2010 Dietary Guidelines: A Change for the Better

On Monday the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans were released, laying out the government's official nutrition recommendations for the next five years. With their emphasis on cooking at home, consuming more fruits and vegetables, and not relying on processed foods, the guidelines seem right in line with our own eating philosophy. But will they change the way Americans eat?

For Michael Pollan fans, the government's advice might seem like old news. Enjoy your food, but eat less. Make half your plate fruits and vegetables. Drink water instead of sugary drinks. As Marion Nestle points out in The Atlantic, the surprise is that the guidelines "recognize that obesity is the number-one public health nutrition problem in America and actually give good advice about what to do about it: eat less and eat better."

Though U.S. food policy is far from perfect, we think these guidelines are a step in the right direction.

What do you think? Will these guidelines affect the way we eat in America?

(Image: Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion)

Comments (6)

What bothers me is the USDA's recommendation to eat more fish. The fishing industry is already taxing our oceans heavily--can the environment handle an increase in demand? Fish-farming is no better, as it is leading to pollution and lack of food supply for wild fishes. Plus, the report emphasizes the importance of fish as a source of Omega-3s, but flax seeds and oil are just as rich an option.

One-size-fits all diet prescriptions don't work. Some people can't eat leafy greens because it causes kidney stones. Still others can't digest dairy and might thrive on a vegan diet, with vitamin supplements. Even the prescription to "eat less and eat better" as a way to cure obesity may be misleading at best. There are people who gain weight on calorie-restricted diets because they are eating too many carbs. Advice to eat more fruit, starchy vegetables and grains may work against those people's weight loss goals; they may be better off with a low-carb diet with a lot of dairy and meat. The USDA should stop making these types of recommendations, which are often politically motivated (e.g., egg industry lobbies to have eggs featured prominently in the recommended diet) and insensitive to physical realities (e.g., that some ethnic groups have very high percentages of people with lactose intolerance).

I agree completely! And what does "eat less" mean, anyways? "Less" is a very subjective term that might be ok advice in theory, but in practice is confusing and vague.

Veggiemar and clutterbuggy, if you read the report everything y'all brought up is addressed. They discuss the research on ALAs (flax), they offer an alternative for counting starchy vegetables as part of the grains (for people reducing carbs), and for the first time ever, fortified soy milk is officially discussed as part of the dairy group.

I think you have to read closely to find some of these changes, but there are some very radical changes (for the USDA at least) in these recommendations.

I agree on the recommendation to eat more fish. Most people will be rushing out to consume wild caught fish at the sushi bar and restaurant, justifying their decision to eat bluefin tuna and mahi-mahi "because it's good for you" (which is like chomping on bald eagle in my perspective).
The alternative is of course, buying either farmed salmon and trout - which require the harvest of wild fish for feed, further depleting the supplies of wild fish.
I'd advocate for eating tilapia - but of course, their AA:EPA ratio is poor, thus counteracting the recommendation to eat more seafood in the first place.
I guess that sustainable seafood like sardines and specific shellfish would be the only answer, but even I'm not sure that would be feasible or palatable to the majority of Americans.

dancedancekj: i'm confused by your statement comparing mahi mahi to bald eagle. the monterey bay seafood watch lists us atlantic mahi mahi as a best choice for sustainability etc.

http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_factsheet.aspx?gid=11