2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans now out in the wild. The recommendations look curiously familiar...

Last week the US government through a joint effort between HHS and USDA published the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA).  They are required by law to update these guidelines every five years.  This is a huge effort that has a lot of very smart and knowledgable people combing over mountains of scientific studies using a method called systematic evidence-based review methodology to answer roughly 180 scientific questions related to the way we should eat.  They have now published the results of this, which can be found on their website (http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/dietaryguidelines.htm).  For those curious about such things, it is actually a pretty easy and interesting read, and it is a nice place to find a lot of fun and interesting facts and analysis, all nicely collected and collated.

The primary audience for the DGA is professionals that use the recommendations to help shape policy, nutrition programs and educational materials.  The Center for Nutritional Policy and Promotion (CNPP), the group that publishes the DGA, will at some point also put out some materials intended for the consumer audience (i.e., all of us).  This is where the famous food pyramid first came on the scene in 1992, though the USDA published its first food guide in 1917.  The first Dietary Guidelines were published in 1980.

I have a vague recollection of being a teenager and hearing about such recommendations.  I recall something about eating so-many cereals and grains and that many fishes and meats and X fruits and vegetables and maybe not quite so many sugars and fats.  I suppose that many of these guidelines were somehow incorporated into the nutritional education I vaguely recall seeing in school from time-to-time.  Nonetheless, I did grow up with a notion that somewhere out there was an official guide on the correct way to eat.  In truth, I think it would be hard for me to say that any of this had a huge influence on what I should eat other than the very clear message that fat was bad.

Over the years, there have been a number of iterations on the pyramid.  In truth, I personally found the visual somewhat confusing.  The stuff at the top of the pyramid was foods to restrict, but isn't the top of the pyramid supposed to be awesome stuff (i.e., the pinnacle of food)?  Further, I could not for the life of me ever remember what was in those pyramid bands.  Nor could I remember how much of what kinds of food I was supposed to eat.  Frankly, the whole thing was kind of confusing for me, so I never paid it much personal attention.

According to some, it's a good thing I didn't pay too close attention as the food pyramid has come under fire from various places over the years.  It was perceived as being too heavily focused against fat while ignoring the impact of excessive carbohydrates.  Nutritional science is a very political and controversial topic area capable of spurring brawls among academics, journalists, politicians and food companies.

So lo and behold, we now have new Dietary Guidelines.  So what's in them?  Mostly, common sense, and that is a good and welcome addition.  The 2010 DGA can be summarized as having two primary recommendations:

1. Maintain calorie balance over time to achieve and sustain a healthy weight.  Translation:  don't eat too much and exercise more to lose weight and sustain the losses.  
2. Focus on consuming nutrient-dense foods and beverages.  Translation:  eat more food that is high in nutrients and low in calorie density.  Translation of translation:  eat mostly food that's good for you.  

The DGA then goes on to give a summary of foods to limit, mostly recommending that we limit sodium and only use a small portion of our calories on foods with added sugars and fats (i.e., junk food).  More interesting to me was their summary of foods to focus on.  For the latter, here are their guidelines (their words, not mine):

• Increase vegetable and fruit intake. 
• Eat a variety of vegetables, especially dark-green and red and orange vegetables and beans and peas. 
• Consume at least half of all grains as whole grains. Increase whole-grain intake by replacing refined grains with whole grains. 
• Increase intake of fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products, such as milk, yogurt, cheese, or fortified soy beverages. 
• Choose a variety of protein foods, which include seafood, lean meat and poultry, eggs, beans and peas, soy products, and unsalted nuts and seeds. 
• Increase the amount and variety of seafood consumed by choosing seafood in place of some meat and poultry. 
• Replace protein foods that are higher in solid fats with choices that are lower in solid fats and calories and/or are sources of oils. 
• Use oils to replace solid fats where possible. 
• Choose foods that provide more potassium, dietary fiber, calcium, and vitamin D, which are nutrients of concern in American diets. These foods include vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and milk and milk products. 

One simple mnemonic they have already introduced is to fill half your plate with fruits and vegetables.  Frankly, I am hoping they stay with the visual of the plate rather than the pyramid as it seems much more intuitive and easy to remember.  

Even in it's simplified form, along with any good visuals that they might introduce, it's one thing to know what we should eat.  It's quite another to put it into action.  Therefore, the 2010 DGA finally goes on to encourage people to put into place eating patterns that reinforce all of the above guidelines.  

What if there was a system that used the principle of budgeting and keeping count in a way that supported the kinds of healthy choices by promoted by the 2010 DGA?  Such a system might use some form of simple measure that allowed us to know how much we were eating and stick to a budget each day.  It would further use a currency that rewarded healthy choices.  It would also allow for indulgences, but it would help us to make more informed choices by making them a little more expensive.  It might even get behind the half-your-plate of veggies & fruits by assigning a value of Zero to fruits and non-starchy vegetables.  In summary, said system that would promote vegetables, fruits, lean proteins, whole grains and low fat dairy, but do so in a fairly simple and straight forward way.  

Sound like a system we know?  It's PointsPlus.  As I read through the 2010 DGA, I realized that I've basically been eating this way even more since I started following the new program.  

I know this post sounds horribly self-congratulatory, but I can't help it.  I'm flat out proud of the program that my co-workers developed and that our Leaders and delivering.  If the 2010 DGA is the goal, then PointsPlus can be the path.  It's nice to be on the right path.  

Cheers,

dk