form a recipe for calorie-packed, nutrient-deficient foods. Companies such as Agel are banking on the need to counteract the tendency of Americans to gravitate toward the quick but empty calories of fast food. “Our four formulas are packaged for men and women on the go,” says Penn. “They can be tucked away in a pocket or a purse, and can be taken without water.” Americans may never forgo their beloved junk food, but with supplements such as Agel’s, they’ll at least be able to pack some nutrition in alongside their burgers and fries.
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