Dietary guidelines in U.S. crack down on sugar, eases on cholesterol

The Obama administration's new dietary guidelines, releasedThursday, back off the strictest sodium rules included in the lastversion, while still asserting that Americans consume too much salt.

• WHO report says processed meat causes cancer, confusion follows
  

After a backlash from the meat industry and Congress, theadministration ignored several suggestions from a February report byan advisory committee of doctors and nutrition experts. That panelsuggested calling for an environmentally friendly diet lower in redand processed meats and de-emphasized lean meats in its list ofproteins that are part of a healthy diet.

Released every five years, the guidelines are intended to helpAmericans prevent disease and obesity. They inform everything fromfood package labels to subsidized school lunches to your doctor'sadvice. And the main message hasn't changed much over the years: Eatyour fruits and vegetables. Whole grains and seafood, too. And keepsugar, fats and salt in moderation.

"Small changes can add up to big differences," said AgricultureSecretary Tom Vilsack.

Sugar-sweetened beverages make up a large portion of those emptycalories. According to the guidelines, sugary drinks comprise 47 percent of the added sugars that Americans eat every day.

New figures from the U.S.Centers for Disease for Disease Control andPrevention show that around 90 per cent of people eat too much. Theaverage person eats 3,400 milligrams of sodium a day, and theguidelines say everyone should lower that amount to 2,300, or abouta teaspoon.

The new guidelines drop that lower amount as part of the toprecommendations. Still, advice buried deeper in the guidelines saysthat those with high blood pressure and prehypertension couldbenefit from a steeper reduction.

That recommendation is gone, following increasing medical researchshowing the amount of cholesterol in your bloodstream is morecomplicated than once thought. Some more recent studies have shownlittle relationship between heart disease and how much dietarycholesterol one eats.

As in previous years, the report advises limiting saturated fatsto 10 per cent of total calories. And while lean meats are promoted,the government does suggest certain populations, such as teen boysand adult men, should reduce their meat intake and eat morevegetables. Data included in the report shows that males ages 14 to70 consume more than recommended amounts of meat, eggs and poultry,while women are more in line with advised amounts.

Congress got involved, encouraging the administration to drop therecommendations based on environmental impact and at one pointproposing to set new standards for the science the guidelines canuse. That language did not become law, however. A year-end spendingbill simply said the guidelines must be "based on significantscientific agreement" and "limited in scope to nutritional anddietary information."