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New dietary guidelines: How to make smart choices
The new dietary guidelines call for reductions in salt, fat and sugar, and urge Americans to eat a more plant-based diet. Here's what that means for you.
By Mayo Clinic staffIt's official. The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans are in, and the 2005 guidelines are out. Like the 2005 dietary guidelines, the new version urges Americans young and old to cut back on salt, sugar and saturated fats, and instead eat more vegetables, fruit, whole grains, low-fat dairy products and seafood. Doesn't sound revolutionary, does it? But the real story is that the 2010 guidelines all but declare war on America's obesity epidemic.
What does that mean for you? Here's the skinny on what's new in the 2010 dietary guidelines.
Dietary guidelines: Closing the gap
Today as in the past a gap exists between dietary recommendations and what Americans actually eat. Americans of all ages eat too few vegetables, fruits, high-fiber whole grains, seafood, and low-fat milk and milk products. In contrast, Americans eat too much salt, added sugar, solid fats and refined grains. Indeed, solid fats and added sugars — called SoFAS — make up about 35 percent of calories in the typical American diet.
The 2010 dietary guidelines hope to close that gap by encouraging Americans to adopt a healthier way of eating that takes into account individual preferences and balances calories with physical activity. As examples, the guidelines point to healthy eating styles such as Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) as well as dietary patterns from the Mediterranean and Asia, and vegetarian eating patterns.
Focus on fighting obesity
The prevalence of overweight and obesity in the United States has increased dramatically in the past three decades. This is true of children, adolescents and adults. In an environment that promotes energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods and a sedentary lifestyle, too many Americans are regularly eating too many calories. Hence, the obesity epidemic and the subsequent health problems, such as heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke and certain cancers.
To turn this around, Americans must be more tuned in to the dietary guidelines. This means Americans must become mindful eaters — attentively choosing what and how much they eat. In addition, they must know their calorie requirements and the calorie content of the foods they eat. Finally, Americans must begin eating smaller portions at home and when eating out.
Salt: Less for more
The typical American diet contains excessive amounts of sodium. The health consequences of excessive sodium and insufficient potassium are substantial and include high blood pressure and its consequences, such as heart disease and stroke. Because early stages of blood pressure-related atherosclerotic disease begin during childhood, both children and adults should reduce their sodium. The new recommendations are:
- Limit sodium to less than 2,300 milligrams (mg) a day.
- A lower sodium level — 1,500 mg a day — is appropriate for people 51 years of age or older, and individuals of any age who are African-American or who have hypertension, diabetes or chronic kidney disease.
Discretionary calories vs. solid fats and added sugars
Forget about those so-called "discretionary calories" — the leftover calories you could use for sweets after you met all your nutritional goals. That concept didn't work for people. Instead, the new guidelines talk about the role of solid fats and added sugars (SoFAS) in the U.S. diet. For most people, SoFAS make up a whopping 35 percent of their total calories, leading to excessive amounts of saturated fat and cholesterol and insufficient amounts of dietary fiber and other nutrients.
To get people off the SoFAS, the guidelines recommend that Americans:
- Cut back on calories from solid fats and added sugars.
- Limit foods that contain refined grains, especially refined grains with solid fats, added sugars and sodium.
- Use oils to replace solid fats when possible.
Nutrient-dense instead of energy-dense
Although most Americans get too many calories, they don't get enough health-enhancing and disease-preventing nutrients. To address this problem, energy-dense foods — especially foods high in SoFAS — should be replaced with lower calorie, nutrient-rich vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and fat-free or low-fat dairy products.
Saturated fat and cholesterol
Certain dietary fatty acids and cholesterol are major contributors to heart disease and diabetes, leading causes of illness and death in America. Yet consumption of these fatty acids and cholesterol has not changed appreciably since 1990. The new guidelines reinforce the importance of cutting back on saturated fat and cholesterol, and recommend that Americans:
- Keep calories from saturated fatty acids to less than 10 percent of total calories by replacing them with monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Lowering the percentage of calories from dietary saturated fatty acids to 7 percent can further reduce the risk of heart disease.
- Keep dietary cholesterol to less than 300 mg a day. Cutting back to less than 200 mg a day can benefit anyone at high risk of heart disease.
- Avoid trans fat as much as possible by limiting foods that contain synthetic sources of trans fats, such as partially hydrogenated oils, and by limiting other solid fats.
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- Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/DGAs2010-PolicyDocument.htm. Accessed Jan. 31, 2011.
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