You Are What You Eat, Hence Curtail Saturated and Trans Fats, Free Sugars and Salt

Abstract

The new Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015-2020 focus on healthy eating patterns and exercise. They recommend 3 different healthy eating patterns: the Healthy US Style, the Healthy Mediterranean Style, and the Healthy Vegetarian Style eating pattern, accommodating a variety of cultural and individual preferences, but sharing many common food based features. A healthy eating pattern includes a variety of vegetables, fruits, grains, low-fat dairy products, protein foods, and oils. Specific recommendations have been made for particular dietary components to reduce: saturated fat (< 10% of calories); sodium (< 2.3 g/day); and added sugars (< 10% of calories). Interestingly, these guidelines do not make a recommendation for a quantitative limit for dietary cholesterol indicating the lack of adequate evidence for such recommendation. However, they state that there is evidence showing that eating patterns that include lower intake of dietary cholesterol (~100 - 300 mg/d) are associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, and risk of obesity. Finally the new guidelines emphasize the importance of physical activity and exercise to promote health.