The New Dietary Guidelines for boys and men; Less sugar, protein, and more.

What should we eat?  If you have followed the food pyramids, and all the other government-sanctioned ideas, and look around us, Americans are heavier than ever and more people than ever are diabetic (1) according to the CDC.  That’s almost 10 percent of the public with perhaps 30% having never been diagnosed.

This is worse than many developed nations and the way we eat, and what we eat in the USA have been responsible for much of this, and the cost of caring for diabetics is rising thanks to the entrepreneurs at big pharma.

The Agriculture and Health and Human Services Departments update the guidelines for dietary intake every five years and they were first issued in 1980.   The current shift is away from sugar and proteins in men and boys.  Are they correct now?

We can certainly learn from other areas of the world, and Americans are moving away from soda and even artificial sweeteners which have an unexpected effect on our bodies and what and how we consume food.

Recent information published in February 2015 suggests that older people take in more protein for better muscular function and overall health, while younger people take in more carbohydrates (2).   That goes against the recent dietary guidelines so who should believe it?

Check out this recent NY Times article regarding the new dietary guidelines.  Take it with a grain of salt, as it will again change five years from now.

New Dietary Guidelines Urge Less Sugar for All and Less Protein for Boys and Men

By Anahad O’Connor January 7, 2016

New federal dietary guidelines announced on Thursday urge Americans to drastically cut back on sugar, and for the first time have singled out teenage boys and men for eating too much meat, chicken and eggs.

Despite those warnings, the guidelines were also notable for what they did not say. While draft recommendations had suggested all Americans adopt more environmentally sustainable eating habits by cutting back on meat, that advice was dropped from the final guidelines. And longstanding limits on dietary cholesterol were also removed, a victory for the nation’s egg producers, which have long argued that cholesterol from eggs and seafood is not a major health concern.

The dietary guidelines, issued by the Agriculture and Health and Human Services Departments, are updated every five years and were first issued in 1980. Typically, they have encouraged Americans to consume more fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean meat, and low-fat foods, while restricting intake of saturated fat, trans fats, and dietary cholesterol. Though many individual consumers may not give the guidelines much thought, the recommendations have the potential to influence the diets of millions of Americans. The guidelines affect the foods chosen for the school lunch program, which feeds more than 30 million children each school day, and they help shape national food assistance programs like the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, which has eight million beneficiaries.

Read more here.

1. http://templatelab.com/national-diabetes-report-2014/
2. http://health.usnews.com/health-news/health-wellness/articles/2015/02/13/older-adults-double-your-protein-intake-for-better-health