The federal government has officially released its updated dietary guidelines for Americans, focusing on recommendations for preventing chronic illnesses, developing healthy eating patterns for longevity, and limiting calories from things like added sugars and saturated fats.
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While there was speculation that recommendations for maximum-advised sodium consumption would change, the dietary guidelines on that remain the same, with the recommendation that people 14 and older eat no more than 2,300 milligrams per day. That’s about 200 calories a day, or about the amount in one 16-ounce sugary drink.
Most nutrition experts agree people consume far too much sugar, which is linked to an increased risk for heart disease and Type II Diabetes.
The guidelines also recommend more whole grains, as the Americans’ diet don’t include them that much.
Last year, an advisory committee of nutritionists assembled by the government recommended that the guidelines encourage Americans to eat a more plant-based diet for the sake of the planet. “Some individuals, especially teen boys and adult men, also need to reduce overall intake of protein foods by decreasing intakes of meats, poultry and eggs and increasing amounts of vegetables or other underconsumed food groups”, the report said.
“We need to focus on eating only 100 percent whole grains”, she says.
This year, the advice to cut back on sugar – specifically to limit added sugars to 10 per cent of daily calories – may also lead to changes in food nutrition labels.
“There’s a lot of added sugars in beverages”, Burwell said. That’s why it’s important to emphasize that every food choice is an opportunity to move toward a healthy eating pattern. While draft recommendations had suggested that all Americans adopt more environmentally-sustainable eating habits by cutting back on meat, that advice was dropped from the final guidelines. About half of all American adults have one or more preventable, diet-related chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and overweight and obesity.
“More needs to be done to align the official Dietary Guidelines, and federal food and agriculture policies across the board, with what we know to be good for public health and the environment”.
The government still says lean meats are OK to eat and eggs are no longer as restricted.
The full list of dietary guidelines for Americans can be found online.
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Sodium (salt) intake should be 2300 milligrams per day. The new recommendation is that people should eat as little dietary cholesterol as possible.
