On Wednesday, the USDA released its most recent round of dietary guidelines. For those not familiar with the process, this now occurs every five years, with the last guideline released back in ’05. Check out the USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010 executive summary.
Get it? Americans should eat more fish…
For those who lack the motivation to poor through the documentation, likely due to a previous engagement with watching paint dry, here are the main highlights.
- Maintain appropriate body weight through diet and physical activity
- Follow the government physical fitness guidelines
- Eat less solid fats; eat less of added sugars, especially refined sugars
- Reduce salt intake; eat fewer refined grains
- Limit processed red meat products, eat more seafood
- Limit high-fat dairy products
- Overall, work toward a more plant-based diet
Basically, nothing here should be too shocking to anyone who has been following general diet and health trends in the last decade. I am sure the white bread, bacon and whipped whole cream lobby will be unhappy with these new guidelines, but is there really anything here that we didn’t already know?
Source: USDA
