Healthful diet report: Sugary drinks out; coffee, eggs in (Source: Washington/Associated Press)
Recommendations on February 19, 2015 from a government advisory committee call for an environmentally friendly diet lower in red and processed meats. But the panel would reverse previous guidance on limiting dietary cholesterol. And it says the caffeine in a few cups of coffee could actually be good for you. The committee is backing off stricter limits on salt, though it says Americans still get much too much. It’s also recommending the first real limits on added sugar. The Agriculture and Health and Human Services Departments will take those recommendations into account in writing final 2015 dietary guidelines by the end of the year. The guidelines affect nutritional patterns throughout the country – from federally subsidized school lunches to food package labels to your doctor’s advice. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said “it is by no means over” with the release of the report. The government will take comments and possibly make changes before releasing its final guidelines for consumers. Even with the changes, the report sticks to the basic message of previous guidelines: Eat more fruits and vegetables and whole grains; eat less saturated fats, salt and sugar.
RETHINKING CHOLESTEROL: The report says dietary cholesterol now is “not considered a nutrient of concern for overconsumption.” This follows increasing medical research showing the amount of cholesterol in your bloodstream is more complicated than once thought. The committee says available evidence “shows no appreciable relationship” between heart disease and how much dietary cholesterol you eat. It still recommends eating less saturated fat, limiting it to 10 percent of total calories.The panel doesn’t give specific recommendation for how much cholesterol or how many eggs a person may eat.
WATCH THE SUGAR: Added sugars should be around 200 calories a day – about the amount in one 16-ounce sugary drink, says the advisory committee, which is made up of doctors and nutritionists. (This recommendation is part of a push in recent years to help consumers isolate added sugars from naturally occurring ones like those in fruit and milk).
Americans now get about 13 percent of their calories from added sugar, or 268 calories a day, the committee says, with older children, adolescents and young adults generally taking in more. The committee recommends replacing sugary drinks with water.
Tax the Sweets: The panel says Americans should pay taxes on sugary sodas and snacks, as a way to stimulate them to cut down on sugars consumed.
ADVICE ON SALT: The panel recommends 2,300 milligrams a day for all people, even those most at risk for heart disease. The 2010 dietary guidelines had recommended those at risk for heart disease limit sodium to 1,500 milligrams. The new report said lowering to that amount can still be helpful for some. But the new advice follows a 2013 report by the Institute of Medicine that said there is no good evidence that eating less than 2,300 milligrams a day of sodium offers benefits. Alice Lichtenstein, a member of the panel and a professor at Tufts University, said the new recommendation “puts the focus where it should be.” Get sodium intake down, and fine-tune the numbers as more evidence comes in.
A HEARTY ENDORSEMENT FOR COFFEE: The report looks at caffeine for the first time, and says coffee is OK – even good for you. The panel says there is strong evidence that 3 to 5 cups a day can be part of a healthy diet, and there’s consistent evidence that it’s even associated with reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Just don’t add calories with cream, milk and sugars. The report advises against large-size coffee based energy drinks, and recommends pregnant women limit caffeine to two cups of coffee a day.
EAT A PLANT-BASED DIET: The panel recommends eating more vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds. A plant-based diet is “more health promoting and is associated with less environmental impact” than the current U.S. diet, which is high in meat. The report stops short of telling people not to eat meat, saying “no food groups need to be eliminated completely to improve sustainability outcomes.”
Overall, the panel advises a diet lower in red and processed meat, and in a footnote says lean meats can be part of a healthy diet. The meat recommendations in particular may prompt pushback from Capitol Hill. Last year, Congress noted the panel’s interest in the environment and directed Vilsack “to only include nutrition and dietary information, not extraneous factors” in final guidelines.