New government dietary advice

New government dietary advice

Overall, the 2015-2020 guidelines advise Americans to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables, grains (at least half of which should be whole), a variety of proteins, including lean meats, seafood and nuts, and oils.

by Joanne Henning Tedesco — 

The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans was released by the government in January and was designed to help Americans eat a healthier diet and improve their overall eating patterns.

The impact of the new guidelines is widespread. School lunch standards change. Nutrition labels reflect revised daily values, and experts say that the recommendations raise pressure on food manufacturers, restaurants, stadiums, arenas and other food vendors to put out healthier products.

New dietary guidelines are released every five years jointly by the Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Overall, the 2015-2020 guidelines advise Americans to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables, grains (at least half of which should be whole), a variety of proteins, including lean meats, seafood and nuts, and oils.

The recommendations also put a specific cap on saturated fats and trans fats, and on added sugars and sodium. Americans are advised to consume less than 10 percent of their daily calories from added sugars — a first for the guidelines — as well as less than 10 percent of daily calories from saturated fats and less than 2,300 milligrams per day of sodium. It is also recommended to consume low- and non-fat dairy products, which some critics contend is outdated advice.

The guidelines recommend that people drink alcohol moderately — up to one drink per day for women and up to two drinks per day for men. No recommended limit was given for the consumption of red meat or processed meat, despite recent reports that these foods have been strongly linked to health problems, as advised by the Guidelines Advisory Committee — a group of scientists who issue nonbinding recommendations to the HHS and USDA on their recommendations.

The site dietaryguidelines.gov will serve as the Web platform for all materials related to the guidelines and revision process.

Joanne Henning Tedesco is editor of AzNetNews.

Reprinted from AzNetNews, Volume 35, Number 1, February/March 2016.