New USDA Dietary Guidelines

U.S. dietary guidelines, the government’s benchmark for balanced nutrition, have changed. Nutrition experts now provide different dietary recommendations including scrapping high-cholesterol foods and the 300-milligram-a-day cholesterol limitation.

The guidelines endorse a diet that includes limited amounts of meat and suggest more plant-based foods and seafood. Diet should include fruits, vegetables and whole grains while limiting salt intake and saturated fat.

This is an important change , the government has actually gotten on the same page as a lot of diet gurus. I think we'll be seeing some changes now and in the future on labeling of packaged foods, school lunches, and other institutional meal programs and also restaurant menus. All the changes will take time, but I think public pressure has finally taking over. Personally, I want to see better labeling on foods. Some foods still have no nutrition labels and I still see menus with almost no nutritional information. Restaurants in particular use sauces and creams which make it difficult to estimate nutritional value. I can't help but think that it's done on purpose. Some entries you order can't be served without the sauces. I would rather see menu items that can be ordered with or without. Then list the nutritional value of the sauces separate from the entrée.

How to lose weight and keep it off:

The new guidelines:

Eat breakfast every day (instead of just having a cup of coffee or tea)

Eat smaller meals more often (instead of a large lunch and larger dinner)
Eat fish 2 or 3 times a week (instead of just red meat)
Eat blueberries or strawberries (instead of just pie, cake, cookies, and candy)
Eat heart-healthy nuts like almonds, walnuts, pecans, and Brazil nuts
Eat more vegetables like tomatoes, broccoli, carrots and Brussels sprouts
Eat more slowly, taking at least 1/2 hour for each meal

For information on the Mediterranean Diet look at the pages listed on my first webpage.

Drink More Coffee--Live Longer

A National Institutes of Health study found that older coffee drinkers, even those who drink decaf, have a lower risk of death than those who don't drink coffee, and people who drink more coffee actually live longer and have a reduced risk of diseases like Alzheimer;s and diabetes. Coffee is the largest source of antioxidants in our diet--even more than fruits and vegetables combined. To achieve these benefits you must drink 4-5 cups of coffee per day. Drinking more than 5 cups does not improve your benefits.

Drink More Water

5 glasses of water a day (or as much as you can)
Drinking water at a certain time maximizes its effectiveness on the body
2 glasses of water after waking up - helps activate internal organs
1 glass of water 30 minutes before a meal - helps digestion
1 glass of water before taking a bath - helps lower blood pressure
1 glass of water before going to bed - helps avoid stroke or heart attack

Eat More Vegetables

The U.S. advisory panel revamping the government's dietary guidelines recommend Americans eat at least 3 cups of dark green vegetables like broccoli or spinach; 2 cups of orange vegetables like carrots and squash; 3 cups of legumes like lentils and chickpeas; 6 cups of starchy vegetables like potatoes, corn and green beans; and 7 cups of other vegetables like tomatoes, onions and lettuce.

Addressing weight loss, the advisory panel wrote: "The healthiest way to reduce calorie intake is to reduce one's intake of added sugars, solid fat and alcohol - they all provide calories, but they do not provide essential nutrients." Living longer and having a better quality of life is a subject addressed by countless experts and non-experts alike.

Medical Disclaimer: This information is not intended to substitute for the advice of a physician.