This 8th edition of the guide to feeding recommendations aims to help Americans eat healthy, based on nutritional scientific evidence.
The American health ministry's website sums up 10-point guide you will find below.
1. A healthy diet daily to help prevent chronic diseases such as obesity, heart disease, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes.
2. A healthy diet is one of the best tools out there to reduce the occurrence of disease. This new recommendation guide can help you make the right decisions about your diet and your family.
3. The best way to be healthy through diet is to adopt a healthy eating pattern that suits you. Food habits related to all food and drink you consume. Healthy eating behavior depends on the tastes, traditions, culture and every budget.
4. Healthy eating includes:
A variety of vegetables: dark green, red and orange, legumes (peas and beans), starchy and other vegetables
Fruit, in particular whole fruits
containing little of dairy or no fat, including milk, yogurt, cheese, and / or drinks enriched soy
A variety of food proteins such as seafood, poultry and lean meats, eggs, legumes (beans and peas), soy products, and nuts and seeds
Oils, including those from plants: canola, corn, olive, peanut, safflower, soybean and sunflower. The oils are also naturally present in nuts, seeds, seafood, olives, and avocados.
5. Healthy eating means a limited intake of added sugars. Less than 10% of your daily calories should come from added sugars. The ChooseMyPlate.gov website (in English) provides further information on added sugars, which are sugars and syrups added to foods and beverages processed or prepared. Added sugars do not include naturally occurring sugars, especially in milk and fruits.
6. A healthy eating limit the intake of saturated and trans fatty acids. Less than 10% of your daily calories should come from saturated fat. Foods high in saturated fat are butter, whole milk, meats that are not considered thin, and tropical oils such as coconut oil and palm oil. Saturated fats should be replaced with unsaturated fats, such as safflower oil and olive oil.
7. Healthy eating means limited sodium intake. Adults and children over 14 years should consume less than 2,300 mg of sodium per day, and children under 14 should consume even less. Use the nutritional composition of labels to watch the amount of sodium in food, especially in processed foods like pizzas, prepared pasta dishes, sauces and soups.
8. Most Americans can receive daily small changes in their eating habits to improve their health in the long term. Small changes in your food choices - over a week, a day or even a meal - can make the difference for a healthy diet that suits you.
9. Remember physical activity! Regular physical activity is one of the most important points to improve the health of everyone. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, adults need at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week and must perform strengthening exercises 2 or more days each week. Children ages 6 to 17 need at least 60 minutes of physical exercise a day, whether aerobic, muscle strengthening exercises or bone building activities.
10. Everyone has a role to play - at home, at school, at work, in community and in places of purchase - to encourage healthy food choices in a simple, accessible and affordable,
At home, you and your family can try to change a few habits that seem feasible for you, such as adding more vegetables to favorite foods, plan meals and cook at home, and implement physical activity moments with family or friends.
Schools can improve the selection of healthy foods in canteens and vending machines, set up nutrition education programs, increase physical activity at school and encourage parents and supervisors to promote changes to a healthy lifestyle at home.
Workplaces should promote walking and physical activity during breaks; provide healthy food through community gardens, farmers markets, shelters and food banks and creating communities by maintaining secure public spaces.
On the points of sale food, consumers can be informed and advised to make healthier food choices.
