2020-2025 dietary guidelines/Highlights |
Every Five years the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) and the HHS (Health and Human Services) come out with updated dietary guidelines. Many times when these come out foods get tossed from the good guy list over to the bad guy list and vice versa. The 2020 was just released. I was pleased to see that for the first time they include guidelines for babies and toddlers. Pregnant women get a mention as well. The study is independent and heavily researched based. Unfortunately for the first time in 40 years the federal government had some impact on which questions and issues actually made it to the current study. There were some concerns about important topics that were not addressed, such as salt intake and the importance of organic and sustainable food. In general there are no shocking revelations in the report. It feels like a lot of common sense. I am happy to say that the new guidelines are pretty consistent with the approaches that I have followed for years when I teach parents about solid foods. The report is 835 pages. I have the link above for those of you who are inclined to read it. For the rest of you, here are some of the takeaways (you're welcome!) One of the biggest headlines that this report is generating is that for babies and toddlers under the age of two they are stating that ALL added sugar should be avoided. Wow! Is that even possible? Based on this report, it is certainly worth being much more conscious about it. Sugar is lurking in so many places. On a food label, added sugars can include "brown sugar, corn sweetener, corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, glucose, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, lactose, malt syrup, maltose, molasses, raw sugar, and sucrose. I do wonder if any of the authors of this study actually have kids... Take a deep breath. We are simply referring to ADDED sugars. Natural sugar in foods is fine. Breast milk has sugar, but it is the perfect combination of fats, proteins, carbohydrates and vitamins for a baby's needs. Fruit and some veggies have plenty of natural sugar but are balanced by fiber and other nutritional benefits. Apiece of fruit put in one of those mesh bags is still considered fruit, even though it feels like they just are sucking the juice out of it. The report also reinforced the benefits of breastfeeding. The conclusion is that if you can make it at least 6 months, that is stellar and there is a long list of positive health impacts! But one of the things that stood out to me is that there are some findings that a baby who gets even some breast milk at all is getting some potential benefit. Any amount of breastfeeding is good. Given this information, I strongly recommend giving nursing a try. Get as much support as possible to make it a success. If you are one of the moms for whom it simply isn’t a good fit, then at least know that those efforts weren’t wasted if your baby got some of your milk early on. Fish should be an important part of the diet. Eating at least 8 to 12 ounces each week of a variety of seafood high in omega-3 and low in methlymercury may boost cognitive development and language and communication development in children. Pregnant women should be making fish a part of their diet as well. Sorry moms, it should to be cooked. Check out this excellent post about how to choose the safest fish The committee confirmed what I had been mentioning for years - that introducing peanuts and eggs, "in an age appropriate form," after 4 months of age may reduce the risk of food allergy to these foods. The evidence wasn't quite as strong for other allergens such as nuts and seafood, but there was also no harm in introducing these other potentially allergic foods on the early side. The only food on the no no list at this point for babies under a year is honey. (For eggs I would still start with the yolk and make sure they do well with that before introducing the white) When you do try the higher risk foods, do it in the morning when you are closely watching your child. Have Zyrtec or Benadryl on hand just in case. I also like putting a touch of the food topically on their cheek to make sure there is no local reaction ( that is not part of the report.) The guidelines do not recommend the strict low carb diets that come in and out of popularity. It found that those are actually associated with poorer health long term. The report suggests that about ¾ of the daily calories should come from healthy carbohydrates such as fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes. Vitamin D is important and they agree that all breastfed babies should continue to get 400 units/day. The study mentions the importance of iron and zinc for normal neurological development and immune function. Since these levels decline at around 6 months, make sure your kids are getting adequate levels from their solid foods intake. These minerals need to be a consideration in your food choices. And this isn’t in that study, but I found it interesting!! Fermented food rocks! One last thing, sorry to all the men out there, but the study decreased the amount of alcohol that is considered healthy. The previous version suggested that men limit themselves to two drinks per day, defined as a 12-ounce bottle of beer, a five-ounce glass of wine, or a 1.5-ounce shot of liquor. For women, one drink per day has been advised. The new report lowers the recommendation for men to one drink per day and keeps the same recommendation for women. It also eliminates the suggestion that moderate drinking could actually have some health benefits including cognitive function. That always did feel a bit like wishful thinking, but who knows, in 5 years when they do this again, it might be back. Along with alcohol, the study makes the conclusion that processed meat should be avoided. That comes as a shock to no one. Has that ever been on the healthy food list?? To close, I know of no one who can follow any guidelines to the letter of the law. Be aware, read labels and do the best you can. |
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