What Should Americans Eat?
April 1, 2016 less than 1 minute read
SOURCE: DeSalvo K, et al. Dietary guidelines for Americans. JAMA 2016;316:457-458.
Since the National Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research Act of 1990, governmental agencies have provided the Dietary Guidelines, now called Dietary Guidelines for Americans (available at http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines). The most recent edition, intended to inform diet for the 2015-2020 interval, contains several pertinent recommendations: 1) Limit added sugars to < 10% of calories/day (currently at 13%); 2) Limit saturated fats to < 10% of calories/day; 3) Limit sodium to < 2300 mg/day (currently at 3440 mg/day).
The 2010 Dietary Guidelines suggested limiting dietary cholesterol to 300 mg/day. Because the guidelines advisory committee felt there was insufficient evidence to provide specific dietary cholesterol targets, comment on cholesterol was omitted from this document. However, the healthy diet patterns suggested in the guidelines would inherently provide a dietary cholesterol of 100-300 mg/day. The guidelines’ overarching message is consistent with much of current popular diet philosophy: A healthy eating pattern limits saturated fats, trans fats, added sugars, and sodium.
A healthy eating pattern limits saturated fats, trans fats, added sugars, and sodium.
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