The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently released the New Dietary Guidelines of Americans, focusing on a diet of “real food.”
Updated every five years, the dietary guidelines influence everything from school lunch programs and nutrition assistance to the way individuals approach their daily meals, with recommendations going beyond personal choice and having widespread impact on public health.
Federal officials say the updates are designed to reduce diet-related diseases and highlight foods already being produced by America’s farmers and ranchers.
According to the guidelines and significant reset of federal nutritional policy, to Make America Healthy Again, there must be return to basics, prioritizing diets built on whole, nutrientdense food which include protein, dairy, vegetables, fruits, healthy fats and whole grains. Paired with a dramatic reduction in highly processed foods laden with refined carbohydrates, added sugars, excess sodium, unhealthy fats, and chemical additives, the guidelines say the approach can change the health trajectory for many Americans.
The United States is amid a health emergency, according to the guidelines, with nearly 90% of health care spending goes to treating people who have chronic diseases. It states that many illnesses are not genetic destiny, but a predictable result of the Standard American Diet—a diet which, over time, has become reliant on highly processed foods and coupled with a sedentary lifestyle. More than 70% of American adults are overweight or obese; nearly one in three American adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 has prediabetes; dietdriven chronic disease now disqualifies large numbers of young Americans from military service, undermining national readiness and cutting off a historic pathway to opportunity and upward mobility. For decades, federal incentives have promoted low-quality, highly processed foods and pharmaceutical intervention instead of prevention.
Recommendations from the guidelines include eating the right amount. Calories needed depend on age, sex, height, weight and level of physical activity, paying attention to portion sizes and choosing water over beverages high in calories, as well as prioritizing highquality, nutrient dense protein foods.
Limiting highly processed foods, added sugars and refined carbohydrates is also important, which means avoiding processed packaged, prepared, readyto- eat, or other foods that are salty or sweet that have added sugars and salt, as well as foods that contain artificial flavors, petroleumbased dyes, artificial preservatives and low-calorie non-nutritive sweeteners. The detailed dietary guidelines can be found at cdn.realfood.gov/DGA.pdf.