40-Year Key Study Flawed?

I recently read a very interesting article in my IDEA Fitness Journal, which is for ACE certified professionals.  (A great publication with cutting-edge fitness and nutrition information).  I was so happy when I was able to find this article online so that I could share it with my Better Body group on Facebook.  (If you want to join, search "Better Body" on Facebook.  It's a private group, so you will have to request to join and see the posts, but as soon as me or one of my admins sees the request, we'll add you.)

Anyhow, the article says "that 40 years of nutrition information from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey—the gold-standard database for such information—may be fatally flawed."

It goes on to explain (this is pretty interesting, if you ask me) "the authors said that it would be nearly impossible to survive on most of the energy intakes— the “calories in” and “calories out”—that participants reported. This misreporting of energy intake varied among participants; it was greatest in obese men and obese women, who underreported their intake by an average of 25% and 41% (716 and 856 calories per day), respectively."

Wow!  Those are some pretty skewed numbers in relation to what people are actually consuming.  And for 40 years they may have very well managed to make the "gold standard" flawed!  Amazing.

I find this pretty fascinating.  It puts a lot into perspective.  How many times have we either heard someone say or said ourselves "I  really don't eat all that much?"  The fact is that a vast majority of people weigh the amount that their caloric intake supports.  This is something you just can't run very far from.  Yes, there are rare exceptions, but the key word there is "rare".

The best defense against this is to log your foods, including calories, and be very honest about portion sizes.  Measure and weigh your food.  You might be surprised at how much less a Tablespoon or an ounce is that you thought.

Admittedly, I just cafeteria-styled that article and took the parts I wanted.  Here is the article in it's entirity.  I would encourage you to read it right here.

I'm a big believer in facing your circumstances.  If you get honest with the facts, you can make adjustments to see change in your health and appearance.