IN the first slate of nutritional recommendations it has issued since 2011, the federal government on Thursday gave health-conscious Americans the go-ahead to eat eggs and other foods rich in cholesterol, to drink as many as five cups of coffee daily and to enjoy a range of fats long avoided by many.
The new dietary guidelines, issued by the US Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services, are the first ever to recommend a limit—10 percent of daily calories—to the amount of added sugars Americans should consume. Saturated fats, too, should account for no more than 10 percent of a person’s daily calorie intake, the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines recommend. That puts red meats, butter, cheeses and high-fat dairy products, like ice cream and whole milk, in a category of foods to be eaten sparingly.
That advice fits with a new emphasis on moving Americans away from meals built around animal protein and toward diets more heavily derived from plants. Drawing a link for the first time between the planet’s health and that of Americans, the new federal guidelines said the widespread adoption of diets lower in animal protein and richer in fruits, vegetables, legumes and nuts would lower rates of disease, as well as ease pressure on the environment.
Issued every five years since 1980, the US Dietary Guidelines set nutritional standards for state and federal programs such as school lunches, food stamps and programs benefiting children and pregnant women. Increasingly, the recommendations are expected to translate current scientific findings on diet and nutrition into everyday guidance for Americans.
That’s a tall order, both because many of the scientific findings remain controversial, and because their complexity often defies efforts to simplify. Essentially, the new guidelines nudge US nutritional policy toward a traditional Mediterranean diet, which emphasizes consumption of copious fruits and vegetables, nuts and legumes drenched in such fat sources as olive, nut, soybean and sunflower oils.
A stark contrast to a “Western diet” heavy on red meat, high-fat dairy and simple carbohydrates, the Mediterranean diet calls for moderate fish and chicken consumption, and reliance on whole grains and little added sugar. Research comparing populations that follow the two dietary patterns consistently find that adherents of the Mediterranean diet have longer lifespans and lower rates of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and some cancers.
“By focusing on small shifts in what we eat and drink, eating healthy becomes more manageable,” Health and Human Services Department Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell said in releasing the report early on Thursday morning. “The Dietary Guidelines provide science-based recommendations on food and nutrition so people can make decisions that may help keep their weight under control, and prevent chronic conditions, like Type 2 diabetes, hypertension and heart disease.”
By removing dietary cholesterol as a “nutrient of concern for overconsumption,” the authors of the new guidelines bowed to research findings suggesting that eating foods rich in the fatty substance contributes only marginally to levels of cholesterol circulating in the bloodstream. Medications, such as statins, getting regular physical activity and controlling one’s weight are now considered to be more effective ways to improve worrisome blood-cholesterol levels. A day ahead of the guidelines’ release, however, those claims drew controversy. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a group that advocates for “a better future for people and animals,” on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against the US Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services.
The group charged that egg-industry interests powerfully influenced the research underpinning the new advice on cholesterol. As evidence, they noted that as many as four of the 14 outside experts who provided scientific advice to guideline drafters came from institutions that received substantial funds from the egg industry. That scientific advisory committee, the suit alleges, relied heavily on egg industry-funded research findings when it recommended removing cholesterol as a “nutrient of concern” in February. Other aspects of the new guidelines are likely to spark debate, as well. Despite a growing debate, over the public impact of limiting salt intake, the newly released guidelines held the line on sodium as a “nutrient of concern.”