Daily diet will have a profound impact on our health. Following a healthy diet can not only meet nutrient requirements and keep the body healthy, but also reduce the risk of nutrition-related chronic diseases.

The Dietary Guidelines for American Residents are published every 5 years. At 11 pm Beijing time on December 29, 2020, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued the "Dietary Guidelines for U.S. Residents (2020-2025)", providing information on "what to eat and drink Can meet nutritional needs, promote health, and reduce the risk of chronic diseases". The new guidelines include all types of people throughout the life cycle, and propose four health guidelines for healthy people and people at risk of disease, including encouraging residents to choose food and beverages reasonably and maintaining a healthy diet throughout their lives.

Dietary Guidelines for American Residents (2020-2025) has 4 core guidelines recommended.

Recommendation 1. A healthy diet should be followed at every stage of life.

At each stage of the whole life cycle (infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, pregnancy, lactation and old age), everyone should strive to adopt a healthy diet to improve their health. Early life will also affect food choices and health in adulthood, and following a healthy diet will benefit life.

0-6 months old: Breastfeeding is recommended. It is recommended to continue breastfeeding until 1 year old, and if necessary, breastfeeding time can be extended appropriately. If the baby cannot breastfeed within the first year after birth, the baby can be fed with iron-fortified infant formula. Vitamin D should be supplemented immediately after the baby is born.

6-12 months old: increase the intake of nutritious complementary foods. When babies can eat complementary foods, there is no need to avoid foods that are easy to cause baby allergies. At the same time, pay attention to providing them with foods rich in iron and zinc, especially breast-fed babies.

12 months old-adulthood: Follow a healthy diet pattern throughout the life cycle to meet nutritional needs, achieve a healthy weight, and reduce the risk of chronic diseases.

Recommendation 2. Optimizing and enjoying foods and beverages with high nutrient density, taking into account personal dietary preferences, cultural traditions and costs.

Regardless of age, race or current health, a healthy diet can benefit all individuals. At the same time, a healthy diet should be enjoyable and pleasant, not burdensome and stressful. The American culture is diverse and complex. There is no single recipe that can meet the needs of all residents. The Dietary Guidelines provides residents with a framework for dietary patterns and provides recommendations by food groups and subgroups (rather than specific foods and beverages) , Which aims to customize healthy diet patterns according to personal needs, preferences, budgets and cultural traditions. This approach ensures that people can choose healthy foods, beverages, meals and snacks according to their needs and preferences, so that they "make the decision by themselves" and enjoy healthy meals.

Recommendation 3. Special attention should be paid to foods and beverages with high nutrient density to meet the needs of the food group and suitable energy limits.

The dietary guidelines must first ensure that food intake, especially high-nutrient density foods and beverages, meet nutritional needs. Foods with high nutrient density provide vitamins, minerals and other health-promoting ingredients, with little or no added sugars, saturated fatty acids and sodium. A healthy diet includes high-nutrient-density foods and beverages in each food group to reach the nutrient reference intake while ensuring that the total energy intake is appropriate.

The core elements of a healthy diet include:

Various types of vegetables: dark green, red and orange vegetables, legumes including soybeans and mixed beans, starchy vegetables and other vegetables.

Fruit: Especially whole fruit.

Cereals: At least half are whole grains.

Dairy products: skimmed or low-fat milk, yogurt, cheese, and/or lactose-free versions, fortified soy beverages as substitutes.

Foods rich in protein: lean meat, poultry and eggs, seafood, beans (soybeans and mixed beans), nuts, seeds and soy products.

Oil: Vegetable oil and oil in food, such as seafood and nuts.

Recommendation 4. Reduce added sugar, saturated fatty acid and high sodium content foods and beverages, and limit alcoholic beverages.

Small amounts of added sugars, saturated fatty acids or sodium are allowed to meet the intake of multiple food categories, but foods and beverages with high content of these ingredients should be restricted.

Added sugar: Energy accounts for less than 10% of the total energy. Children under 2 years of age should avoid added sugar.

Saturated fatty acids: For people aged 2 years and above, the energy supply of saturated fat should be less than 10% of the total daily energy.

Sodium: Chronic Disease Risk Reduction (CDRR) is adopted, and the intake of children aged 1-3 shall not exceed 1200 mg/day; the intake of children aged 4-8 shall not exceed 1500 mg/day; 9- The intake of 13-year-old children should not exceed 1800 mg/day; the intake of other age groups should not exceed 2300 mg/day.

Alcoholic beverages: It is recommended that adults 21 years of age and older limit their drinking. Men’s daily intake should be limited to 2 cups or less, and women’s daily intake should be 1 cup or less (1 cup of alcoholic beverage equivalent is defined as containing 14 grams of alcohol); Avoid binge drinking (within 2 hours, drinking 5 or more glasses of alcohol for men and 4 or more drinks for women is considered binge drinking); for those who do not drink, it is not recommended to start drinking; those who are pregnant or may be pregnant and those who are under the legal drinking age No alcohol should be consumed.

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