The Huffington
Post |
By Anna Almendrala
If you’re confused about all the conflicting dietary and nutritional
advice out there, you’re not alone. Every week, it seems as if researchers are
learning something new about the foods that will help us stay mentally sharp,
slender and disease-free — as well as those foods that will make us sluggish,
soft and bed-ridden.
There’s a reason for that, of course. Scientific knowledge is
constantly in flux, with new findings and reinterpretations of data as time
goes on. To keep up with it all, the U.S. government convenes a Dietary
Guidelines Advisory Committee to review and summarize everything we know about
nutritional research so far, with the hope that it will guide U.S. food policy
and nutrition programs in schools, the military and other public institutions
that prepare food, educate people about nutrition or provide food assistance.
The reports, published every five years, also serve as a useful look
back at what we believed was the best way to eat and drink ourselves to health
in previous generations. To celebrate The Huffington Post's 10th anniversary,
we took a look at how nutrition and health research has evolved over the decade
since our launch back in 2005.
How To Eat
Then: All about the calories
Back in 2005, the best nutrition research out there counseled Americans
to count calories in order to control weight. It didn’t matter what proportions
of food people ate -- instead, it was all about maintaining a healthy balance
of calories eaten versus calories spent in exercise.
"When it comes to weight control, calories do count -- not the
proportions of carbohydrate, fat, and protein in the diet,” wrote researchers
in 2005. "Energy expended must equal energy consumed to stay at the same
weight. A deficit could be achieved by eating less, being more active
physically, or combining the two.”
In fact, the report goes so far as to explain to the concept of
“discretionary calories,” as well as a complicated formula for calculating how
many a person consumes per day. As it turns out, that was probably unnecessary.
Now: Be mindful about your food
The 2015 report doesn't exactly say that keeping within calorie limits
isn’t important -- it is, assured 2015 committee member Miriam Nelson, a
professor of nutrition at Tufts University. Instead of explaining how to count
and calculate the calories allowed in a day, the 2015 committee emphasized
lifestyle strategies and healthy habits to keep calories low. For example,
eating with friends and family at a table (rather than alone in front of the
TV) can have a big effect on how many calories are consumed in a single
sitting.
The report also emphasized that a healthy diet should be high in
"vegetables, fruit, whole grains, seafood, legumes, and nuts; moderate in
low- and non-fat dairy products and alcohol (among adults); lower in red and
processed meat; and low in sugar-sweetened foods and beverages and refined
grains. All those meals can either add up to a healthy or unhealthy pattern of
eating. Nelson called the change one of the big shifts in nutrition research
from 2005 to 2015.
“The focus on just saturated fat or whole grains was just one piece of
the puzzle, and the guidelines were historically fractionated that way,” Nelson
told The Huffington Post. “But every person in the world eats a complement of
foods over the course of the day, the week, the month, the year and a lifetime,
and it’s that pattern of foods that dictates how healthy or not healthy you’re
going to be."
The takeaway: Rather than obsessing over calories, the latest
guidelines prompt Americans to start incorporating whole foods into their
diets.
Eating Fat
Then: Fat avoidance was still king
Back in 2005, Americans were advised to limit their total fat intake to
just 20 to 25 percent of calories per day. Saturated fat should be below 10
percent of daily calories, trans fat below 1 percent of calories and dietary
cholesterol to 300 milligrams per day -- about the amount in 1.25 egg yolks --
all in an effort to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.
Now: We're all about the avocados, eggs and nuts
The 2015 landscape couldn't be anymore different. There is no ceiling
for the percentage of calories that should be consumed as fat, and dietary
cholesterol is no longer a “nutrient of concern” when it comes to
overconsumption (in other words, eggs are good again).
Notably, while the report agreed with previous recommendations to keep
saturated fat (the kind found in dairy products and fatty meat) below 10
percent of daily calories, they added an important caveat: people should be
replacing saturated fat with so-called “healthy” fats like polyunsaturated fat
(found in fatty fish and sunflower oil) and monounsaturated fat (found in
avocados, peanut butter and olive oil), not carbohydrates.
The reason for the changes, 2015 committee member Rafael
Perez-Escamilla told HuffPost, comes down to a misunderstanding in previous
years: In an effort to cut the fat, food manufacturers and people were
replacing fats with added sugars and refined carbohydrates, which turned out to
be just as bad (or even worse) for health.
“At the end of the day, if we compensate for lower fat by increasing
higher sugar or carbohydrates, that is really detrimental for our health in
terms of increased risk for obesity, diabetes, coronary heart disease and so
on,” said Perez-Escamilla, an epidemiology professor at the Yale School of
Public Health. Now, he explained, “the important thing is that the fat or oil
that we consume is healthy, while staying within calorie [limits]."
The takeaway: Some fats are healthy for you, so don't be afraid to
drizzle that olive oil or slice up some avocado!
