The recent changes to healthy eating and drinking guidelines, announced in January, are good for Americans who want to be healthy and seeking information on what to eat.
The federal government, with input across several executive agencies, publishes Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Since the 1980s, the goal has been to provide Americans with general guidance on nutrition and a proper diet. The guidelines are supposed to be a tool for those advising families on the proper foods to eat, yet the guidelines of the past were not all that helpful nor based upon evidentiary science. The new guidelines are a big improvement from past versions and incorporate science based eating and drinking choices that will help make America healthy again.
Past guidance did not use plain language to communicate to the American people. For instance, prior guidelines recommended restricting less than 10% of daily calories from added sugars. Directions such as that recommendation can be difficult for an American family to calculate. The guidelines had caps on saturated fats and a specific milligram intake recommended for sodium. The new guidelines speak in plain language and make simple recommendations to choose more red meat, fruits and vegetables. The decision to use plain language is a good one, making it easier for average Americans to understand, and be persuaded to utilize the new guidelines.
One obvious reason for the need for guidance is the fact that Americans are not, generally speaking, healthy. The American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) found that “U.S. obesity rate higher than ever” and pointed to Center for Disease Control (CDC) data showing “42.4% of U.S. adults had obesity and 9.2% had severe obesity in 2017, the highest incidence ever recorded.” The organization points out that obesity is linked to 40 other diseases including type 2 diabetes, heart disease and strokes. Those increasing numbers and the potential outcomes of obesity are concerning.
Even without this data, it is obvious that Americans gravitate a bit too much to processed foods. Perhaps, one reason is because they are easy to prepare or ready to eat alternatives to cooking a meal. Americans are known for being on the move and focused on work and that contributes to unhealthy habits like hitting the drive through or choosing donuts in the morning over a cup of fruit with some protein.
As a developed and wealthy nation, America is ranked high in the category of obese nations – not good news. The Global Obesity Observatory has Americans with a 42.8% obesity rate as compared to our neighbors Mexico at 36.9% and Canada at 26.7%. At the low end were Japan at 5.6%, South Korea at 7.2%, China at 8.4%, France at 10%, and Germany at 21.0%. Our citizens would be wise to read up on the guidance and follow them to lose some weight.
Our nation’s standard of living is high, yet our nation is unhealthy because Americans are fat. Health care costs are through the roof and much of all of the negative outcomes could be avoided by eating healthy and consuming less.
Something not contained within the guidance was the necessity for people to include exercise married to a better diet. Some walking or other exercise every day would help shed some pounds. It is important to balance a good diet with a healthy lifestyle to lower American’s rating when it comes to overweight nations.
However, the guidelines recommend some easy-to-understand changes in lifestyle. They recommend eating whole, nutrient dense foods – protein, dairy, vegetables, fruits, healthy fats and whole grains. The guidelines explain that nearly 90% of health care spending is dedicated to treating chronic disease. They explain federal incentives push low-quality, highly processed foods and also encourage the use of pharmaceutical interventions instead of changing eating habits.
The guidelines relating to drinking alcohol advise moderation. When you look at nations in Europe which don’t have obesity problems and longer life spans, many of them drink in moderation as part of tradition and social gatherings. The message of the guidelines is to drink smart and don’t consume alcohol in excess. Enjoy a few drinks with your meal or at the game- a lighter beer or wine is preferable to hard liquor, but be smart about it is definitely sage, and common sense, advice.
This is an area where the recommendations reflect some well founded common sense. The Biden era recommendations dictated that one drink for women and two for men. This ignores the different weights of individuals while also making no distinction between a beer and one of those punchbowl Long Island ice teas which contains several different types of alcohols mixed together.
Now is a good time to eat, drink and exercise in ways which promote a healthier and smarter lifestyle for Americans – and hopefully make good sound decisions for the betterment of the long term health of the country.