Physical Wellness
New Dietary Guidelines In The US Suggests To Cut Sugar Levels But Continue To Enjoy Eggs And Coffee
Five years since the nutritional guidelines was last updated, US federal authorities released the first set of dietary recommendations which okayed the consumption of eggs, cholesterol-rich foods, five cups of coffee daily, and a wide range of fats that many people stayed away from.
Rolled out recently by the US Department of Agriculture and the Health and Human Services, the guidelines set a 10% limit of daily calories of added sugars Americans are advised to take in.
For most Americans, however, the nutritional guidelines present quite a challenge as 13% of their daily calorie intake is derived from added sugar.
"Protecting the health of the American public includes empowering them with the tools they need to make healthy choices in their daily lives...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," said Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell as quoted by ABC News.
Apart from the recommended cutback on sugar, the guidelines also linked health benefits to as many as five cups of daily consumption of coffee such lowered risk of cardiovascular diseases and Type 2 Diabetes.
"Strong and consistent evidence shows that consumption of coffee within the moderate range...is not associated with increased risk of major chronic diseases," wrote the federal advisory committee that helped draft the 2016 nutritional recommendations as mentioned by Washington Post.
However, a dissenting expert opinion from the American College of Cardiology criticized the newly released guidelines.
"People do not need to obtain cholesterol through diet and should eat as little as possible," commented Dr. Kim Allan Williams who currently heads the medical organization as quoted saying by Los Angeles Times.
Another group took pains of filing a lawsuit against federal authorities- the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine- accusing the government for bowing down to powerful egg industry interests.
The group alleged that the research on cholesterol advice were largely influenced by 4 outside experts on the advisory committee coming from egg producing companies.
Join the Conversation