New dietary guidelines have been release by the American federal government.

They echo what we've been talking about for months. Cut down on sugar. Lookout for foods that seem like they should be healthy, but aren't. More vegetables. More fruit. Less junk food.

I keep saying, "Less sugar! Less sugar!" But what does that mean. Well, according to the video, 50 grams of sugar or less is what a person who is eating a 2,000 calorie diet should take in. This is in 'added sugars', not the natural sugars that occur in fruits or veggies.

With the release of the guidelines came some helpful info and strategies from health.gov. It listed the Top Ten Things You Need to Know about the new guidelines. A few standouts of that were:

 

A healthy eating patterns includes:

  • A variety of vegetables: dark green, red and orange, legumes (beans and peas), starchy and other vegetables
  • Fruits, especially whole fruit
  • Grains, at least half of which are whole grain
  • Fat-free or low-fat dairy, including milk, yogurt, cheese, and/or fortified soy beverages
  • A variety of protein foods, including seafood, lean meats and poultry, eggs, legumes (beans and peas), soy products, and nuts and seeds
  • Oils, including those from plants: canola, corn, olive, peanut, safflower, soybean, and sunflower. Oils also are naturally present in nuts, seeds, seafood, olives, and avocados.

Healthy eating patterns limit added sugars. Less than 10% of your daily calories should come from added sugars. ChooseMyPlate.gov provides more information about added sugars, which are sugars and syrups that are added to foods or beverages when they are processed or prepared. This does not include naturally occurring sugars such as those consumed as part of milk and fruits.

Find some of the other resources and strategies that could help you implement the lessons from the release of the healthy eating guidelines just released here.

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