HHS and USDA issue new dietary guidelines to encourage healthy eating patterns

For example, this is the first time the government has recommend a quantitative limit on consuming less than 10 percent of calories from added sugars.

But government officials now recommend that Americans eat only about half that: about 12 teaspoons of sugar per day on a 2,000-calorie diet.

Apart from the recommended cutback on sugar, the guidelines also linked health benefits to as many as five cups of daily consumption of coffee such lowered risk of cardiovascular diseases and Type 2 Diabetes.

Lots of unprocessed fruits and vegetables. Whole grains and seafood, too.

Fats should be liquid – in the form of oil.

Then, stick to low fat or skim milk. Focus on variety, nutrient-dense foods, and amount.

The dietary guidelines for sodium on that remain the same, with the recommendation that people 14 and older eat no more than 2,300mg. per day.

“More than three quarters of sodium in the American diet is estimated to come from processed and restaurant food, which gives consumers little choice when it comes to lowering daily intake”, the CDC report noted. Trans fats also should be limited.

This year sugars and sweetened drinks have become enemy number one, much to the chagrin of the soft drink industry.

Longstanding limits on dietary cholesterol were removed, reflecting new scientific research on the role of genetics.

While the guidelines always have been subject to intense lobbying by food industries, this year’s version set off unprecedented political debate, fueled by Republicans’ claims the administration has gone too far in telling people what to eat.

“This change does not suggest that dietary cholesterol is no longer important to consider when building healthy eating patterns“.

People need specific advice, such as replacing refined, white bread with 100 percent whole-grain bread, Ms. Kirkpatrick says.

“We’re not talking about the large mocha”, she said.

Recommendations on cholesterol have also shifted. Previous studies have shown that cereals can improve your lifespan.

The habit that might prove hardest to break for Americans, however, relates to new U.S. Dietary Guidelines on sugar.

Barnard praised the guidelines for including cholesterol warnings, calling them a “major step forward”, but emphasized that the advisory committee was still tainted by its industry ties.

Part of the issue with taking the guidelines out of context is that they don’t necessarily fit an individual’s health needs.

Drink up. But do so in moderation, the federal government’s new dietary guidelines released today state.