What the New Dietary Guidelines 2005 Actually Mean and How to Translate Them into a Healthy Active Lifestyle.

Part One: The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005

The new dietary guidelines for Americans for 2005 were recently announced. The outgoing health and human service secretary, Tommy Thompson said, "The guidelines are a combination of good science and common sense. They are a prescription we can write for us, fill for ourselves and be healthier and happier for it. Our best medicines are no farther away than the shelves of the grocery and the sidewalks outside our doors." If only Americans would buy into this approach, some of the health issues that plague our population could be resolved. As a nutritionist, I have always believed you are what you eat. Maybe these new guidelines will help us battle our national health crisis - obesity.

Americans are looking for a magic pill that will make their fat disappear. Secretary Thompson said, "Every American is looking for the National Institute of Health to come up with that pill. It is not going to happen. Do you want to look better? Yes. Do you want to feel better? Yes. So lower your fat, your carbs; eat more fruits and vegetables and exercise. That is not too hard." The road map to health seems simple but it's not. If everyone loved fruits and vegetables, ate whole grains and exercised daily - we wouldn't be in this mess to begin with.

Below is a summary of the new guidelines versus the old guidelines. Some of the new guidelines are very similar or the same, some are much more forceful - like increasing fruits and vegetables from five servings per day to nine half-cup servings per day when most Americans traditionally didn't even comply with the earlier guidelines. The physical activity recommendation is much stronger as well. Some people might feel like participating in 60 minutes of physical activity per day is overwhelming with their work and family schedules and their three+ hours of TV every night.

NUTRITION

• New Guidelines : Eat a variety of foods that are low in saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol and added sugars. Choose foods that are high in nutrients. The new Food Guidance Tool formerly called the Food Guide Pyramid should be out by March, 2005.
• Old Guideline : Use the Food Guide Pyramid as a guide choosing a variety of grains, fruits and vegetables.

CALORIES

• New Guideline : Eat a balance of calories between the amount you eat and the amount of energy you burn. The recommendation for moderately active people between the ages of 31 and 50 is 2,000 calories per day for women and 2,400 to 2,600 calories per day for men.
• Old Guideline : Aim for a healthy diet based on the Body Mass Index (BMI). The new guidelines are calorie based .

CARBOHYDRATES

• New Guidelines : Plan to eat fiber-rich whole fruits, vegetables and whole grains each day. Eat and drink foods with sugar in moderation. Half of the grains recommended should come from whole-wheat sources. Eat six ounces of grains or the equivalent - at least three one-ounce servings should come from whole grains for a 2,000-calorie diet; nine ounces of grains - at least four and a half one-ounce servings from whole-grain products for a 2,600-calorie diet.
  Whole grains available in the U.S. include whole-wheat, whole oats/oatmeal, whole-grain cornmeal, popcorn, brown rice, whole rye, whole-grain barley, wild rice buckwheat, triticale, bulgar (cracked wheat), millet, quinoa and sorghum. The other grains are considered refined grain products and refined grains used as ingredients (for example, white bread, enriched grain cereals and crackers, enriched pasta, or white rice).

• Old Guideline : Choose a variety of grains, especially whole grains, fruits and vegetables daily. Eat and drink foods with sugar in moderation.

FAT

• New Guidelines : Make sure you keep trans fat as low as possible. Trans fat information is currently found on the food labels. Processed foods (cakes, cookies, crackers, etc.), margarines, animal products, fried potatoes and chips potentially contain trans fat.
  Keep your fat intake between 25 and 35 percent of the calories from fat (no more than 55-77 grams of fat for a 2,000-calorie diet; no more than 72-101 grams of fat for a 2,600-calorie diet).
  No more than 10 percent of your calories (no more than 22 grams of saturated fat in a 2,000-calorie diet; 28 grams in a 2,600-calorie diet) should come from saturated fat and no more than 300 milligrams of cholesterol daily.

• Old Guidelines : Eat a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol and moderately low in total fat.
  The American Heart Association currently recommends keeping your fat intake to less than 25-30 percent of your calories from fat; saturated fat to no more than 10 percent of your calories.

