We have a brand new year and a new set of dietary guidelines from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to make sense of. As you’ve probably already read, the really big deal is the call to limit added sugars to no more than 10 percent of daily calories. While the committee removed the limit on dietary cholesterol (no more egg white omelets!), they also recommended for the first time that men and boys reduce their overall protein intake. And while the guidelines may not have included explicit advice for Americans to eat in a more environmentally friendly way, they do encourage consumers to eat more plant-based foods, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and nuts.
There’s also a new focus on healthy eating patterns, not just nutrients. The guidelines define an eating pattern as “the combination of foods and drinks you eat over time.” So instead of obsessing over avoiding saturated fat and sodium, you should think more about what has been on your plate over the course of a day or a week. No matter which eating pattern you choose, the USDA says it should include:
— A variety of colorful vegetables
— Legumes (beans and peas)
— Fruits, with an emphasis on whole fruit
— Grains; make at least half of them whole grains
— Fat-free or low-fat dairy products or fortified soy products
— A variety of protein foods, including seafood, lean meats and poultry, eggs, legumes, soy products and nuts and seeds.
— Oils, including canola, corn, olive, peanut, safflower, soybean and sunflower. They also call out oils that occur naturally in nuts, seeds, seafood, olives and avocados.
I think it’s awesome that in addition to a “Healthy U.S.-Style Eating Pattern,” the guidelines also highlight a “Healthy Mediterranean-Style Eating Pattern” and a “Healthy Vegetarian-Style Eating Pattern.” You have to dig into the appendix a bit, but they actually illustrate how much of each type of food group you can eat with each pattern based on your calorie level. The Mediterranean-style diet has more seafood and fruit and less dairy than the U.S.-style. The vegetarian-style diet includes more soy foods, legumes, nuts, seeds and whole grains than the U.S.-style, and of course excludes meat, poultry and seafood.
Shift Into a Healthier Gear
The new guidelines recommend a whole lot of shifting. There’s a shift to eat more vegetables, a shift to eat more fruits, a shift to make half of all grains consumed be whole grains, a shift to eat more dairy products in nutrient-dense forms (translation: less ice cream and cheese, and more yogurt), a shift to increase variety in protein food choices and to make more nutrient-dense choices, and a shift from solid fats to oils.
Whatever eating pattern you follow, you should be shifting your spoon away from the sugar bowl. I’ve personally been working on this for a few years, and while it’s certainly challenging at first, it helped me focus on getting more fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes in my diet. How much added sugar can you eat during the day without overstepping the limit of 10 percent of your total calories? If you’re eating 2,000 calories a day, 10 percent of that is 200 calories, which equals 50 grams of added sugar. One coffee-crumb muffin has 30 grams of sugar in it, an 8-ounce cola has 27 grams and a (3/4 cup) bowl of sweetened cereal has around 10 grams. Yikes, that adds up fast!
Here’s a nutrient-dense snack that would get the stamp of approval from the new Dietary Guidelines. It features plant-based protein, as well as colorful vegetables, plus it will help you get through the afternoon without any annoying energy crashes. If you don’t have time to make your own hummus, just swap in store-bought and top with chopped almonds.
Almond-Topped Hummus With Veggies
Makes 16 servings
Ingredients:
— 1 (19-ounce) can chickpeas, drained
— 1/2 cup plain Greek-style yogurt
— 1/3 cup almond butter
— 1 lemon, juiced
— 2 garlic cloves, peeled
— 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
— 1/4 tsp cumin
— 1 1/2 cups chopped almonds, divided
— Raw vegetables for serving
In the bowl of a food processor, combine the chickpeas, yogurt, almond butter, lemon juice, garlic, salt and cumin. Pulse until well blended and smooth, scraping down the side of the bowl as needed. Add 1/4 cup chopped almonds, and pulse until chunky. To serve, place 2 tbsp of hummus in a ramekin and top with 1 tbsp of the remaining chopped almonds. Serve immediately with raw vegetables, or cover and refrigerate for up to three days.
More from U.S. News
7 Reasons to Choose a Plant-Based Diet
The 38 Easiest Diets to Follow: in Pictures
How to Actually Follow the New Dietary Guidelines originally appeared on usnews.com