Dietary Guidelines revisions - EFR 5-40

William Evers (EVERSB@cfs.purdue.edu)
Mon, 2 Oct 1995 16:58:38 EST

Electronic Food Rap
Vol. 5 No. 40

Bill Evers, PhD, RD and April Mason, PhD
Extension Foods and Nutrition Specialists

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans have been revised and should be available in December of this year or January, 1996. Below is a summary of some of the key changes.

Excerpted from FOOD CHEMICAL NEWS, August 28, 1995, Pages 38-41

Revised Dietary Guidelines For Americans
Summary Of Information

The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) recently submitted its recommendations for revising the Dietary Guidelines for Americans to the secretaries of the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture. In the report, the committee agreed with the 1990 Dietary Guidelines that Americans need to increase their intake of fruits and vegetables. However, they also noted that, "recommendations to increase consumption of fruits and vegetables have often been interpreted to mean consumption of fresh produce." The committee emphasized that processed fruits and vegetables "are a reasonable way to meet the recommendations in this guideline."

The committee is composed of 11 authorities from academic and medical institutions. The charge of the committee was to determine if the 1990 Dietary Guidelines for Americans needed to be revised and to make recommendations if revisions were deemed necessary.

The committee felt that the current seven messages were basically appropriate but did propose some revisions. The original guidelines and the proposed revisions in parentheses are shown here along with the reasoning for the change:

- "eat a variety of foods";

- "maintain a healthy weight" ("balance the food you eat with physical activity; maintain or improve your weight" --there is a greater focus on weight maintenance and physical activity as a key component of weight maintenance);

- "choose a diet with plenty of vegetables, fruits and grain products" ("choose a diet with plenty of grain products, vegetables and fruits" --moved to third on the list to be consistent with placement on USDA's Food Guide Pyramid);

- "choose a diet low in fat, saturated fat and cholesterol";

- "use sugars only in moderation" ("choose a diet moderate in sugars" --to be consistent with other guidelines' focus on total diet);

- "use salt and sodium only in moderation" ("choose a diet moderate in salt and sodium" -- same as for sugar; and

- "if you drink alcoholic beverages, do so in moderation."

Plant Food

The emphasis on plant food by the DGAC fits with the focus on lower fat. Also, the antioxidant nutrients found in plant foods (vitamin C, carotene, vitamin E and selenium) are currently "of great interest to scientists and the public because of their potentially beneficial role in reducing the risk of cancer and certain other chronic diseases," the DGAC said, adding, "Scientists are also trying to determine if other substances in plant food protect against cancer."

The DGAC also felt that, "The potential role of food folate has not been explored, but guidance and information on the content of folate in plant foods is prudent, surely harmless and possibly beneficial."

"A future committee may want to consider the evidence [on folic acid] when it becomes available," the DGAC said, adding: "The advice to foster consumption of folate-rich foods is prudent."

Fat

In the information related to the guideline on fat, the committee recommended removal of a statement that blood cholesterol concentration of less than 200 mg/dl is desirable. This was done to avoid, "the implication that individuals with a value less than 200 mg/dl can ignore all or part of this guideline."

In an attempt to keep the guidelines focused on nutrition and diet, the DGAC did not include information on premature cardiovascular disease family history, low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, hypertension, tobacco use and diabetes.

The revision does discuss the types of fatty acids in fats such as monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, omega-3 polyunsaturated and trans. Also noted by the committee: "Remember that the total fat in the diet should be consumed at a moderate level--that is, no more than 30% of calories." The revision does not mention tropical oils because their contribution to total fat consumption is minimal. The DGAC advised that consumers should look at diets consumed over several days, and not to single meals or foods. This is consistent with Food Guide Pyramid recommendations.

Sugar

Turning to the guideline on sugar, the DGAC noted that, "contrary to what many consumers believe, the body cannot distinguish between naturally occurring and added sugars," and added: "There is no evidence that diabetes is caused by sugar intake. Nor is there evidence that the magnitude of sugar intake, per se, is related to the control of diabetic hyperglycemia."

The committee also addressed the widely misinformed belief that sugar intake causes hyperactivity by stating, "The committee thinks that a definitive statement that dietary sugars do not cause hyperactivity is both scientifically accurate and necessary to prevent unsound consumer practices that are the consequence of misinformation on this subject."

Sodium

The rewording of the guideline on salt/sodium resulted from a desire to "make it clear that foods--processed, prepared and preserved--are the source of most dietary sodium." The committee added, "'Use' conveys the idea of using salt, as from the shaker, which is misleading, since the proportion of sodium or salt added at the discretion of the consumer is small." The shift is away from a focus on hypertension so that people would realize that blood pressure risk occurs along a continuum. The consumer is advised to focus on vegetables that are fresh or canned/frozen without salt, and to choose low sodium-type packaged dinners, soups and salad dressings.

Special Needs

The DGAC also addressed the needs of particular groups such as growing children, teen-aged girls and women who have higher needs for some nutrients like calcium and iron.

Supplements

The DGAC, in a change from the previous guidelines, recommended that "consumers should not rely on supplements routinely to meet nutritional goals." The DGAC added:

"The committee recognizes a need to clarify the role of enriched and fortified foods in the diet. To help avoid a perceived contradiction in the advice to consume certain enriched products and advice not to rely on supplements and--by implication-- fortified foods, a distinction is made between foods to which nutrients are added as a matter of national policy and other foods to which nutrients may have been added optionally."

"Consumers are advised to consider the use of these foods in the context of their total diets with the aid of the information on food labels. While the general recommendation is not to rely on supplements, examples are given of circumstances in which supplements may be needed. Concerns about problems associated with fiber supplements make it necessary to mention them explicitly in this section."

Children Under 2

The committee strongly emphasized that the guideline on fat "is stated to apply only to children ages 2 years or older." They recommended a gradual introduction of the guideline on fat from ages 2 to 5, "so that by the time children are in school, they should be consuming diets that follow the dietary guidelines."

The DGAC proposed a working group to develop guidelines for children under the age of two.

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