What's New with the Dietary Guidelines?

Several months ago I wrote about the proposed new Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010. They are now officially available and can be viewed by clicking here. While there are no great surprises and the guidelines are very consistent with what they have been in the past, there is a wealth of information and it would be worth your while checking them out.

Key recommendations include:

• Reducing daily sodium intake to 2300 mg per day. 1500 or less for those 51 years and older, African Americans of any age,   and those who have high blood pressure, diabetes, or kidney disease.


• Keeping trans fats as low as possible.


• Limiting the consumption of foods that contain refined grains, especially refined grain foods that contain solid fats, added sugars and sodium.


• Increasing the consumption of colorful fruits and vegetables.


• Increasing the amount and variety of seafood consumed.


• Increasing the consumption of fat free and low fat milk and milk products.


• Increasing the consumption of whole grains.

While all of this may sound familiar, reviewing the guideline will help reinforce and fine tune what you already know about nutrition. Unfortunately knowing what to do and doing it are two different things, check out the chart on page 46 to see how we as a nation are meeting some of these important nutritional goals, then see how your diet stacks up.  If there are areas that need improvement, there are a lot of useful suggestions provided to help you put the guidelines in to practice.