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Sink Your Teeth into Dietary Guidelines

In today’s world, you can find a diet on the internet to justify eating whatever food you really want. Low-carb diets let you feast on fatty foods. High-carb regimens give you clearance for bread products.

For those of us who find it all a little confusing, we can now turn to government health officials for some advice.salt, Bon Secours, Health, Weight

New dietary guidelines online spell out what you should and should not eat. Yes, it’s still up to you to read labels and ask for nutritional information.

But it’s good to see government health officials taking a harder stand against fast food, sugars and fats. One in three children in our country are obese. Two out of three adults are either overweight or obese. The goal is to reduce these statistics for the overall health of the country.

Basic Rules

  • Eat less.
  • Eat proper portions.
  • Make half your meal vegetables and fruit.
  • Drink fat-free or low-fat milk.
  • Drink water; not sugary beverages.
  • Choose the lowest sodium content for soups, breads and frozen meals.

What Not to Eat

  • Cut back sodium intake to less than 2,300 mg daily. But half of the country’s population needs to reduce their sodium to 1,500 mg. This applies to African Americans and anyone who has hypertension, diabetes or chronic kidney disease.
  • Choose foods low in saturated fatty acids. Less than 10 percent of calories should come from these types of food.
  • Reduce dietary cholesterol to less than 300 mg per day.
  • Eat as little as possible of trans fatty acids.
  • Cutback calories from solid fats and added sugars.
  • Limit eating refined grains especially ones that have sodium, solid fats and added sugars.
  • Drink no more than one alcoholic drink a day if you’re a woman. No more than two if you’re a man. In some cases, alcohol should be avoided completely.

What to Eat

  • Eat more fruits and vegetables – especially ones that are dark green, red and orange.
  • Eat whole grains.
  • Drink fat-free milk or low-fat milk. Eat low-fat cheese and low-fat yogurt.
  • Eat proteins like seafood, lean meats, poultry, eggs, beans, unsalted nuts and seeds.
  • Consume more seafood instead of meat and poultry.
  • Use oils instead of solid fats.
  • Eat vegetables, fruits, whole grains, milk and milk products that have potassium, fiber, calcium, vitamin D.

Sources: US Department of Agriculture,  US Department of Health and Human Services: Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010