Thursday, February 17, 2011

Food for Thought Thursday - A Critical Look at the USDA's Dietary Guidelines

In 2010, the USDA released their new Dietary Guidelines for America, acknowledging the prevalence of obesity and chronic disease and urging Americans to switch to a plant-based diet, consume less meat and avoid solid fats and added sugars.

But does it go far enough? I enjoyed reading Janice Stanger's post on the Eleven Risky Mistakes the USDA Makes About Plant-Based Diets. After warning that "You'll need bigger clothes if you follow the government's advice", she proceeds to point out what she sees as the inadequacies of the plan, including too few fruits and vegetables, too many refined grains and too much fat from oil and nuts.

Are the USDA's new guidelines a step in the right direction? Or do they not go far enough? And even more importantly . . . are Americans even listening???
Posted by Jessica at 5:31 AM
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2 comments:

  1. ~*Rhi*~February 17, 2011 at 9:52 AM

    The PCRM (Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine) is suing the USDA because the guidelines are very vague & obscure in their recommendations to avoid, "solid fat sources" & "saturated fat" rather than meat, cheese & dairy. They state that the USDA is basically in bed with the meat & dairy industries. Here's a link: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/all-we-can-eat/food-politics/special-interest-groups-raise.html

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  2. JessicaFebruary 18, 2011 at 8:38 AM

    Thanks for the link! Going to read it now. :)

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