Titusville Area Hospital
Every 5 years, the U.S. Government updates its Dietary Guidelines for Americans. This is done using a scientific report as the basis for the guidelines. The scientific report is developed and written by an external committee of 20 scientists who are appointed by the Department for Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for their expertise in nutrition science and the role of nutrition in health and disease.
The dietary guidelines matter for more than just providing us advice about what and how to eat. The guidelines also inform how schools, hospitals, and prisons design meals and menus, how food policy and food assistance programs are implemented, and will inform healthcare professionals as they work with patients as well.
You can read the scientific report yourself at this link. The Secretaries of Health and Human Services and Agriculture have received the report and will use it to develop the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stated would be four pages long and “tell people to eat whole food, eat the food that is good for you.” I hope that the Dietary Guidelines are specific enough for individuals, clinicians, schools, hospitals, and communities to inform their work.
A Summary of the Report
Since the scientific report is more than 400 pages long, I thought I’d summarize some of the main findings for you:
First, in general, people are eating too much saturated fat. Saturated fat is the type which is solid at room temperature, like butter. Animal sourced foods are often higher in saturated fat, but you can also find high saturated fat content in coconut oil and palm oil, which are plant-based. The current recommendation is to keep saturated fat intake to less than 10% of total energy intake for the day. The committee found that public health would improve if people eat less saturated fat and more unsaturated fat, which is liquid at room temperature. Some ways to do this include cooking with vegetable oil instead of butter, and eating more plant-based protein like beans, nuts, and seeds instead of meat.
Another major finding was that nutrition is unequal in the United States of America. What that means is that the committee took care to investigate nutritional status and outcomes for groups who are particularly at risk for poor nutrition and chronic diseases, including people living in poverty, people from minoritized racial and ethnic groups, and indigenous peoples. The committee found that there are substantial gaps in research when it comes to understanding how our circumstances determine our nutritional status, and that more research is needed. Indeed, nutrition research is very tricky to do, because measuring what people eat is challenging, and the effects of what we eat might only be seen years (or decades) later.
The committee also found that it’s not about the individual foods or that cookie you ate at the party, but instead, your health is about the overall pattern being balanced and containing a wide variety of healthy foods. Healthier dietary patterns include more of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, seeds, nuts, fish, and vegetable oils that are higher in unsaturated fat. They also include less processed meat like ham and sausage, sugar sweetened foods and beverages like candy and soda pop, refined grains like white flour in baked goods, and saturated fat like coconut oil, palm oil, butter, and beef tallow.
In their letter to the Secretaries when the scientific report was submitted, Dr. Sarah Booth (Chair) and Dr. Angela Odoms-Young (Vice-Chair) stated that “We cannot stress enough that every member of this Committee has worked collaboratively and tirelessly, upholding the highest standards of integrity throughout the preparation of this report.” They went on to emphasize in their letter that they hope the report will inform the development of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Until the 2025-2030 DGAs are released, the 2020-2025 DGAs will continue to be in effect.