SALT

• New Guideline : Limit salt intake to about one level teaspoon per day (less than 2,300 milligrams per day).

• Old Guideline : Eat foods with less salt and cook with less salt.

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

• New Guidelines : You should eat at least four and a half cups of fruits and vegetables each day, which is based on a 2,000-calorie diet per day. That's two cups of fruits and two and a half cups of vegetables per day. For a person needing more or less calories change the amount accordingly. (For a 2,600-calorie diet - that's two cups of fruits and three and a half cups of vegetables per day). The majority of whole fruit from fresh, frozen, canned or dried rather than from juice.
• Old Guideline : Eat three to four and a half cup servings of vegetables and two to four servings of fruit per day.

ALCOHOL

• New Guideline : If you drink alcohol, do so in moderation, which translates to one drink per day for women and two for men. The definition of one drink includes: 12 fluid ounces of beer, five ounces of wine, or 1.5 fluid ounces of 80-proof distilled spirits.
• Old Guideline : Same.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY/EXERCISE

• New Guideline : Thirty minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity/exercise per day is the minimum to reduce chronic disease in adulthood. This activity is above usual activity at work or at home. You need to exercise for 60 minutes to maintain weight and prevent gradual unhealthy weight gain in adulthood. To sustain weight loss in adulthood, participate in 60 to 90 minutes of daily moderate-intensity physical activity.
• Old Guideline : Be physically active every day for at least 30 minutes.

Here are the basic recommendations as summarized from the Executive Summary from USDA:

1. Learn how to read food labels:

• Pay close attention to how many servings you're eating.
• Check the calories in each serving.
• Check the "% Daily Value" of each ingredient.

2. To get your daily calorie allotment, eat good foods. Don't focus on just one kind of food or consistently avoid any nutritious kind of food. Foods that should be limited include:

• Saturated and trans fats
• Cholesterol
• Added sugars

3. To keep your weight the same, don't eat or drink more calories than you burn. Maintain a balance of calories - what you eat to those you burn. To lose weight over time, eat a little less - and exercise a little more - every day.

4. Get regular exercise. It's good for your body and good for your mind:

• Get at least 30 minutes of physical activity most days of the week.
• For maximum benefit, most people can get vigorous or longer-duration exercise.
• To lose weight, get about 60 minutes of moderate or vigorous exercise most days of the week. Don't offset this by eating more.
• To keep weight off, get 60 to 90 minutes of moderate-intensity physical exercise most days. Examples include exercises such as walking briskly, swimming recreationally or bicycling 5-9 mph on level terrain.

5. Recommended foods:

• Get 2 cups of fruit every day
• Get 2.5 cups of vegetables every day
• Eat a variety of fruits and vegetables every day
• Get 3 ounces or more of whole-grain foods every day
• Get 3 cups of fat-free or low-fat dairy foods every day

6. Avoid too many fats:

• Fewer than 10 percent of your calories should come from saturated fats.
• Keep cholesterol consumption below 300 milligrams per day.
• Avoid trans fats as much as you possibly can.
• The fats you do eat should mostly come from fish, nuts and vegetable oils. Keep total fats between 20 and 35 percent of your total calories.

7. Carbs aren't all bad for you. Whole grains and fruits and vegetables provide a multitude of nutrients. You should:

• Choose fiber-rich fruits and vegetables and whole grains often.
• Choose foods with as little added sugars or sweeteners as possible.
• Avoid sugary and starchy foods and beverages.

8. Avoid salt, increase potassium:

• Get less than 1 teaspoon of salt a day. Note: Most of the salt we eat comes from processed foods.
• Eat lots of potassium-rich fruits and vegetables, such as bananas, prunes, raisins or potatoes with skins.

Part One of a series of Five articles concentrating on What the New Dietary Guidelines 2005 Actually Mean and Translating Them Into a Healthy Active Lifestyle .

Barbara Day, M.S., R.D., C.N., is a nutritionist with a masters degree in clinical nutrition who is also registered dietitian and has over 30 years of experience in promoting healthy active lifestyles to consumers. She is also Publisher and Nutrition editor of KHF and a runner, cyclist and hiker.