5 Things Nutritionists Want You to Know

With all that we hear from news media and recent findings it’s a challenge to know what we should be eating these days.  Good news, the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) has come out with their recent report and the message is clear – the importance of a healthy overall dietary pattern.  Here’s what the experts want you to know:

1.     Dietary patterns are more important than specific foods – Essentially, we want to focus on the whole picture rather than a specific food.  A healthy dietary pattern should consist mostly of vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes, whole grains, low-fat or nonfat dairy, and seafood, and should be lower in red and processed meats, sugar-sweetened foods and drinks, as well as refined carbohydrates.  In addition, total fat is no longer a concern, but the type of fat is, so limit foods high in saturated fat like meat and whole fat dairy.  Instead, try choosing polyunsaturated fats like vegetable oils.

2.    Cholesterol found in foods is not a contributing factor to unhealthy blood cholesterol – It’s important to know that the cholesterol found in foods like eggs and shrimp differs from the LDL cholesterol in your blood that does affect heart disease.  Instead, it’s been found that saturated fat can contribute to heart disease.  With that in mind, replace saturated fats with polyunsaturated fats such as liquid vegetable oils.

3.    Drinking coffee may be good for you – Evidently, drinking upwards of 3 to 5 cups daily (about 400 milligrams of caffeine) was correlated with very little health risk. Studies also found that coffee drinkers had a lower risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.  If you’re a coffee drinker keep drinking, just eliminate the sugar and cream. 

4.    Reduce added sugars – First off there is no benefit from a high level of intake.  Also, there has been mounting evidence pointing to the adverse effects of added sugars in our diets.  It has been suggested to limit added sugars to no more than 10% of daily calories.

5.    Consuming more plants is not only better for us, but also our planet – This is the first time the committee addressed sustainability.  It looks like a diet that is high in plants is environmentally friendly too. There have even been recommendations to start thinking about what is sustainable.

You can read the full report online at www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015-scientific-report.

Reference:  5 Things the Nation’s Nutrition Experts Want You to Know Now, Health & Nutrition Letter, Tufts University, (pp.1&3.).