New dietary guidelines

Let me explain and summarize the new dietary guidelines. Please remember that the guidelines are meant for American diet which is ten times full of sugars, fat etc than our traditional Malayali diet. 

So did these change anything for you? No. Except the fact that you can now eat the egg yolk. When I was in medical school, I was taught that egg yolk was bad. But the thought now is that one or two egg yolks per day does not hurt. I didn't say it is good. I just said it doesn't hurt. To summarize the guidelines: 

1. eat less sugar (only 10% of your daily calories should be from sugar) - that means less than 50 grams of sugar in an average adult diet - one teaspoon of sugar has 4 grams. So for you and me - nothing to change. This is mainly meant for people who drink colas - one can of cola will give you more than 50-100 grams of sugar. 

2. Eat less saturated fat - only 10% of your daily calories should be provided by saturated fat. Include more poly unsaturated fat - olive oil, vegetable oil etc. 

3. Eat more whole grains - ie, less maida based food. Please note - maida by itself doesn't cause cancer. It's the bad eating style that comes with eating too much maida based food that causes cancer. 

4. Eat more fruits and vegetables 

5. Eat less salt - Americans typically eat lots of salt so this is mainly meant for them and not for us. Generally, if you have high BP, restrict salt. Otherwise, average Indian diet contains much lower levels of salt than an American diet. 

6. No limits enforced on dietary cholesterol. But eat healthy cholesterol that is low in saturated fat - like egg yolk. Still, restrict food high in cholesterol because these food will also have high saturated fat (butter for example). 

7. Eat fat free or low fat dairy products 

8. Eat variety for protein food - legumes for example.

Here's the official guidelines. 

Key Recommendations

Follow a healthy eating pattern that accounts for all foods and beverages within an appropriate calorie level. A healthy eating pattern includes

A variety of vegetables from all of the subgroups—dark green, red and orange, legumes (beans and peas), starchy, and other

Fruits, especially whole fruits

Grains, at least half of which are whole grains

Fat-free or low-fat dairy, including milk, yogurt, cheese, and fortified soy beverages

A variety of protein foods, including seafood, lean meats and poultry, eggs, legumes (beans and peas), and nuts, seeds, and soy products

Oils

A healthy eating pattern limits saturated fats and trans fats, added sugars, and sodium.

Key recommendations that are quantitative are provided for several components of the diet of particular public health concern that should be limited.

Consume less than 10% of calories per day from added sugars.

Consume less than 10% of calories per day from saturated fats.

Consume less than 2300 mg/d of sodium.

If alcohol is consumed, it should be consumed in moderation—up to 1 drink per day for women and up to 2 drinks per day for men—and only by adults of legal drinking age.