Nutrition and Your Health: Dietary Guidelines for Americans Balance the food you eat with physical activity– maintain or improve your weight Choose Choose a diet a diet with plenty of low in fat, grain products, saturated fat, vegetables, and cholesterol and fruits Eat a variety of foods Choose a Choose a diet moderate diet moderate in salt and in sugars sodium If you drink alcoholic beverages, do so in moderation Fourth Edition, 1995 U.S. Department of Agriculture U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Dietary Guidelines Nutrition and Your Health: for Americans Dietary Guidelines for Americans Eat a variety of foods page 5 What should Americans eat to stay healthy? Balance the food you eat with These guidelines are designed to help physical activity—maintain answer this question. They provide advice or improve your weight page 15 for healthy Americans age 2 years and over about food choices that promote health and Choose a diet with plenty prevent disease. To meet the Dietary of grain products, vegetables, Guidelines for Americans, choose a diet with and fruits page 22 most of the calories from grain products, vegetables, fruits, lowfat milk products, lean Choose a diet low in fat, meats, fish, poultry, and dry beans. Choose saturated fat, and fewer calories from fats and sweets. cholesterol page 26 Eating is one of life’s greatest pleasures Choose a diet moderate Food choices depend on history, culture, and in sugars page 33 environment, as well as on energy and nutri- ent needs. People also eat foods for enjoy- Choose a diet moderate ment. Family, friends, and beliefs play a major role in the ways people select foods in salt and sodium page 36 and plan meals. This booklet describes some of the many different and pleasurable ways If you drink alcoholic to combine foods to make healthful diets. beverages, do so in moderation page 40 Diet is important to health at all stages of life Many genetic, environmental, behavioral, and cultural factors can affect health. Understanding family history of disease or risk factors—body weight and fat distribu- tion, blood pressure, and blood cholesterol, for example—can help people make more informed decisions about actions that can improve health prospects. Food choices are among the most pleasurable and effective of these actions. Healthful diets help children grow, develop, and do well in school. They enable people of all ages to work productively and feel their best. Food choices also can help to 1 reduce the risk for chronic diseases, such as in a satisfying diet. Nearly all Americans need heart disease, certain cancers, diabetes, to be more active, because a sedentary stroke, and osteoporosis, that are leading lifestyle is unhealthful. Increasing the calories causes of death and disability among spent in daily activities helps to maintain Americans. Good diets can reduce major risk health and allows people to eat a nutritious factors for chronic diseases—factors such as and enjoyable diet. obesity, high blood pressure, and high blood cholesterol. What is a healthful diet? Foods contain energy, nutrients, and other Healthful diets contain the amounts of components that affect health essential nutrients and calories needed to prevent nutritional deficiencies and excesses. People require energy and certain other Healthful diets also provide the right balance essential nutrients. These nutrients are of carbohydrate, fat, and protein to reduce essential because the body cannot make risks for chronic diseases, and are a part of a them and must obtain them from food. full and productive lifestyle. Such diets are Essential nutrients include vitamins, minerals, obtained from a variety of foods that are certain amino acids, and certain fatty acids. available, affordable, and enjoyable. Foods also contain other components such as fiber that are important for health. The Recommended Dietary Allowances Although each of these food components has refer to nutrients a specific function in the body, all of them together are required for overall health. Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) People need calcium to build and maintain represent the amounts of nutrients that are strong bones, for example, but many other adequate to meet the needs of most healthy nutrients also are involved. people. Although people with average nutri- ent requirements likely eat adequately at The carbohydrates, fats, and proteins in levels below the RDAs, diets that meet RDAs food supply energy, which is measured in are almost certain to ensure intake of enough calories. Carbohydrates and proteins provide essential nutrients by most healthy people. about 4 calories per gram. Fat contributes The Dietary Guidelines describe food choices more than twice as much—about 9 calories that will help you meet these recommenda- per gram. Alcohol, although not a nutrient, tions. Like the RDAs, the Dietary Guidelines also supplies energy—about 7 calories per apply to diets consumed over several days gram. Foods that are high in fat are also high and not to single meals