Welcome to the Dietary Guidelines for 2020-2025! The first set of Dietary Guidelines were published in 1980 and every five years since they are updated. Read on to learn how to, “Make every bite count”.
There are four primary guidelines. Let’s look at those first and then we’ll break it down highlighting resources and tools for you to navigate your and your family’s good health.
• Follow a healthy dietary pattern at every life stage.
• Customize and enjoy healthy food and beverage choices to reflect personal preferences, cultural traditions, and budget.
• Focus on meeting food group needs with foods and beverages from the five food groups – vegetables, fruits, grains, dairy and fortified soy alternatives, and proteins – and staying within calorie limits.
• Limit foods and beverages higher in added sugars, saturated fat, and sodium, and limiting alcoholic beverages.
Sounds simple, right? Let’s dig in:
Follow a healthy dietary pattern at every life stage:
Whether you are caring for an infant or preparing a meal for your parents, the Dietary Guidelines are here to help. You can find information about healthy eating for all of life’s stages. Do you have a picky eater? Whether you are cooking for yourself or family and friends, wherever they are in their life, myplate.gov has resources for you. Concerned about the snacking choices your teenager makes when out and about? There’s an app for that: https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/bam/mobileapp.html.
Customize and enjoy healthy food and beverage choices to reflect personal preferences, cultural traditions, and budget.
Tired of nutrition advice that advocates for food you don’t like, can’t afford, or doesn’t match your cultural preferences? Find a recipe that gives you the freedom and choice to make healthy meals that accommodate your preferences and budget. Myplate.gov has hundreds of recipes for you to try as well as resources for your whole family.
“The Dietary Guidelines framework purposely provides recommendations by food groups and subgroups—not specific foods and beverages—to avoid being prescriptive. This framework approach ensures that people can “make it their own” by selecting healthy foods, beverages, meals, and snacks specific to their needs and preferences.” DietaryGuidelines.gov
Focus on meeting food group needs with foods and beverages from the five food groups – vegetables, fruits, grains, dairy and fortified soy alternatives, and proteins – and staying within calorie limits.
Want simple guidance to make healthy choices? Interested in learning easy ways to consume more fruits and vegetables? The app below helps you make goals relevant to your needs. allowing you to track your goals in real time and earn badges along the way! Wondering if you are making the right choices? Take the quiz at myplate.gov and receive personalized tips just for you. Download the, ‘Start Simple with MyPlate App’: https://www.myplate.gov/resources/tools/startsimple-myplate-app
Limit foods and beverages higher in added sugars, saturated fat, and sodium, and limiting alcoholic beverages.
Find out saturated fat is and what is a healthy fat to cook with. What foods have added sugar? What is the difference between natural and added sugar? How much sodium can I have and how do I find out how much is in what I’m eating? It’s all on myplate.gov.
Find tips, resources, and recipes for everyone in your life wherever they are in their life!
As always, thanks for stopping by and come back again!
