Eggs and coffee are in, sugar is out and vegetables will always be good for you, according to a committee of top nutrition experts tasked with advising the federal government. Their recommendations reflect the latest and greatest in food and nutrition research, and will help the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Agriculture (USDA) update the nation’s dietary guidelines — something they have to do every five years.
Why does this matter? Well, those guidelines help government officials set policy about things like food assistance funding or how to feed the military, which trickles all the way down to how teachers educate students about healthy eating. And so far, food policy experts like NYU professor Marion Nestle are pleased.
“The [advisory committee] has produced an honest, straightforward, courageous report thoroughly based on research and at long last without mincing words,” Nestle told The Huffington Post. “Whether the agencies — USDA and HHS — will accept its recommendations remains to be seen.”
Here’s what a panel of experts had to say about the report:
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He also notes that, luckily for us, the type of foods that seem to protect mental health have also been linked to reduced risk of other chronic diseases like metabolic and heart disease.
6. These suggestions need your support.
The committee’s report is advisory, and just one of many factors that will play a role when the federal government releases new nutrition guidelines at the end of the year. Currently, the report is available for public commentary on the dietary guidelines website, so if you feel moved about any particular detail of the report, say something! You have until April 8, midnight ET to do so.
“Much will depend on the response to the call for public comments,” concluded Nestle in an email. “These events will be fun to follow.”
