A more sensible approach to nutrition is reflected in the updated Dietary Guidelines for Americans recently announced by the Department of Agriculture and Health and Human Services. This round of guidelines focuses less on recommendations for individual nutrients and more on broader dietary patterns. As the DGA website puts it, “people do not eat food groups and nutrients in isolation but rather in combination, and the totality of the diet forms an overall eating pattern.”
Source: AgriPulse, January 8, 2016.
This round of guidelines focuses less on recommendations for individual nutrients and more on broader dietary patterns including five overarching recommendations for American diets:
- following a healthy eating pattern across one’s lifespan;
- focusing on a variety of nutrient-dense foods and the amount of those foods consumed;
- limiting calories from added sugars and saturated fats as well as reducing sodium intake;
- shifting to healthier food and beverage choices;
- and supporting healthy eating patterns.
INSIGHTS: Kudos to National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and National Pork Board for their lobbying efforts to include lean meats in these recommendations. It is good to see reasoning in these guidelines that recognize individual needs by age and health status.