New Guidelines Say Limit Added Sugars to <10 Percent of Calories

Even though most of the standard healthy recommendations like eating lots of vegetables, fruits and lean meats have not changed, this issue added some not so traditionally healthy foods, including sugar, cholesterol, sodium and saturated fats.

After years of doctors saying that Americans shouldn’t eat too many eggs, recommendations for cholesterol have also shifted.

And there is a special conclusion that teenage boys and men are actually consuming too much protein and that they should “reduce their overall intake of protein foods” and add more vegetables to their diet.

Sodium in take should be limited to less than 2,300 milligrams per day, particularly for children aged 14 years old and above.

Government officials also pointed out that numerous preventable diseases affecting a huge number of people are actually rooted in unhealthy eating habits. “If you have the same coffee just make it a medium or a small instead of a large; so it’s easier to deal with making some of those recommended changes if you choose to”. According to the report, those make up about 13 percent of daily calories in the average American diet.

The guidelines did set some daily numeric limits.

Although many individual consumers may not give the guidelines much thought, the recommendations have the potential to influence the diets of millions of Americans. No amount of Coke-funded health research can massage that stat. Several more recent studies have shown little relationship between heart disease and dietary cholesterol, focusing more on the kinds of fats consumed.

Still, egg lovers aren’t completely off the hook.

Limit calories from added sugars and saturated fats, and reduce sodium intake.

And there’s good news for java drinkers.

“We know that a lifetime of healthy eating helps to prevent chronic diseases like obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, and Type 2 diabetes”, the USDA said. The government considers that three to five 8 oz cups a day.

“We’re not talking about the large mocha”, she said. But there are also a few new, or altered, recommendations worth pointing out, especially since nobody’s got time to read it cover to cover.

That language did not become law, however.

“The NAMA team is undertaking a careful review of the Dietary Guidelines released this morning”, said National Automatic Merchandising Association president and chief executive Carla Balakgie.