or foods. in calories. However, many lowfat or nonfat foods can also be high in calories. The Dietary Guidelines describe food choices that promote good health Physical activity fosters a healthful diet The Dietary Guidelines are designed to help Calorie needs vary by age and level of activ- Americans choose diets that will meet nutri- ity. Many older adults need less food, in part ent requirements, promote health, support due to decreased activity, relative to younger, active lives, and reduce chronic disease risks. more active individuals. People who are Research has shown that certain diets raise trying to lose weight and eating little food risks for chronic diseases. Such diets are high may need to select more nutrient-dense in fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and salt and foods in order to meet their nutrient needs they contain more calories than the body 2 3 uses. They are also low in grain products, Eat a variety of foods vegetables, fruit, and fiber. This bulletin helps you choose foods, meals, and diets that can reduce chronic disease risks. To obtain the nutrients and other substances needed for good health, vary the foods you eat Food labels and the Food Guide Pyramid are tools to help you make food choices Foods contain combinations of nutrients and other healthful substances. No single food The Food Guide Pyramid and the Nutrition can supply all nutrients in the amounts Facts Label serve as educational tools to put you need. For example, oranges provide the Dietary Guidelines into practice. The vitamin C but no vitamin B12; cheese pro- Pyramid translates the RDAs and the Dietary vides vitamin B12 but no vitamin C. To make Guidelines into the kinds and amounts of sure you get all of the nutrients and other food to eat each day. The Nutrition Facts substances needed for health, choose the Label is designed to help you select foods for recommended number of daily servings from a diet that will meet the Dietary Guidelines. each of the five major food groups displayed Most processed foods now include nutrition in the Food Guide Pyramid (figure 1). information. However, nutrition labels are not required for foods like coffee and tea FIGURE 1 (which contain no significant amounts of FOOD GUIDE PYRAMID nutrients), certain ready-to-eat foods like Fats, Oils, and Sweets KEY unpackaged deli and bakery items, and ▼ ▼ ▼ USE SPARINGLY ▼ Fat (naturally occurring Sugars ▼ and added) (added) ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ restaurant food. Labels are also voluntary for ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ These symbols show fat and ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ added sugars in foods. ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ many raw foods—your grocer may supply ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ this information for the fish, meat, poultry, Milk, Yogurt, and Meat, Poultry, Fish, Dry Beans, Cheese Group ▼ Eggs, and Nuts Group and raw fruits and vegetables that are con- 2-3 SERVINGS ▼ 2-3 SERVINGS sumed most frequently. Use the Nutrition ▼ ▼ Facts Label to choose a healthful diet. Vegetable Group Fruit Group ▼ ▼ 3-5 SERVINGS 2-4 SERVINGS ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ Bread, Cereal, ▼ Rice, and ▼ Pasta Group ▼ 6-11 ▼ SERVINGS ▼ ▼ Use foods from the base of the Food Guide Pyramid as the foundation of your meals Americans do choose a wide variety of foods. However, people often choose higher or lower amounts from some food groups than suggested in the Food Guide Pyramid. The Pyramid shows that foods from the grain products group, along with vegetables and fruits, are the basis of healthful diets. Enjoy meals that have rice, pasta, potatoes, or bread 4 5 BOX 1 BOX 2 CHOOSE FOODS FROM EACH OF WHAT COUNTS AS A SERVING?* FIVE FOOD GROUPS Grain Products Group (bread, cereal, The Food Guide Pyramid illustrates the rice, and pasta) importance of balance among food groups • 1 slice of bread in a daily eating pattern. Most of the daily • 1 ounce of ready-to-eat cereal servings of food should be selected from the food groups that are the largest in the • 1/2 cup of cooked cereal, rice, or pasta picture and closest to the base of the Vegetable Group Pyramid. • 1 cup of raw leafy vegetables • Choose most of your foods from the • 1/2 cup of other vegetables—cooked or grain products group (6–11 servings), the chopped raw vegetable group (3–5 servings), and the • 3/4 cup of vegetable juice fruit group (2–4 servings). Fruit Group • Eat moderate amounts of foods from the milk group (2–3 servings) and the meat • 1 medium apple, banana, orange and beans group (2–3 servings). • 1/2 cup of chopped, cooked, or canned fruit • Choose sparingly foods that provide few nutrients and are high in fat and sugars. • 3/4 cup of fruit juice Milk Group (milk, yogurt, and cheese) Note: A range of servings is given for each food group. The smaller number is for people who • 1 cup of milk or yogurt consume about 1,600 calories a day, such as many • 11⁄2 ounces of natural cheese sedentary women.