Are You Following The New Dietary Guidelines?

New dietary guidelines come out every five years, including guidelines around balancing calories and foods we should be increasing and decreasing intake of.

Every five years, the federal government (namely the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) creates new dietary guidelines. We’ll save you the trouble of sifting through the 95-page “Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010” document at Dietaryguidelines.gov and deliver the take-home messages released this week:

Balancing Calories
• Enjoy your food, but eat less.
• Avoid oversized portions.

Foods to Increase
• Make half your plate fruits and vegetables.
• Switch to fat-free or low-fat (1%) milk.

Foods to Reduce
• Compare sodium in foods like soup, bread, and frozen meals—and choose the foods with lower numbers.
• Drink water instead of sugary drinks.