Nutrition and Your Health Dietary Guidelines for Americans What should you eat to stay healthy? The life expectancy, average body size, and general good health of the American population seem to indicate that most diets are adequate. Foods we have to choose from are varied, plentiful, and wholesome. Even so, hardly a day goes by without someone trying to tell us what we should and should not eat. Newspapers, magazines, books, radio, and television give us lots of advice. Unfortunately, much of it is confusing. Some of this confusion exists because we don't know enough about nutrition to identify an "ideal diet” for each individual. People differ-and their food needs differ depending on age, sex, body size, physical activity, and other conditions such as pregnancy and illness. In those chronic conditions where diet may be important-heart disease, high blood pressure, strokes, tooth decay, diabetes, osteoporosis, and some forms of cancer-the roles of specific dietary substances have not been defined fully. Research seeks more information about the amounts of essential nutrients people need and diet's role in certain chronic diseases. Much attention has been devoted recently, for example, to the possible effects of calcium intake on osteoporosis, and of dietary fat and fiber on certain forms of cancer and heart disease. But what about advice for today? The following guidelines tell how to choose and prepare foods for you and your family. This advice is the best we can give based on the nutrition information we have now. The first two guidelines form the framework for a good diet: "Eat a variety of foods" that provide enough of essential nutrients and energy (calories) to ''maintain desirable weight." The next five guidelines describe special characteristics of good diets. They 3 suggest that you get adequate starch and fiber and avoid too much fat, sugar, sodium, and alcohol. The Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) are suggested amounts of energy, protein, and some minerals and vitamins for an adequate diet. For other dietary substances, specific goals must await further research. However, for the U.S. population as a whole, increasing starch and fiber in our diets and reducing calories (primarily from fats, sugars, and alcohol) is sensible. These suggestions are especially appropriate for people who have other risk factors for chronic diseases, such as family history of obesity, premature heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol levels, or for those who use tobacco, particularly cigarette smokers. The guidelines are suggested for most Americans-those who are already healthy. They do not apply to people who need special diets because of diseases or conditions that interfere with normal nutritional requirements. These people may need special instruction from registered dietitians, in consultation with their own physicians. No guidelines can guarantee health and well-being. Health depends on many things, including heredity, lifestyle, personality traits, mental health and attitudes, and environment, in addition to diet. Food alone cannot make you healthy. But good eating habits based on moderation and variety can help keep you healthy and even improve your health. 4 DIETARY GUIDELINES FOR • Eat a variety of foods • Maintain desirable weight Avoid too much fat, saturated fat, Eat foods with adequate starch • Avoid too much sugar • Avoid too much sodium • If you drink alcoholic beverages, 5 Eat a Variety of Foods You need more than 40 different nutrients for good health. These include vitamins and minerals, amino acids (from proteins), essential fatty acids (from fats and oils), and sources of energy (calories from carbohydrates, fats, and proteins). Adequate amounts of these nutrients are present in the foods in a well-balanced diet. Most foods contain more than one nutrient. For example, milk provides protein, fats, sugar, riboflavin and other B vitamins, vitamin A, calcium, phosphorus, and other nutrients; meat provides protein, several B vitamins, iron, and zinc in important amounts. Except for human milk during the first 4 to 6 months of life, no single food supplies all of the essential nutrients in the amounts that you need. Milk, for instance, contains very little iron and meat provides little calcium. Thus, you should eat a variety of foods to get an adequate diet. With a variety of foods, you are more likely to get all the nutrients you need. One way to assure variety-and with it, a well-balanced diet-is to select foods each day from each of the major food groups. These groups include: fruits, vegetables; cereals and other foods made from grains, such as breads; |