Health
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Dietary Guidelines: Foods to Eat, Foods to Avoid
Do you remember the four food groups? The food guide pyramid? The latest version of these dietary guidelines for Americans was released earlier this year.
It's not surprising that the first priority of the new guidelines is to combat the obesity epidemic. The basic advice for how to lose weight doesn't change: eat fewer calories and be more physically active. But if we can be successful at just this one thing (and help our children do the same) we'll be a far healthier nation.
The other major points from this update are to eat more plant foods, eat more seafood and less meat, poultry and eggs, eat a lot less added sugars and solid fats (animal fat, hydrogenated fat), eat less sodium, and eat fewer refined grains.
Key Recommendations of the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans
- BASICS
- Enjoy your food, but eat less
- Avoid oversize portions
- Make half your plate fruits and vegetables
- Switch to fat-free or low-fat (1%) milk
- Choose foods with lower sodium numbers
- Drink water instead of sugary drinks
- EAT LESS
- Sodium - Aim for less than 2,300 mg/day (1,500 mg/day for high-risk groups)
- Saturated fat - Aim for less than 10% of calories from saturated fat
- Cholesterol - Aim for less than 300 mg/day
- Trans fat - Aim for zero trans fat
- Solid fats
- Added sugars
- Refined grains
- Alcohol - Keep it to 1 drink/day (women) or 2 drinks/day (men)
- EAT MORE
- Fruits and vegetables
- Dark green, red and orange vegetables
- Beans and peas
- Whole grains - aim for at least half of all grains as whole grains
- Fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products
- Choose seafood in place of some meat and poultry
- Foods containing potassium, dietary fiber, calcium, and vitamin D
- REPLACE
- Protein foods high in solid fat with protein foods lower in solid fats or that contain oils
- Solid fats with oils
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