USDA Dietary Guidelines – Eat Less, Eat Smart

Once every 5 years the US Government issues a set of dietary guidelines in the hope of educating the American public about healthier food choices. A few days ago the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued the 112 pages long 7th edition of the guidelines. 

This edition seems to have been written with one eye on the statistics showing the rampant expansion of obesity in America. While it’s been evident for years now that Americans are getting fatter by an alarming rate, the effects of obesity have become frightenly clearer over the past few years. This has become a national concern.

What struck me and other readers of this report, is how the guidelines actually spell out specific food items which the American public is advised to eat less of. For instance, on page 67, there’s a list of “bad” foods which include:

• Cakes
• Cookies
• Pizza
• Regular sodas
• Sports drinks
• Energy drinks
• Fruit drinks
• Ice cream
• Candy

Previous reports provided more general guidelines without naming any specific food items. That being said, it’s important to note that the main culprits have remained the same: sugar, solid fats, sodium, and refined grains.

Here are some of the guidelines that I picked up from the report:

• Consume at least half of all grains as whole grains
• Eat a variety of vegetables, especially dark-green and red and orange vegetables and beans and peas.
• Choose a variety of protein foods, which include seafood, lean meat and poultry, eggs, beans and peas, soy products, and unsalted nuts and seeds.
• Replace some of the meat you eat with seafood.
• Eat more foods which are rich in dietary fiber, Vitamin D, and Potassium. These are defined as “nutrients of concern in American diets”.
• The report also states how much of the overall calorie consumption in American diets originates from beverages and how careful you should be when choosing your drinks.

Overall, this report is well worth a read as it provides detailed information which can affect your health.

The question is whether this report will have any real effect on the eating habits of Americans. As most people will not read it, this is in doubt. However, if policy makers and food manufacturers take this report into consideration, it may still help to change the lives of many people.