Federal dietary guidelines recommend cutting back on red and processed meat, sugar and refined grains
The guidelines, released every five years, “provide authoritative
advice about consuming fewer calories, making informed food choices, and
being physically active to attain and maintain a healthy weight, reduce
risk of chronic disease, and promote overall health,” says USDA.
It
shouldn’t come as a surprise that the 2015 guidelines recommend eating
healthier foods, while cutting back on less healthy alternatives. “The
committee basically recommended Americans take up a diet that is higher
in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, low- or non-fat dairy products,
seafood, legumes and nuts,” Chris Clayton reports for DTN The Progressive Farmer.
“We should cut back on red and processed meats and sugar-sweetened
foods, drinks and refined grains. And we should be moderate in our
alcohol.”
Recommended cutbacks of certain foods have
not gone over well with those food producers, who met this week to give
feedback on the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee’s recommendations,
Clayton writes. The North American Meat Institute argued that
“lean meat, poultry, red and processed meats should all be part of a
healthy dietary pattern because they are nutrient-dense protein.”
Shalene McNeill, a nutritionist for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association,
“told the committee that its recommendation to exclude lean meat
ignores decades of nutrition science,” Clayton writes. McNeill said
Americans should be encouraged to eat more lean meat, along with fruits,
vegetables and whole grains. Grain, sugar and milk producers also
expressed displeasure with the proposed rules.
Most nutritionists have embraced the proposed rules, but say the key is getting people to adopt them, Andrea McDaniels reports for The Baltimore Sun.
Among those rules is limiting sugar intake to 200 or less calories, or
10 percent of total calories, per day. Currently, Americans get about 13
percent of their calories, or 268 calories, from added sugar.
“On
the flip side, some foods once shunned are now accepted,” McDaniels
writes. “Research has found that cholesterol-high foods are no longer
believed to contribute to high blood cholesterol, so people can now
indulge in shrimp, eggs and other foods that were once off limits, the
panel said.
Rather than focus on cholesterol, people should curb saturated fat to
about 8 percent of the diet.”
The panel also said “up
to five cups of coffee a day are fine, so long they are not flavored
with lots of milk and sugar,” McDaniels writes. “The panel also singled
out the Mediterranean diet—rich in fish and chicken, fruits and
vegetables, nuts, whole grains, olive oil and legumes—for its
nutritional value.”