To those who are still unaware, the latest federal government dietary guidelines has been released early this year and with it, the government made some changes into what it thinks is healthy for Americans. At 174 pages, it is quite long and a bit too technical as it was meant for health professionals as well as policymakers according to a Yahoo News article by Victoria Georgetti.
So what are the main changes to this most recent edition? The new guidelines seemed to emphasize on three areas, added sugars, saturated fat/trans fat and sodium. This emphasis reflects the growing consensus among health professionals who now seem to view these three as the unholy triumvirate in nutrition.
Added Sugars
Reflecting sugar's widely recognized dangers in recent years, the new guideline now puts a cap on added sugars at 10 percent of calories per day. According to Nina Teicholz speaking to Kimberly Leonard in her article for U.S. News, it is the first time that the USDA put a cap on sugar consumption, a correction for past policies which have seen an unprecedented rise in both obesity and diabetes.
According to the American Heart Association (AHA) added sugars are sugars and syrups added to food during processing. It has many disguises making it particularly troublesome to exactly gauge how much one has consumed in a particular day. AHA added that it may be labeled as maltose, sucrose, high fructose corn syrup, molasses, cane sugar, corn sweetener, raw sugar, syrup, honey or fruit juice concentrates.
Added sugars contribute zero nutrients and can contribute to obesity, a significant factor in heart health. For this reason, AHA puts a very restricted sugar CAP of 100 calories daily for women and 150 calories for men. The AHA recommendation is significantly lower than the new guidelines' 10 percent total daily calories, which translates to 200 calories per day for a 2,000 calorie daily diet.
Saturated Fat and Trans Fat
The new guideline also limits the intake of saturated fat and trans fat to 10 percent of total calories consumed daily. These are considered to be the most harmful fats and intake should be minimized to the lowest amount possible.
Saturated fat raises low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels which are also known as bad cholesterol according to Mayo Clinic. This fat is also known to be a risk factor for developing type 2 diabetes and mostly comes from animal food sources such as red meat, poultry and full-fat dairy products.
On the other hand, trans fat is a type of fat the occurs naturally in some foods though in minute amounts. However, due to modern day food processing called partial hydrogenation, this harmful fat is now introduced into the food supply in greater amounts. A known risk factor for developing cardiovascular disease, trans fat increases LDL levels while decreases HDL (good cholesterol) levels, magnifying the effect of an already elevated bad cholesterol profile.
Sodium
The guideline recommends daily consumption of lesser than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day. Excessive sodium intake, according to AHA, increases blood pressure due to its ability to retain excess fluid in the body which could result in the heart to exert more effort to efficiently circulate blood. In addition, AHA warns of other conditions linked to excessive sodium which includes heart failure, stroke, stomach cancer, kidney disease and osteoporosis.
Like the elusive added sugars, sodium in not only found in the saltshaker. In fact, around 75 percent of sodium for the average American diet comes from sodium added to processed foods and restaurant foods. For this reason, it is always important to check the nutritional labels of all food consumed.
This problem is also cited in Maggie Fox's NBC News article. CDC confirms that it would be hard for American consumers to lower daily intake due to the fact that most sodium source comes from the processing of food in the food industry as well as in restaurants where sodium content is not normally shown. As such, CDC offers that the only way to lower sodium intake for the whole population is a gradual reduction in the food supply itself.
By the way, AHA only recommends 1,500 milligrams of daily sodium. This is way below the maximum 2,300 milligrams of daily sodium recommended by the new guideline. For comparison, estimated sodium of the average American diet is even higher at 3,400 milligrams per day.
Table salt, which is sodium chloride, contains around 40 percent sodium by weight. For easy conversion, refer to the value provided.
- 1/4 teaspoon salt = 575 mg sodium
- 1/2 teaspoon salt = 1,150 mg sodium
- 3/4 teaspoon salt = 1,725 mg sodium
- 1 teaspoon salt = 2,300 mg sodium
What about alcohol?
Alcohol is considered beneficial but should be consumed in moderation. USDA recommends one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men.
Eggs
After being deemed unsafe in the past 40 years, it seems that eggs are now back to being a healthy option again according to US News. This reflects recent evidence that high cholesterol levels in the blood are linked to fatty meats and saturated fats but not eggs.
Vegetable, Fruits and Grains
As usual, the guidelines still encourages Americans to increase their daily intake of these three well-known healthy foods. But with the emphasis on overall sugar reduction, fruits are recommended as whole fruits while grains are recommended to be whole grains.
This is just a very brief summation on the key points in the new USDA guidelines and certainly does not include all important concerns. The full USDA dietary guidelines for 2015-2020 may be accessed for free at https://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/guidelines/.