Eating Sugar
Then: Sugar was one of the food groups
Back in 2005, the research linking added sugar and sugar-sweetened
beverages and weight gain was only beginning to emerge. The 2005 Dietary
Guideline report sums up the evidence tentatively:
"Although more research is needed, prospective studies suggest a
positive association between the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and
weight gain.” The report also suggests that reducing added sugars “may be
helpful” in maintaining weight.
"In 2005, there was still confusion about whether this was related
to excessive calories from fat or from carbs,” explained Perez-Escamila.
"Now we know it's from sugars and refined carbohydrates."
Now: Avoid, avoid, avoid
In 2015, there is strong evidence that consuming added sugar and
sugar-sweetened beverages is linked to obesity and type 2 diabetes, according
to the 2015 Dietary Guidelines. There’s also moderate evidence that an excess
of sugar -- more than 10 percent of daily calories -- is also linked to
coronary heart disease and dental cavities.
The takeaway: Start thinking about soda as a treat, not a drink to go
with your lunch.
Who's Responsible For A Good
Diet?
Then: A good diet comes from individual willpower
In the 2005 dietary guidelines, a healthy diet was all about what an
individual could achieve for him or herself. Think portion sizes, calorie
counts, physical activity and eating the right nutrients. While those things
are still emphasized in the 2015 report, the committee has also expanded its
view to include the other things that influence a person’s decisions to eat one
item or forego another.
Now: It takes a village to eat well
For the first time, the new report factors in research on how
environments like schools, offices and communities help keep us healthy or drag
us down into lifestyle patterns of obesity and chronic disease.
“Another big difference from 2005 is that we looked at the food
environment,” said Nelson. "It’s not just about individual behavior
change; it’s about systems change.”
For instance, does a school offer healthy foods and opportunities for
exercise and physical activity? Does a cafeteria price healthier foods cheaper
than junk foods? Are our communities and cities developed in a way that
encourages walking, or prioritizes green spaces for community members to use at
their leisure? These are just some of the examples the committee lists when
thinking about how environments affect individual eating and exercising
behavior.
The takeaway: Struggling with your weight? Look around you. What are
the changes you can make to your work or school environment that would
encourage physical activity and healthy eating?
The Environment
Then: Climate change is a thing Al Gore talks about
The 2005 guidelines didn’t say one word about the sustainability of a
diet or food production’s effect on the environment.
Now: Climate change affects what we eat and what we eat affects climate
change
The 2015 guidelines are also notable in that they considered, for the
first time ever, the impact that our diets have on the environment. In other
words, thinking about the sustainability of producing a certain food should
factor into what we choose to eat, explained Perez-Escamilla.
“The diets that are the healthiest for the planet are also the
healthiest for human beings,” said Perez-Escamilla. “The simple fact is that
the food choices we make do have an impact on the environment and climate
change.”
Take, for example, red meat. Because cows and other domestic livestock
are produced for human consumption, the large amounts of methane gas they
produce are considered “human-related emissions” and account for 26 percent of
all the methane emissions in the U.S., according to the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency. This methane, in turn, traps radiation in our atmosphere,
contributing to global warming. If more people can choose fish or poultry over
beef, then the guidelines will have accomplished a significant goal, said
Perez-Escamilla.
The takeaway: Load up on plant-based sources of protein and eat certain
meats sparingly.
Working Out
If there's one thing the reports share, it’s a warning that most
Americans aren’t getting the exercise they need to maintain a healthy weight
and stave off chronic disease. But the way these reports mention it varies
somewhat.
Then: Get a workout in every day
In 2005, the guidelines recommended at least 30 minutes of moderate
physical activity on most days to see health benefits, while some adults may
need 60 minutes of exercise on most days to prevent unhealthy weight gain.
Adults who had lost weight and didn’t want to regain it may have to do 60 to 90
minutes of exercise on most days to prevent gaining it all back, the report
warned.
Now: What matters is the bigger picture
In 2015, the report cited recommendations that were about the same, but
shifted the daily dose to a weekly one (150 minutes of moderate physical
activity per week). Nelson called it “good news” for those with demanding or
varied schedules. The report also added this sobering assessment of how
Americans currently stack up: "Unfortunately, the vast majority of
Americans do not get the physical activity they need; only 20 percent of adults
meet both the aerobic and strength training recommendations and less than 20
percent of adolescents meet the youth guideline."
The takeaway: Get your exercise in during times that work for you.
So much has changed in the past decade that everyone is bound to find
at least one thing they need to change about their lifestyles to get healthier.
The good news, amidst all this change? We've got to admit things are getting
better, to paraphrase a few Beatles.
"The research helps to progress things so that we're always moving
forward," Nelson agreed. "Otherwise we would be static and we
wouldn’t learn new things."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/06/2005-2015-healthy-diet_n_7209806.html?utm_hp_ref=healthy-living
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