US Cracks Down on Americans’ Intake of Sugar, Saturated Fat

Today, the Obama administration released its update to the official Dietary Guidelines, a report created by officials from the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services.

The new guidelines recommend that Americans limit their intake of saturated fats – such as in butter, whole milk and some meats and oils – to less than 10 percent of their total daily calories, which echoes suggestions from previous years. “By focusing on small shifts in what we eat and drink, eating healthy becomes more manageable”, said HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell in a press release.

Although many individual consumers may not give the guidelines much thought, the recommendations have the potential to influence the diets of millions of Americans. To put that in perspective, one serving of root beer already has about ten teaspoons of sugar in it. After that, drink you’re already creeping on your max for the day.

“There are many ways to stay healthy, but nutrition will always be the foundation of good health”.

Most nutrition experts agree people consume far too much sugar, which is linked to an increased risk for heart disease and Type II Diabetes.

The 2015 to 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans differs from the 2010 version in that it does not focus on food groups and nutrients, but instead on the overall diet.

The guidelines also remind Americans that the most important factor to improving their health is doing regular physical activities like walking, aerobic exercises and other muscle and bone-strengthening activities.

The guidelines suggest cutting salt and saturated fat but stop short of telling people to eat less red or processed meat despite the strong evidence that both can cause cancer.

“People do not need to obtain cholesterol through diet and should eat as little as possible”, commented Dr. Kim Allan Williams who now heads the medical organization as quoted saying by Los Angeles Times.

“The message to eat more seafood, legumes and other protein foods really does mean substitute those for red meat”, Tom Brenna, a professor at Cornell University and member of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, told NPR.

The biggest surprise in the guidelines was the conclusion that teenage boys and men were generally consuming too much protein.

In one major change, the new dietary guidelines suggest that Americans should limit sugars to 10% or less of their diet. A year-end spending bill simply said the guidelines must be “based on significant scientific agreement” and “limited in scope to nutritional and dietary information”.