U.S. Diet Guide Puts Emphasis on Weight Loss

NY Times ^ | January 13, 2005 | MARIAN BURROS

[neverdem]

More details on the guidelines can be found on the federal government's Web site, at http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/

U.S. Government Updates Diet Rules for Next Food Pyramid

[b4its2late]

No beer?

[mlc9852]

Wouldn't that be considered whole grains?

[E. Pluribus Unum]

The guidelines, which follow several years of reports that Americans are fatter than ever, recommend eating many more fruits and vegetables, more low-fat milk, more whole grains and increasing exercise to as much as an hour and a half a day. But some critics question whether they will make any difference in an increasingly fat America.

IT'S THE SUGAR, STUPID.

[Ingtar]

Funny. I went to a lower carb, but higher fat diet and my cholesterol dropped from 195 to 145.

[bayourod]

Fasting. I once went 14 days with zero calories except what might have been in the vitamin tablets. It really works. No gimmicks. No disappointments. No misinterpretations. No reservations. Easy to understand.

[Rakkasan1]

1st it was 15 minutes a day, then 20,then 30, now 90?

All the 'healthy' will have time to do is eat all their servings of veggies and exercise. Good excuse to quit work?

[Road Warrior ‘04]

Diet=Weight loss! Hmmm! My tax money being spent wisely! Diet=Weight loss! Amazing, isn't it!

Beer/Alcohol=Get Drunk! This equation brought to you by the Free Dinkers Society......No Charge!

[Road Warrior ‘04]

That's "Free Drinkers Society"

[retrokitten]

Beer/Alcohol=Get Drunk! This equation brought to you by the Free Dinkers Society......No Charge!

"Hmmm...your ideas intrigue me. I would like to subscribe to your newsletter." - Homer Simpson

[dasein64]

IMO, sugar tops the list as the cause of not only obesity, but other health problems as well. From what I know of family and others, children brought up on boxed sugared cereal, sugar soft drinks, and high carb snacks of all kind are often fat and/or hyper. Such a shame.

[safeasthebanks]

BINGO!!

Personally, I can't understand why they recommend any sugar in a nutritional diet (outside of those naturally occuring in fruit, etc.)

As I understand it, raw sugar is only a recent addition to the diets of western man, relatively speaking (sometime in the mid-18th century, I think).

And we've seen nothing but related health problems since. Like alcohol, I believe it is only good in moderation, though I'm certainly not recommending it be regulated in the same way as alcohol.

[Huck]

Too much fruit and too much milk. What a bunch of yo-yos. Who the hell needs all that fruit??? Fresh veggies are one thing (not counting starchy veggies like peas and corn), but that's too much fruit. You can get your fiber and vitamins from other sources.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Fasting. I once went 14 days with zero calories except what might have been in the vitamin tablets. It really works. No gimmicks. No disappointments. No misinterpretations. No reservations. Easy to understand.

I made it 4.5 days once, but it was unsustainable.

I fast every other day now - fast 36 hours, eat what I want for 12 hours - and it works for me.

I believe that, when your stomach is empty, your body has a chance to direct the energy used for digesting food into healing and producing hormones.

When your stomach is full, 50% of your energy is going toward food digestion.

[neverdem]

FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.

[ken5050]

Fearless prediction forthcoming: They're saying that 60% of Americans are overweight. Let's accept that premise for the moment. Can it be too soon before we hear that 95% of those overweight Americans are Democrats? Think about it? ask yourselves..what are the politics of most heavyset people you know?

[arizonarachel]

Fasting is a great way to cleanse your body, too. I try to do it once a week for 36 hours. I think it's a great way to learn to appreciate real food - sure that Whopper looks good now...but bleh... :-)

[stacytec]

Lardbutts are lardbutts, you can't correlate that with political affiliation.

[America_Right]

You got it! I wonder how long it is gonna take for people to realize that, even with the wild success of the Atkins and other low-carb, no processed sugar diets...

[lizma]

I went to a lower carb, but higher fat diet and my cholesterol dropped from 195 to 145.

That's interesting. I wonder if you are eating a higher ratio of unsaturated fats or is some other biochemical change involved. I wonder if this is a trend.

I'm amazed the low-carb diet works. I've gone on low fat diabetic diets with my pregnancies and couldn't believe the huge amount of food I had to eat to get the desired weight gain.

My cholesterol has gone a few points higher this year. Corresponds to getting cable and the Food Network! I've become the queen of the butter sauces.