What are the latest recommendations for healthy eating?

Last week, a team of experts presented the US government with a 570-page report outlining their position on what changes need to be made to the population’s healthy eating recommendations.

Based on this report, the Departments of Agriculture and the Departments of Health and Social Security will later develop the new dietary recommendations for US citizens.

The previous version of the recommendations was made public in 2010. The current document has been in development for 18 months and is based on the latest scientific information.

Currently, about 155 million people in the US are overweight or obese, and 117 million have preventable chronic diseases. For comparison, in Bulgaria with a higher than normal body mass and with metabolic syndrome is 20% of the population.

However, negative trends have been observed in children in recent years, and the number of both overweight and obese is increasing.
The main recommendations included in this document focus on the consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat or zero-fat dairy products, seafood, legumes, while limiting the use of red meat and processed meat products, i.e. sausages, sugar and refined grains such as bread, is suggested.

Compared to previous similar documents, there are also some unexpected changes, including the use of moderate doses of caffeine and the removal of any restrictions on dietary cholesterol.

The members of the advisory committee on the development of the dietary recommendations state that the scientific information accumulated to date does not suggest the need to exclude any food products or follow a single eating pattern.

On the contrary, people can combine a huge variety of food products, changing their combination and obtaining as a result a healthy daily menu that will correspond to their individual medical needs, taste preferences and cultural traditions.

As for the most important changes, the document analyzes the country’s long-term food supply and the reproducibility of food choices, which has not been given such attention before.

Also examines the problem of long-term maintenance of a healthy diet and some elements of modern nutrition, such as caffeine.

There is moderate- and high-level evidence to suggest that healthy dietary patterns based on the consumption of large amounts of plant-based foods – fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, and also low-calorie products of animal origin, is associated with a more favorable ecological situation, in particular the release of smaller amounts of gases into the atmosphere that cause a greenhouse effect, and also a more optimal use of land, water and energy resources.

The long-term reproduction of healthy eating patterns represents a new topic for consumer education and the formation of a healthy lifestyle.

They can form the basis of a “culture of health” for current and future generations both at the individual and population level.

In addition to the analysis of the ecological aspects of nutrition, the report included some ideas that undoubtedly came as a surprise compared to the previous version of the recommendations. In particular, the paper does not propose any limits on the amounts of cholesterol that people consume in food.