Through the course of the last several decades, the rate of obesity has progressively increased and is now one of the leading causes of death worldwide. The World Health Organization reports 1.9 billion adults were overweight in 2016 and 650 million were considered obese. 1 According to the Center for Disease Control, the prevalence of obesity in the United States was 30.5% in 1999. This increased to 42.4% by 2017. 2 In conjunction with this, chronic illnesses associated with obesity such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease are now among the top causes of death in the United States. 3 In 2008, the medical cost for obesity was $147 billion. This was $1,429 higher than the cost for nonobese patients. 2

Several factors have been attributed to this epidemic with the western diet considered to be a major contributor to the growing rate of obesity in the United States. Although current lifestyle trends emphasize the importance of eating healthy, we continue to see foods high in fat and sugar as major components of the Western diet which has